Meet Dragon Age: Origins' Zevran, a renaissance man

by Ben Gilbert { Sep 26th 2009 at 8:30PM }

We almost got through an entire Dragon Age: Origins trailer without crazy industrial music! Almost! Though the latest trailer for BioWare's upcoming fantasy RPG introduces us to an interesting new NPC in Zevran, we were really hoping to enjoy the video without any wildly anachronistic music. As you'll find out, Zevran appears to be a man of the ladies, both wooing them in his later life and growing up around ... um ... ladies of the night, if you will. We look forward to making his acquaintance -- preferably without inappropriately placed music -- when the game releases on October 20.

Gallery: Dragon Age: Origins

Tags: dragon-age, dragon-age-origins, pc, trailer, zevran

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Taco_Hell @ Sep 26th 2009 8:37PM

Uh Ben, sorry to break it to ya but the game was pushed back for two weeks. So its release date is actually November 6th.

Taco_Hell @ Sep 26th 2009 8:38PM

Er, November 3rd, sorry I was looking at the European release.

RANDOM G [XBL: NYMZ777, PSN: NYMALICIOUS] @ Sep 26th 2009 9:01PM

Taco Hell speaks the truth.

http://dragonage.bioware.com/game/

Right column

SibSpi @ Sep 26th 2009 8:44PM

Am I the only one that isn't liking the facial animations or the voice acting for this game? :(

A lot about this game is feeling rushed to me. A *lot*.

I would gladly wait another year for a game I hadn't heard about until about five months ago, if it would mean they could polish it properly.

Bradwart @ Sep 26th 2009 9:27PM

The original "Dragon Age" came into development existance in 2004, if I remember, so it could be a bit dated.

dgknight500 @ Sep 26th 2009 9:54PM

yea.. it does look rather unimpressive... Guess all the talented folks are working on The Old Republic/Mass Effect 2

Jrinswand @ Sep 26th 2009 11:13PM

I don't know what you guys are smoking. I thought the game looks pretty spiffy.

freaparn @ Sep 27th 2009 2:23AM

"Am I the only one that isn't liking the facial animations or the voice acting for this game? :("

That implies there actually was any facial animation. Mouth movement aside, it looks like a cast of vinyl-faced mannequins.

Bronco-fan @ Sep 26th 2009 8:44PM

I'm starting to hope we don't get to meet anymore characters, the game looks worse everytime a new trailer comes out. The graphics are bad, voice acting is borderline awful, the combat and the animation looks like it was ripped straight out of a 1998 PC rpg.

At least there's still Mass Effect 2 to look forward to.

SibSpi @ Sep 26th 2009 8:45PM

Oooh, snap!

Obie @ Sep 26th 2009 9:19PM

Yeah, I really want to like this game, but it is hard to imagine that it's the same studio that is doing Mass Effect. I mean, it looks bad, like " Two worlds" bad!

But it's not all about looks, right? RIGHT? :(

Bradwart @ Sep 26th 2009 9:25PM

Is the frame rate equal to a PowerPoint presentation? Does it use 'old English'? Are there never ending glitches? No?

Then it's not Two Worlds.

Bronco-fan @ Sep 26th 2009 9:29PM

It's not two worlds bad, but it's not far away either. I'm not going to give them the benefit of the doubt just because they're Bioware, when everything I've seen from the game has been horrendous. I'm not just talking about graphics either, I've seen combat trailers and it's just as bad.

Like I said, it seems to be a clone of the old PC wrpgs in the 90s. Unfortunately, it looks like one too :\

Taco_Hell @ Sep 26th 2009 9:46PM

Well, they've said numerous times that it's the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, so expecting the combat to be any different is just madness.

hfm @ Sep 26th 2009 10:25PM

Yeah.. this isn't looking that great, but I have faith in Bioware.. I'll wait for a couple reviews to come in.

Am I the only one that actually kinda liked Two Worlds?

Kevadu @ Sep 26th 2009 10:42PM

"...and the animation looks like it was ripped straight out of a 1998 PC rpg."

Am I the only one who considers that last point to be a feature?

Bronco-fan @ Sep 26th 2009 10:57PM

Yes. That combat is worse than even turn based combat in jrpgs and I'm glad western developers killed it for real time, user controlled combat.

No Kill Tayler @ Sep 26th 2009 11:24PM

The voice acting, i believe, sounds great.
Lip syncing is the problem tho. It looks like puppeteer's mouth when they talk for their dummy.
I'm sure it'll be good.
Story, i'll wait for the game for me to judge on that.

iHavepants {SteamPSN: Arkanti} @ Sep 26th 2009 11:47PM

Allow me to presume not one of you complaining about this game and its combat especially have ever played the Baldur's Gate series(this doesn't include trying within the last couple of years and stopping again because of the graphics whore within you).

Mr Khan @ Sep 27th 2009 12:46AM

BioWare can do very shoddy work from a production values standpoint (even if they never fail to get solid fundamentals). Sonic Chronicles proved that.

Bronco-fan @ Sep 27th 2009 9:43AM

I've played a bit of planescape, fallout 1 & 2, and baldur's gate 2 back in the day and I hated them all because of that horrible combat. Those games were all story and writing. Seriously, clicking on an enemy and watching your guy run up and slash back and forth until it's dead is probably the worst kind of combat system I've ever experienced

iHavepants {SteamPSN: Arkanti} @ Sep 27th 2009 1:06PM

Well the combat was more in depth than that, especially seeing as you control a party of characters. You do not like RTS also then?

