14 DAY TRIAL // BioWare, probably the best role playing gaming developer in the world at the moment thanks to franchises like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, has announced that its 2009 released Origins is confirmed to get a full expansion, called The Awakening, on March 16. The new content for the game will be arriving on the PC, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the PlayStation 3 from Sony. The expansion will require the original game to be played.
The Awakening is set to take the player to the area of the world that BioWare built just after the Archdemon was slain in the original campaign. Players can choose to import their character, who is now a Grey Warden commander or to create one from scratch, with its origins drawn from Orlais.
The Amaranthine area is important to the Wardens because the darkspawn here appear to be more intelligent than the normal variety and have managed to maintain cohesion and continue to be a threat even after the party the player commanded destroyed the fourth Archdemon.
Dr. Ray Muzyka, who is one of the co-founders of BioWare and the man in charge of RPG development at Electronic Arts, stated that “Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening shows BioWare’s commitment to our fans by delivering new story-driven experiences which enrich the dark heroic fantasy universe our fans have come to know and love. The vibrant worldwide community of Dragon Age fans will relish uncovering the secret motivations of the darkspawn, revealing how the darkspawn continue to infest the world despite the defeat of the Archdemon.”
BioWare promises players more options related to how they approach battles, based on the character they create and on the party they choose to take with them, and more choices that will directly influence the game world. New enemies will include the Inferno Golem and the Spectral Dragon and all the darkspawn will now be tougher and more cunning on the attack. The level cap will also be increased and another five party members will be available, all of them with full backstories and their own interests.