Despite the fact that the news was recently leaked by the Czech Eurogamer website, Bioware CEO Ray Muzyka has announced that the first expansion to Dragon Age: Origins will be known as Dragon Age: Awakening. The expansion pack will launch on March 16th for PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 and contain roughly 15 hours of content.
The events laid out in the expansion take place after the events of the Dragon Age: Origins, and features the player either importing their own character from the original, or taking control over an entirely new character while trying to re-establish the order of the Grey Wardens. Futhermore, players will also encounter more Darkspawn and embark on a quest to discover how they manage to still menace the lands despite the defeat of the Archdemon.
Overall, the expansion will add an all new character, a Grey Warden Commander from Orlais, a new region known as Amaranthine, five new possible party members, new enemies including new types of Darkspawn, a Spectral Dragon and Inferno Golems as well as obviously, many more quests to complete. New features include an increased level cap, new spells, specializations and abilities along with the possibility of respeccing characters under your control.
The expansion pack will cost $39.99 and will be available for PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. According to a statement made by Bioware, the expansion will require an original copy of Dragon Age: Origins to be played.
Wow, it’s like Bioware knew how disappointed we were with them on Mass Effect’s DLC, and are really making up for it here. Rock on for DLC support!
Now THIS is substantial DLC. Holy shit man.
Apparently, this isn’t going to be a downloadable expansion… it’ll be available in stores on a disc, making Bioware’s statement that the game requires the original to play somewhat confusing.
Also: apparently, it isn’t known as Dragon Age: Awakening, but as Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening.