Dragon Age: Origins is one of the finest RPG’s of it’s genre—it has it all: betrayal, sex, blood, battles . . . weird satanic looking things and of course, Dragons! I’ve played through Dragon Age two times since acquiring it racking up a total of 90 some odd hours of gameplay and I’m still not bored. All in all, a very satisfying game but then while jumping along the Bioware website I noticed a new release…the first expansion to Dragon Age titled ‘Awakening’. At first I thought to myself, wow, first major expansion to the game, and then I saw the cost and I nearly vomited in disgust.

$40. That’s right, it’s the cost of a retail game while lacking the completion. Et tu Bioware?! You JUST released Dragon Age about three months ago, what the hell?! From what I can tell, they haven’t improved anything and there are no fixed mechanics to console systems; just a few gimicks mixed with left over voice recordings

So what DID they add? I’ll start with the brand new Origin.

You can now begin your adventure as an Orlesian and opt to play through the grand adventure again or just do the origin and bail back to one of your own characters that you are able to import and continue on from. Honestly, I think they should have gone with the Qunari—being the first Qunari to join the Gray Wardens would have been vastly more interesting instead of some French dude that hails from a land already established with orders of Gray Wardens. But hey, what do I know.

I can almost see the story now, Duncan shows up begging the Orlesians to send some Gray Wardens as they are all but extinct in Fereldan; they in turn raise their noses into the air and tell him to ‘piss off’. They eventually succumb sending with Duncan a fresh, potential recruit that currently cleans their chamber pots as he annoyed the head master due to an accidental spilling on the master’s favorite robe.

Talents: supposedly they have added new talents and skills to beef up as well as raising the level cap that isn’t supposed to exist anyway. Thanks Bioware.

I just don’t get it, why are they doing this? It’s not like Mass Effect 2 isn’t coming out in two weeks to pad their first quarter earnings. It makes me feel like they are pulling a ‘Blizzard’ on us with releasing a product that was unfinished and only part of the grand scheme of game they WANTED to release. Perhaps greed got the better of them and some jack ass from EA convinced them that they could make a fortune splitting the game and pretending that they had developed new content.

As much as I love Bioware and Dragon Age—I have to take a stand. I’ve been hurt too many times Dragon Age, Wrath of the Lack of Lich King was the final straw in my truly lame-o expansion purchases and I’m going to make an example of you! Don’t bother showing up with flowers apologizing! It won’t work this time! I … am … a POWERFUL, LIBERATED GAMER and I’m NOT taking it ANY-MORE!