BioWare announces sequel to Dragon Age, Dragon Age III: Inquisition

Back during the 90s and the early 2000s, BioWare was known for making classic fantasy role playing games (RPG) based on mostly fantasy worlds, with a couple of games set in sci-fi in the middle. Big budget tactical RPGs these days are all but dead, but BioWare surprised everyone back in 2009 with the release of Dragon Age: Origins. BioWare followed it up with the disappointing Dragon Age II in 2010. Now, BioWare has announced the next title in the series – Dragon Age III: Inquisition.

Though not much has been revealed about the next game in the franchise other than the name, it has been mentioned that the game will be using a new engine that will be better able to show off an expansive world. According to the announcement, BioWare is going to be using the Frostbite 2 engine from DICE, which is mostly known for its massive worlds and destructible environments in Battlefield 3. Another thing that was mentioned is that the game will be developed by the team that worked on Dragon Age: Origins instead of the Dragon Age II team.

BioWare announces Dragon Age III: Inquisition

Dragon Age is set in a dark fantasy universe that is more or less a deconstruction of typical high fantasy, like Lord of the Rings. The world is under threat by an evil subterranean race known as the Darkspawn. Sometimes, the Darkspawn tend to form armies and attack the surface world en-masse. This event is known as the Blight, and is one of the worse things that the surface races have to face. In response to the Blight, the Grey Wardens were formed. The Grey Wardens is a group of the best fighters and spell casters in the world and its specific job is to combat the Blight.

Dragon Age: Origins was a unique game in that it had a tactical approach to fighting, rather than the hack and slash style that is favoured in games today, including the sequel to the game. The combat system of Dragon Age: Origins allowed you to zoom out the camera to get a better view of the battle, and allowed you to pause and queue up commands for your characters, such as casting spells and attacking.

The events of the second game happen in the same timeframe as that of the first game, but with different characters. The main character in the second game is a human named Hawke, who is destined to be the famous Champion of Kirkwall. One of the main changes that the game made was to the combat system. The game followed a more real time hack-and-slash style of combat with waves of enemies. Another major change was the main character. While in the original game, you could play any of the three races, all with different origin stories, the main character in Dragon Age II was specifically a human named Hawke.

Dragon Age III: Inquisition is set for a 2013 release.