Before The Fall

So in typical fashion and since I am already set to pick up the Halo: Reach Legendary Edition, plus the "special edition" hardcover guide... I think we're going to go and sit in line on Monday night for the midnight release. At this point, I mean why not? We've gone this far already and spent that much on this thing...

Speaking of which, I recently picked up Plants vs. Zombies from Xbox Live. This marks the third time that I've bought this game now (PC, iTouch and now Xbox 360). Popcap must love people like me...

But to my surprise even after playing the original over and over again, this latest incarnation is still as addictive fun as it's PC brother. Adding in versus and co-op modes adds a nice touch, along with the ability to play co-op in the story mode itself.

Another pick up off of Xbox Live was the final piece of DLC for Dragon Age: Origins, Witch Hunt.

Let me throw this out there now: If at the end of Origins (considering if you are playing as a male character) you did not choose to perform the ritual with Morrigan, this DLC is all but a waste of time and money! It won't add any depth to anything and she will just shut you down for refusing her. So you will not find out why she returned, where she went (the DLC takes place a year after the end of Origins) or where she is going or even what she is planning in the future. She just babbles something about Flemeth and... *sigh*

So again, no loose ends are tied up here folks, not unless you opt to save your Warden at the end of Origins and go through with Morrigan's baby making ritual. Or if, like me, you said to hell with your rituals! I will die! You only receive a cold hard slap of WTF to remind you that you just wasted money for nothing. Yeah, I was pretty floored when that happened...

All in all, the DLC (like most) is a relatively short play and I can't help but think that maybe BioWare could have ended their Dragon Age: Origins DLC support with a bit more of a... bang? And considering if you didn't go a particular route, this DLC will do just about nothing as far expanding the lore any further. I hoped that maybe there could be some choices to the matter, maybe talk Morrigan into sharing a tidbit or three. But alas, nothing.

I have also been reading about those that have spoken out about how BioWare said they would support Dragon Age with DLC for two years and now they've ended just about a year later. The claim from BioWare's end is that Dragon Age II is coming along better then they hoped, so that's why they won't support Dragon Age: Origins with any more DLC.

For starters, I can never understand why people or companies decide to throw numbers out there such as this. It only works against them! But if I remember correctly, that was a piece of the hype that went into promoting Dragon Age: Origins back in the day. I hope they don't throw these kinds of statements out when the sequel arrives next year. 

And you know what? Considering how poor a lot of these DLC packs/expansions/whatever end up being, I am a little grateful that they've stopped. After playing through Awakening and feeling like I lost out on something (apparently your character is a lousy, rotten monster of a person, because no one from the original team save Oghren, follows you to your new post), I opted not to get any more of their add-ons and/or expansions. That alone just left way too much to be desired in my book. I should have stuck to my guns and stayed away from this final DLC, because it just proved what I thought I already knew.


As for Dragon Age II? I am already debating if that will ultimately be worth purchasing. Or pre-ordering for that matter. I may just skip this and await Gears of War 3 or who knows? Maybe I will still be playing Halo: Reach or Fable 3 or who knows what else?

Oops... this one got a little Dragon Age dominated! I just hope BioWare will work to improve their DLCs in the future, because at the end of the day I enjoyed the hell out of both Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Would I like to expand both universes with more content? I would love to! But as it goes right now, I can't say that I'd throw anymore points/money at this thing.