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'Dragon Age' adds grit to fantasy role-playing

The role-playing fantasy has been a staple of electronic gaming since the 1970s, when students cobbled together interactive quests on university mainframes. But the genre has fallen out of favor in recent years, overtaken by grittier dramas like the "Grand Theft Auto" and "Call of Duty" franchises.

"Dragon Age: Origins" (Electronic Arts, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, $59.99) tries to bring some of that grit to the fantasy role-playing game. In its quasi-medieval kingdom, Ferelden, the streets are muddy and the buildings are crumbling. You're more likely to meet a beggar or a thief than an honorable knight, and most of the "nobles" you encounter are hopelessly corrupt.

Still, the folks at BioWare, who also created the landmark RPG "Baldur's Gate," know their fantasy. So you have a motley team of humans, dwarves and elves teaming up against a world-threatening evil force. You have warriors, rogues and mages. You have demons, ogres and, of course, dragons.

At the beginning, "Dragon Age" lets you pick your gender, race and career path; I went female rogue elf. Depending on your choices, you live through one of six origin stories, but you're eventually recruited in the Grey Wardens, an elite squad dedicated to eliminating the darkspawn threat.

It's not as simple as it sounds. To rally the citizens of Ferelden, you need to dethrone a corrupt leader, hold off a civil war and unite diverse factions. And kill thousands of monsters.

In battle, you control your warden and up to three other characters. You can quickly switch between fighters, but the action is more manageable if you program them beforehand to behave in certain ways (like, say, ganging up on the strongest enemy). It's complicated — you'll spend a lot of time tinkering with your companions' tactical menus — but satisfying when you finally get the best of your first dragon.

Indeed, "Dragon Age" is probably too complicated for gamers who just want to jump in and brawl. To succeed you have to learn your way around an array of maps, menus and inventory screens. It's not a good game for RPG newcomers; as a veteran, I found it quite challenging even at its "normal" difficulty level.

Also, you need a lot of time on your hands. Finishing the main story takes about 60 hours, and you can add another 20 hours or so if you pursue all the side missions. And there are plenty of game-changing choices along the way; I generally tried to act like a nice elf throughout, but I wonder how the story would have changed if I'd been more of a jerk.

With so much to see, Ferelden is one of the most vivid, thoroughly realized worlds ever seen in a video game. And with so much to do, "Dragon Age" delivers more for your money than just about any other game on the market. Three-and-a-half stars out of four.

On the Net:

"Dragon Age: Origins": dragonage.bioware.com/