Dragon Age II: Legacy Review for PC

System: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Dev: BioWare
Pub: Electronic Arts
Release: July 26, 2011
Players: 1
Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p	Blood and Gore, Language, Sexual Content, Violence

The final boss battle is interesting and epic, but also somewhat problematic. There are a lot of moving hazards involved in the battle, and the companion A.I. simply isn't up to the challenge. Even with a great deal of pausing and micromanaging, it's difficult to keep a party of four from killing itself on environmental hazards. Although there's a certain cachet to facing down an ancient evil with a single rogue and her faithful Mabari hound after the rest of the party has burned itself to a crisp, that strategy is unlikely to work at higher difficulty levels. Many players will be facing several frustrated reloads, especially with a lower-level party.

Dragon Age II: Legacy Screenshot

The full story takes four or five hours to complete, which, while not extensive, is within reason for a DLC package. Hawke will come out of the experience with a nice new armor set and a powerful class-specific weapon, as well as some touching scenes with the Hawke family. It's possible to backtrack through the main dungeon after the final boss battle in order to seek out missed loot or complete side quests, but once Hawk initiates the final conversation that completes the DLC, Legacy will be inaccessible for the remainder of that playthrough.

Dragon Age II: Legacy isn't going to convince anybody who strongly disliked Dragon Age II to come back to the fold, but it shows improvement in terms of level and encounter design from the original game. The vignettes with various companions—especially Hawke's sibling—add nicely to the overall game's story, and it's nice to see the battle and dungeon layout improvements provided by Legacy's development team. It's a solid, albeit short, DLC addition that bodes well for any planned expansions to Dragon Age II.

By Becky Cunningham
CCC Contributing Writer

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

4.0

Graphics
The new areas are nice-looking, atmospheric, and unique.

3.5

Control
Legacy features battles that are better laid-out than the original, but the final battle is too much for the companions' AI.

4.0

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Legacy is fully-voiced by the main game's cast, with special scenes for several companion characters.

3.2

Play Value
Legacy is fairly linear and only takes a few hours, but has some nice loot and a few side quests to tackle.

3.5

Overall Rating - Good
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 - 1.9 = Avoid	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	3.5 - 3.9 = Good	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair	4.0 - 4.4 = Great	5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

Uncover the harsh truth about the Hawke lineage.

Adventure through several new locations including a prison constructed by the Grey Wardens.

Obtain a powerful class-specific weapon to which you can apply upgrades of your choice.