Game Reviews

Heroes of Dragon Age

Star onStar onStar onStar halfStar off
Get
Heroes of Dragon Age

Based on the vast and sprawling fantasy world seen in BioWare's epic Dragon Age series, Heroes of Dragon Age is a curious beast that has enough magic to appeal to long-time fans, but offers little connection with the parent series beyond possessing the same setting and character types.

Positioned as a "history" of the series, Heroes of Dragon Age doesn't expand the existing story, but instead allows you to replay certain chapters and learn a little more of the lore behind this million-selling franchise.

However, even this is a bold claim, as the majority of your time will be spent assigning runes, levelling-up characters and generally fretting over your current squad, leaving little time to soak up the arguably inconsequential plot.

In Heroes of Dragon Age, you must put together a team of characters strong enough to face all odds in a series of turn-based battles. Each unit is aligned to a faction, which creates a rock-paper-scissors scenario where no single character can be sure of victory in each contest.

Team building

Add in other variables - such as speed and the position of the unit within the squad - and you've got a system which boasts surprising depth.

This is vitally important, because as soon as you begin the battle you are relegated to the role of observer. The entire confrontation plays out in a matter of seconds, and you can't interrupt or change your strategy.

Success grants gold and experience, while failure simply means rethinking your plans and possibly returning to previously beaten missions to bolster your squad's experience level.

You can add new characters to your ranks by purchasing "packs", and your weaker units can be sacrificed to make your better ones stronger.

Heroes of Dragon Age looks, sounds, and plays fantastically, but some fans may take issue with the free-to-play elements on show here.

Taking part in battles drains your energy level, and although this slowly replenishes over time, it effectively means you can't sit down and play the game for prolonged periods - unless you're willing to cough up some cash, of course.

Will you gain epic loot, or spend it?

Real-world money can also be used to purchase rare and powerful characters outright for a steep cost, while premium gems are required to gain access to some of the less desirable - but still adept - units.

Buying units with gold - the only currency in the game which comes free and easy - means having to put up with a weaker squad. The key to the game is having the best units - especially if you're looking to challenge other players - but the only real way to get this is to spend cash.

It's perfectly possible to play the single-player Quest campaign without pumping vast amounts of coin into Heroes of Dragon Age, but the game has been designed to put you at a disadvantage if you choose this route.

Whether or not you allow that to bother you is down to personal choice, but what's beyond question is that Heroes of Dragon Age is a finely constructed piece of software that should be experienced by all hardcore fans of the RPG franchise.

Heroes of Dragon Age

Heroes of Dragon Age offers impressive tactical depth and plenty of content, but how much you enjoy it depends somewhat on how comfortable you are with spending lots of cash within the game itself
Score
Damien  McFerran
Damien McFerran
Damien's mum hoped he would grow out of playing silly video games and gain respectable employment. Perhaps become a teacher or a scientist, that kind of thing. Needless to say she now weeps openly whenever anyone asks how her son's getting on these days.