Misfit Toy @ Sep 26th 2009 9:04PM

Bioware always has strong stories. It better have because its not being carried by it's tech.

Bradwart @ Sep 26th 2009 9:14PM

The only thing that concerns me is the length of time this game has been in development-since 2004 if I remember right. Other than that, BioWare makes good games, so this should be good.

I want to get it on PS3...but I don't want the alleged delay to the 17th it's supposed to have.

The Dark Wayne [Planeteer: Power of the Batusi] @ Sep 26th 2009 9:17PM

Sorry to go kinda offtopic, but does anyone know if the origins for you character in the game are gender specific? Like for the city elf description, they have a lady city elf, does that mean you cant be a male city elf?

Bradwart @ Sep 26th 2009 9:24PM

Judging from their past games, I'd say gender shouldn't be an issue, but no promises.

I would think you could, though.

Taco_Hell @ Sep 26th 2009 9:49PM

No Wayne, the origin isn't gender specific. They just put those in the description as place holders really, that's not to say that is how your character will look.

iHavepants {SteamPSN: Arkanti} @ Sep 26th 2009 11:42PM

The City Elf origin plays out differently depending on whether you're male or female. Female is a bride, male is the groom and then the situations they're put into veer off from eachother.

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Sep 26th 2009 9:27PM

What's wrong with industrial music?
:P

Durden @ Sep 26th 2009 10:14PM

The song is actually "This is the New Shit" by Marilyn Manson. In case anyone is wondering.

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Sep 26th 2009 10:15PM

Oh... forgive me, for I had not actually watched the video.

I can do without Marilyn Manson.

Thierry @ Sep 26th 2009 10:02PM

The dialogs remind me a lot of Baldur's Gate 2, I can't wait for this game.

hfm @ Sep 26th 2009 10:27PM

1. Make game
2. Add line: "Go for the eyes, Boo, go for the eyes!"
3. PROFIT!

iHavepants {SteamPSN: Arkanti} @ Sep 26th 2009 11:45PM

"Go for the eyes Boo, go for the EYES! RHAAAGHSK" Squeak SQUEAK!* fixed.

osunai @ Sep 27th 2009 12:40AM

I was looking forward to this when I saw early development but it is looking pretty rough around the edges, hopefully the game looks better in motion. My PS3 is hurtin for an RPG even if it is a multiplat.

Matthew @ Sep 27th 2009 12:55AM

Yeah not only that but if you wanted to get this for the ps3 it doesn't release till november 17th yeah that's right it's like 2 weeks even more later then the xbox and pc version but in spite of that the ps3 version is the only one getting a collectors edition and so i'm getting that one just because of that.

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Sep 27th 2009 1:31AM

That's not true; the other two CEs just happen to be sold out at Gamestop.

...FUCK

mister_d @ Sep 27th 2009 3:28AM

I've been wondering if Dragon Age is actually supposed to be some kind of fantasy RPG spoof...

I mean, come on, how does a company the calibre of Bioware end up developing a game with worse voice acting than an Elder Scrolls game, no attempt to lip sync, a cornier script than an eastern European RPG, "sex scenes" everywhere, and a Marilyn Manson song for the trailer soundtrack? They must be taking the piss, otherwise the only answer is that they're drunk on success and have gone insane.

This is going to be either the biggest disappointment or the biggest joke in gaming history.

The Dark Wayne [Planeteer: Power of the Batusi] @ Sep 27th 2009 7:17PM

well, it wont be the biggest disappointment if almost everyone is expecting low of it

Qalu @ Nov 29th 2009 4:43PM

I think this game looks fantastic... none of the possible problems worry me. Poor facial animations is par for the course with RPGs - look at how bad Oblivion's were, but that game was still stunning. The snatches of dialogue so far do sound corny but show me an RPG trailer that doesn't, it's all about context - the Mass Effect2 trailer is incredibly cheesy but we all know the finished product will be great, and that in-game those bits of dialogue will sound relevant and serious.

Also, I actually like what they're doing with the inappropriate music in the trailers. It's a 'wake up and notice' call, it's given the game a lot of buzz (even if it has been a lot of whining) and that, coupled with the stark red blood/white background says to me that Bioware understand 'stylish'. And RPG's could really do with a bit of stylish.

It sucks that it's been pushed into the beginning of November though. That is turning into a crowded and expensive few weeks!

Monte @ Sep 27th 2009 8:53AM

This game can't look any more generic...

PhoenixVanguard @ Oct 1st 2009 5:25AM

And hey, we almost made it through an entire article and comment thread without anyone harping on the ultimately irrelevant trailer music, and actually discussing the game. Oh...no...not even close. Seriously, we get it, you're embarrassed you rebelled in high school by listening to Marilyn Manson, so now the cool thing to do is harp on him, whatever makes you feel better. But the rock music fits for an action packed trailer of any kind, no matter who made it. Sorry it's not a bunch of bards in tights prancing around with lutes, flutes, and harps, but as far as trying to get people hyped for a fun game and appealing to a broader audience, I think it's a good move. It seems to really perturb and unsettle the closeted, way too serious, traditional RPG fans, but hey, so do actual women. And to my knowledge they're pretty popular.

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