Origin on the House: Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age: Inquisition releases in a bit over a month, but while you're waiting, why not try one of the earlier Dragon Age titles on for size?

Dragon Age 2 Demo is Available for Download

The Dragon Age 2 demo is now available for download on the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and it comes with all sorts of perks. Upon completion of the demo, players will unlock a special weapon, Hayder's Razor, in the full release of the game. Also, 1 million demo downloads will unlock two new in-game items for the whole Dragon Age 2 community!

The two new items are Lothering's Lament and The Far Cliffs of Kirkwall. One book will give money when read, while the other grants an XP boost. The demo is nearing the 500,000 download mark, and you can keep track of the progress on the demo page.

The Hayder's Razor offer expires on May 31. Dragon Age 2 is scheduled to launch on March 8 in North America and on March 11 in Europe. For more details on the game, check out our hands-on preview and our interviews with Executive Producer Mark Darrah and Lead Writer David Gaider.

Dragon Age: Redemption Web Series Trailer Revealed

On Tuesday, USA Today broke the news that Felicia Day is the writer and star of Dragon Age: Redemption, a six-episode web series that's set in the time period of Dragon Age 2. The trailer for the series debuted last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and the 30-second clip confirms that the show will be full of action.

During her interview with Fallon, Day said that the series was filmed in Los Angeles in January and will be released this summer. "Dragon Age was one of my favorite games, so when they approached me to do a web series based on it I was like totally fan geeking out," she said. Day also talked about how she trained for two and a half months with daggers to prepare for the role of Tallis, an Elven assassin.

Check out the Dragon Age: Redemption trailer and Felicia Day's full interview with Jimmy Fallon after the jump, or watch them on Fallon's site!

Felicia Day Brings Dragon Age Web Series to Life

If you've been following Felicia Day on Twitter, you know she's been hard at work on a mystery project. It turns out that project is a web series based on BioWare's Dragon Age franchise! Day, who is the creator of The Guild, is both the writer and star of the six-episode Dragon Age: Redemption series. She said today that the series should be coming out this summer.

According to USA Today, Day plays an Elven assassin named Tallis who goes on a quest with a group to capture a renegade magician. Day had this to say about her original character:

"Tallis is headstrong, she fights dirty, and she has a really sarcastic sense of humor. I wanted to bring a modern sensibility to a fantasy character in a fantasy world."

USA Today's Game Hunters blog has an interview with Day that states Dragon Age: Redemption takes place about the same time as the events at the outset of Dragon Age 2. The interview focuses mainly on Day's favorite games and previous work.

Day is currently answering questions from fans on her Twitter page, so check it out for some other interesting tidbits about the Dragon Age series.

UPDATE: The Dragon Age: Redemption trailer will debut on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, Feb. 16.

Play the Dragon Age 2 Demo and Get an In-Game Item

Mark your calendars: The Dragon Age 2 demo is coming to the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on Feb. 22! Not only will the demo give you a sneak peek at this action RPG, but playing it will also give you a special weapon in the full game. Here are the details straight from BioWare:

"In the demo, players will venture through the game's prologue, choosing from three different character classes. They'll also learn more about Hawke and hone their skills and abilities that will make them the ultimate hero. After finishing the prologue, players will enter a key new location in the world of Dragon Age, Kirkwall, befriending Isabela, a romantic interest in the game who is also a deadly smuggler. Upon completion of the demo, players will unlock a special weapon, Hayder's Razor, an ancient dwarven blade which increases health, mana, and combat abilities, in the full release of Dragon Age 2."

The Hayder's Razor offer expires on May 31. Dragon Age 2 is scheduled to launch on March 8 in North America and on March 11 in Europe. For more details on the game, check out our hands-on preview and our interviews with Executive Producer Mark Darrah and Lead Writer David Gaider.

Pre-Order Dragon Age II for the Signature Edition

If you plan on purchasing Dragon Age 2, it's safe to say you should pre-order it by Jan. 11 so you can receive the BioWare Signature Edition of the game. This special edition contains the full version of Dragon Age II plus $20 of additional content, including the newly unveiled "The Exiled Prince" downloadable content pack, the game's digital soundtrack and an exclusive in-game digital armory featuring a variety of in-game weapons.

The BioWare Signature Edition is only available by pre-ordering the game by Jan. 11. Once that deadline passes, it will be gone forever. Of course, you'll be able to purchase "The Exiled Prince" separately for $7. The downloadable content is comprised of three missions and introduces the noble archer Sebastian Vael, with players joining him in the middle of his quest to avenge the brutal murder of his family.

Dragon Age II is scheduled to launch for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 8 in North America and March 11 in Europe. For more details on the BioWare Signature Edition, check out the FAQ after the jump.

ZAM Talks Game Writing with BioWare's David Gaider

If you've been keeping up with our Dragon Age 2 coverage over the past week, then you know that I visited the BioWare offices in Edmonton with a few other journalists to check out what all the fuss was about over BioWare's latest foray into the fantasy RPG world. That, of course, ends up making this week a very Dragon Age 2 intensive week, and you can check out my first Dragon Age 2 impressions over here. Yesterday, I followed that up with an interview with Executive Producer Mark Darrah, and that's a definite must-read for any BioWare or Dragon Age 2 fan.

For my last interview, I got the chance to sit down with Lead Writer David Gaider, and I must say that it was a great opportunity, both as a fan and as a writing enthusiast. Below, you'll find some great answers from Gaider about how he created those memorable characters of Dragon Age: Origins, as well as some useful insight into the world of novel and video game writing. Read on!

ZAM's Interview with Dragon Age 2's Mark Darrah

 

A few weeks back, I flew out to Edmonton to join close two dozen other journalists to get a really good understanding of BioWare's latest epic RPG: Dragon Age 2. Well, no story simply ends at one author's opinions, and this is definitely the case today. I managed to snag the attention of Executive Producer Mark Darrah to pick his thoughts clean on a huge variety of things, ranging from just how happy he is with Dragon Age 2, all the way to the reason why BioWare is so good at making unique and lasting games. So without further ado, let's get on with this hefty interview!

ZAM's Hands-On Time with Dragon Age 2

About two weeks ago, BioWare shipped in about 20 journalists (myself included) from around the world to the BioWare Edmonton offices with two key goals in mind. The first was to intimidate all of us with Edmonton's -17° C (1° F) winter weather, which was subsequently described as being "unusually warm," and the second, which really needed no assistance from Mother Nature, was to demonstrate just how good Dragon Age 2 (DA2) is; both as a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins, and as an amazing RPG endeavor on its own. Today I'll be talking about all of my hands-on impressions with Dragon Age 2, and if you stick around throughout the week, I'll also have some great interviews with Executive Producer Mark Darrah and Lead Writer David Gaider.

BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening at GDC

More GDC 2010 content! This time around, we sat down with Fernando Melo, the online producer for Dragon Age: Origins, to talk about BioWare's upcoming expansion, dubbed "Awakening." Within the interview, we got some sneak peeks at upcoming baddies and teammates in this new expansion, and Fernando noted that they had been working on Awakening for over a year and he promised players that this new expansion would be "cut from the same cloth" as the critically acclaimed Dragon Age: Origins. Check out the video below and judge for yourself! The expansion is slated to hit stores in March 16th, 2010 in North America.