Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: BioWare
Genre: RPG
Release date: March 16, 2010

On March 5, X-Fire hosted a sneak-peek demo of Dragon Age: Origins–Awakening with lead designer Ferret Boudoin.

At the end of Origins, you slay the Archdemon and suffer the consequences of your actions, and the world “should” have returned to normal. Apparently, the returning-to-normal part failed to occur. At the beginning of Awakening, it’s discovered that instead of retreating underground to lick their wounds, the darkspawn are increasing in number and have spawned a new flavor that both speaks and strategizes.

The demo started off within Vigil’s Keep, your new base of operations, and showed off some of the new abilities available, including The Guardian specialization for warriors. One of the abilities associated with The Guardian is Runecrafting, which allows you to add runes to your weapons, and also to your armor for that extra little bit of defense. You’ll no longer have to journey all the way back to camp to add the runes you find along your way.

Next up was a brief introduction to some of your new friends, including Sigrun and Velanna. Sigrun is a member of the dwarven order, The Legion of the Dead, and is thus very experienced in killing darkspawn and very eager to help you in your quest. She’s not nearly as funny as your other dwarven companion, but that could have a lot to do with her current occupation. She’s also touted to be the technical expert of Kal’Hirol, so you might want to bring her along when you head in.

While getting to know my new BFF, I did glean one very important bit of information: “The broodmothers are breeding – beware the children.” For those of you who felt my pain during your last encounter with a broodmother, that “s” is no typo. You’ll have to dispatch more than one, and Ferret suggests that you don’t try to do so through the front door.

As for tweaks, health and stamina regeneration have been accelerated, and NPC dialogue is supposed to be less intrusive. You’re still going to be able to experience that NPC-to-NPC interaction, but now it shouldn’t occur right before a big battle, as there are now designated areas where spontaneous conversations can take place. Imports from Origins to Awakening can be done at any point during the story (even if you’re dead), or you can opt to start off with a brand new character. Ferret’s suggestion, however, is to use a character who has already defeated the Archdemon. The expansion also includes two new tiers of weapons and armor, for a grand total of nine. Because of the location of the new adventure, you will not be able to visit the locations in Origins, but you will have the ability to load your character, pick up your gear from your chest in Warden’s Peak, save, then drop it all off in your new chest in Vigil’s Keep.

The actual demonstration only lasted about 20 minutes, and while there was nothing mind-blowing revealed, the expansion doesn’t look like it will disappoint.