Dragon Age: Origins - Witch Hunt

Review

Common Sense Media says

Short, gory, cliffhanging conclusion to the Origins game.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Dragon Age: Origins - Witch Hunt is a mature role-playing game with very adult themes. It is a downloadable content pack that requires Dragon Age: Origins or Dragon Age: Awakening game to play. It is brutal, violent, contains sexual overtures and should not be in the hands of younger players. The violence is quite intense and, depending on the difficulty setting, the 70-90 minutes it takes to finish the campaign can be edge-of-the-seat gaming, which could be too much for many players. There is strategy involved, minor puzzle solving, but mostly it is about battle tactics. This is a linear game that allows for some branching dialogue choices that all, ultimately, lead to the same conclusion. 

  • Positive messages0
    The gist of the story line involves demons, theft, a bastard child, and dark magic. Along the way of the 90-minute-or-so adventure, the party that includes the gamer's character will hack and slaughter numerous foes in a visceral manner.
  • Positive role models0
    While the imported character may have the noble intention of finding a friend (or if a male character, the mother of his bastard child), generally the characters are in a maelstrom of bloody battles. This is about killing in a violent and brutal manner to get to an all-too-short final scene with Morrigan.
  • Ease of play2
    In order to play the game, the original titles have to be installed -- which means that players have familiarity with the control schemes. There are new challenges here, but the core control elements have not changed.
  • Violence5
    DAO Witch Hunt is an extremely hack and slash game with blood fountaining, gore, bloody pools, dismemberment, skeletal remains, and animals pinning down enemies to chew on them. In-game characters are often splattered with blood after battles.
  • Sex2
    There is no overt sex in this download but -- depending on the relationship with Morrigan (the "witch" referred to in the subtitle of the expansion) -- there can be some tension in the confrontation at the end of the campaign.
  • Language1
    There is playful banter between characters, and while there is nothing that is blatant in the dialogue that underscores the entire game. In-game characters may get testy and anxious, but the script does not drop foul language into the mix.
  • Consumerism3
    Witch Hunt is a downloadable content pack that requires Dragon Age: Origins or Dragon Age: Awakening game to play.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking0
    Not applicable.
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What's it about?

DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS - WITCH HUNT concludes the storylines of the earlier Dragon Age games with a brief return by Morrigon, the Witch of the Wilds. At the end of Dragon Age: Origins, Morrigan conceived a child with a Gray Warden in order to spare the warden's life during the climatic battle with the arch-demon. She left after that, ostensibly to raise the child, but has returned looking for old relics. A new character can be created or an existing character can be imported to journey across the five environments to meet Morrigan in front of a mirror that will portal her to another dimension. This is more of a cliff-hanger than a conclusion and is a precursor to more intrigue, and battles, to come.

Is it any good?

 

There was a distinctive sense of "is that it?!?" at the conclusion of this download, simply because there was more intrigue than resolution left on the virtual gaming table. A couple of new characters join the party, bringing new dialogue and witticism to the game, as well as powerful attacks. Soon into the game, instead of strangers, they begin to feel like friends. The action is brutal and the ending is less than satisfying, but this downloadable campaign should be played by fans of the license. It feels short, but is enjoyable and challenging, nonetheless.

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What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about violence in games and how to separate what is seen on a screen from real life. What is the impact of media violence?

  • How downloadable content is extra and not included in the price of the original game.

This review was written by Michael Lafferty
Adult
September 11, 2010
AGE
14
 
Its Dragon age, Obviously gore.
Dragon Age was originally violent with people getting dismembered and a very hack and slash nature. The DLC of dragon age is obviously going to be pretty identical. But this is a little worse in my opinion because its quite noticeable that the gore is higher than Dragon Age: Origins. Yes, I know its DLC for Origins. Some skeletons and gory parts in this doesn't really make it very appropiate, Some suggestive Sexual content and not a truck load of swearing, Gore, like Origins is the main concern.
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Teen, 13 years old
February 28, 2012
AGE
13
 
A few hours of good fun isn't worth that much,but still awesome game.
I finished the campaign in 30-45 minutes as it was a breeze for me,even on max difficulty.This came with the Dragon Age:Awakening pack which I got at GameStop.However,there are massive amounts of blood,violence and gore with lots of slashing,slicing and graphic killing.Not recommended for kids under 13.
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This review was written by Michael Lafferty
Platforms:Windows
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Role Playing
Developer:Electronic Arts
Release date:September 7, 2010
Price:$7
ESRB rating:M for Blood, Intense Violence, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content
This review was written by Michael Lafferty

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ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
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