Dragon Age: Addictions.

A few months ago an addiction was lost. It was a fun addiction, one the required no drugs and had a low cost of fifteen dollars a month. That addiction was World of Warcraft. However, it seemed lately like something was missing. The social circle once enjoyed and friends that pixilated the computer screen were gone.

For a while, it seemed good. No distractions, nothing to do save for homework. This was a good thing before the past Friday. It just took over! The overwhelming urge to play . . . Something. If not Warcraft, than something else would have to do.

Dragon Age: Origins, it took Warcraft's place as of Friday past. With its multiple story lines, side quests and array of colorful characters, I knew it would be the one.

The game has over one hundred hours of game play, and has reply value. A feature that is invaluable for a game to have. The choices made influence how other characters interact with the created character. There is even downloadable content to make the game play longer, and adds even more options to the already expansive world played in.

The controls are similar to that of Warcraft, thus making the transition from Warcraft smoother than if going from a first person shooter. Dragon Age is played in a third person objective point of view. The camera can be moved to an overhead position as well to give the tactical advantage of seeing all action going on around the character's party. It also has an option to pause and micromanage the battles!

The story is not particularly strong, a nation's army is wiped out and the created character meets other characters and raises a new army to defend the nation from evil. However, this is due to the multiple answers that the created character is able to choose from when asked a question. This system allows for the created character to feel more sentient while playing him/her.

With a great game, comes great addiction. This would explain the playing time of twelve hours on Sunday, as well as the sleeping in until two-thirty on Monday. Although there is no social aspect to the game other than the characters you meet, there are new friends that are generated on the computer screen now.