14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer BioWare says that one of the major aims of the upcoming Dragon Age: Inquisition is to completely eliminate the static world design that dominated previous titles in the series and the role-playing game genre as a whole.
The company is looking to make sure that every player action, even those that might seem to be unimportant, will create change and that, in turn, the evolution of the game world will make it more interesting for gamers to explore and solve quests.
Cameron Lee, a producer working on the title, tells CVG that, “There's a variety of those aspects and areas in the game. We don't want a static world. When we look at RPGs going back a number of years, our games, other games, you're given a world. And, sure, you can make changes to the story, you take actions that affect some of the NPCs.”
BioWare wants to make physical actions important, adding yet another layer of interactions to Dragon Age.
Lee admits that BioWare has oversold the choices that players had in some of its previous titles and plans to make amends with Inquisition, delivering more freedom and choice than gamers are expecting.
He adds, “We've been guilty of this as much as anyone else. We see part of the future of RPGs being about making your world not just a stage any more. It's about a world that can shift and change and be modified by you as a player rather than a static world. That's one of the things we're aiming for with this game.”
Dragon Age: Inquisition will use the war table seen in the recent video as a hub for the player, allowing him to see the state of the game world at a glance and decide whether he is interested in undertaking a story quest or if he needs to upgrade his forces via a side quest.
BioWare has said that the story of its new title will deal with a tear in the Fade that allows demons to enter the world of humans, and with the efforts of the Inquisitor to close it down by all means.
The studio says that politics and cunning will be as important as pure strength and combat prowess.
Dragon Age: Inquisition will be launched all over the world on October 7 and will be offered on the PlayStation 4 from Sony, the Xbox One from Microsoft and the PC.