As many of you know, I am a parent.  And as a parent, one of my favorite things to do is take my son to the movies.  I for one, love going out to see a show; it’s a communal experience for me.  The smell of the popcorn, the energy of the audience, everything about the experience is something I deeply enjoy.  Taking Tiny to see shows like The Iron Giant, Cars, and Shrek was especially enjoyable because those movies reminded me that it was ok to be a kid again, and that story telling in the modern age can be better than what I grew up with.  (Not always, but it can be).

The cool and yet sad thing about having kids is they grow up.  Tiny is fourteen now and far more interested in seeing adult shows with his Dad as they make him feel more like a grown up.  So when I asked him if he wanted to see How to Train Your Dragon, I found a gentle reluctance as if to say seeing animated movies wasn’t cool anymore.  When faced with the prospect of seeing this movie or Date Night, I made the executive decision and dragged his teenage butt to the theater for perhaps the last animated movie we might see for awhile.  Little did I know that our journey to the theater would be a lesson for him, and a reminder for me, that it’s ok for adults to see animated movies.  And that some of them can kick a whole lot of ass too.         

The story takes place in the mythical Viking village of Berk.  This island village has a huge pest problem…dragons.  These pesky flying varmints would often attack at night, causing mayhem and stealing livestock.  Led by the heroic Viking chieftain Stoic (Gerald Butler from Gamer) the villagers would do battle with these beasts with a sense of monstrous glee.  It was a rite of passage to kill a dragon and become a true Viking warrior.  Stoic has one problem however, his son Hiccup (Jay Baruchel from She’s Out of My League) is not skilled in the ways of dragon slaying and is somewhat of an embarrassment to him in the village. 

One night during a particularity nasty raid, Hiccup manages to shoot down one of the most elusive of all dragons, the Night Fury.  After failing to convince anyone in the village that he has accomplished this feat, Hiccup searches for his spoils deep in the forest.  There he finds a wounded dragon and instead of killing it, he nurses it back to health and even learns to fly the beast he now calls Toothless.  While learning about his new friend, his father enrolls him in dragon combat training while he and the rest of the warriors search for the elusive dragon nest.  Here hiccup puts what he has learned about dragons to the test, and impressing the girl of his dreams, a warrior named Astrid (America Ferra aka Ugly Betty)  Things go great for Hiccup, but all the while he lives in fear that he may one day have to slay one of the creatures has grown to admire. 

Dreamworks has been hit or miss lately in their films.  Films like Kung Fu Panda and Monsters vs. Aliens were both clever and touching.  While countless sequels and unimaginative titles such as Madagascar can still make the studio money without good story or memorable characters.  How to Train Your Dragon is happily one of the former, a wonderfully told story that is a joy to watch for both adults and kids alike. 
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In the most recent DGR podcast, John uttered something as close to blasphemy as I have ever heard: “Screw Bioware.”  Bioware, the maker of such great games as Mass Effect and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic? Say it ain’t so, John!  Little did I know that John’s utterance might be closer to the actual truth than I dared to imagine…

I need to take you back about seven years ago, when my roommate and soon-to-be best man bought a little game for my PS2 called Baldurs Gate.  It was Christmas vacation, and we had no work commitments, plenty of beer, and wireless controllers.  My roommate and I spent five days straight – and I mean 24/7 – playing through that game cooperatively, and it was a blast.  We never slept, just plodded along through the dungeon crawler beauty that was this game.  When I finally introduced my wife to gaming, it was Baldurs Gate that she and I gleefully played together on the couch.  It was one of the first games I ever played through twice.  We eventually graduated to Baldurs Gate II, Gauntlet, and a lesser known title Dungeons and Dragons Heroes (a game my whole family played together)!  

So when Bioware announced they were working on a sequel to Baldurs Gate I was immediately excited.  Dragon Age Origins was its name and it promised amazing graphics and stellar storytelling.  I watched for clips from E3 to see what appeared to be 4 characters in mortal combat with a fire breathing dragon.  It looked awesome and so I pre-ordered it right away.  I should have done more homework, for despite how good this game looks, it is hardly the cooperative experience that I was looking for.  In fact, there is NO COOPERATIVE PLAY at all in this game, not even online.  And for a game that touted itself as the next Baldurs Gate, that’s blasphemous!  That’s like releasing a single person Left 4 Dead; no matter how good it is, they have ruined it by sheer comparison of design.   

Dragon Age does have some groundbreaking features that the single player will find compelling, I am sure.  First, no character’s story is the same. In fact, there are several different opening tutorials and story lines are chosen for you based on character creation.  You may be a rich aristocrat whose family was betrayed or a hapless slave fleeing from your captors.  From that point forward the quests you get and how people react to you are completely different based on your own unique origin.  This will encourage multiple play-throughs from those wishing to experience the game in a whole new way. 

Bioware revolutionized the story arc with KOTOR and again in Mass Effect with expansive dialogue trees.  What you choose to say has extensive effect on how characters react and the direction of your story.  I especially loved Mass Effect as I would pick a line and watch how Sheppard would say it and the reaction from the NPCs.  There are dialog trees in Dragon Age, but they are more like KOTOR as you never hear your character say anything.  The line is chosen and your NPC reacts.  I am sorry, but after Mass Effect, I kinda expected more from BioWare here and I found the interactions to be a burdensome and not as immersive.   

The graphics are good, but not great.  One thing I did find interesting is after each battle your character model is pictured covered with the blood spatter of your defeated enemies.  The more enemies you kill, the bloodier you become.  While this is kinda cool, I do ask myself…why?  Seriously, why is this necessary?  Don’t get me wrong, I dig blood, but this seemed glorifying it to me which made no sense.  Maybe the devs should have spent a little less time on the blood and spent, oh maybe an hour or so working on some co-op.  But I digress…

The controls and the camera are very solid, and overall I found the gameplay to be quite fun.  However, there are skill trees and at first there was a lot of trial and error in picking which skills I should increase.  Again, Bioware seems to be counting on multiple play throughs, the first being my guinea pig play through.  I’m about 6 hours into the game and I know there is a ton of gameplay and story to be told here.  Story that, despite it’s flawed approach, is done quite well in Dragon Age.  There is a moment early on in the game where you are part of this massive army that is being besieged by hoards of evil creatures.  It’s very Two Towers like and it felt…epic!  That and what happened to characters I just got introduced to left my mouth agape for more than a few moments.  So there is goodness in this game, that is certain.  I’m just having a hard time accepting that they removed part of Baldurs Gate from its sequel.  I’m sure I will play it through, but I have to wait for my wife to get over her disappointment. 

Ahh what could have been …Screw You Bioware!