Gamer Mom – Dragon Age Origins
image (C) Bioware
I got a pretty good response to my last post on adult content and being a gaming parent, which focused on the new Assassin’s Creed II title, and whether it was appropriate for kids. (Answer: not so much.)
So I thought that I would try to post, at least once a week in the new year, a brief review of a video game that I’ve actually played, the overall quality of the game, and whether or not I would recommend it for a kid.
This week, we’re going to talk about Dragon Age Origins. If you click the link in the last sentence, you’ll notice that you have to put in your age to even get to the official website for the game.
That should pretty much answer the “is this appropriate for my kid?” question. But just in case you’re still debating, I have two words for you: virtual brothel.
Dragon Age Origins bills itself as a “dark fantasy epic about violence, lust and betrayal.” That pretty much sums it up from an adult content perspective. It’s much like a darker, bloodier, sexed-up Lord of the Rings.
The game is from Bioware, the company that also made Mass Effect, Jade Empire, and the Knights of the Old Repubic series. Bioware games are known for gorgeously realistic graphics, intricate and interesting storylines, and some of the best voice acting in video games. They’re really, on the whole, like playable science fiction or fantasy movies–and well done ones, at that.
But they are aiming squarely at the adult gamer, and their products reflect that, in two key areas that affect parents buying for kids: moral choices, and sexual content.
Moral Choices
One element of most Bioware games is the option to go through the game either as a “good guy” or a “bad guy.” You can win most of their games by making thoroughly morally reprehensible choices. The games reward consistency of character, not quality of character. On milder games, like the KOTOR games for original Xbox, this can actually be a good conversation starter about the consequences of moral choices, our influence on others, and other topics. You can even get into an interesting philosophical discussion with your spouse on whether or not “virtual” choices have real moral weight. (But that’s sort of a sidebar.)
For our purposes here, Dragon Age Origins is a morally complex game. Some of the time, neither of the available options could be considered morally right. There is a lot of “choosing the lesser of two (or three) evils in Dragon Age.
On to the sex!
The cute “romance” subplots of the KOTOR games have evolved into Xbox 360 “Achievements” that basically equate to unlocking a sex scene. While those scenes aren’t graphic, and are fairly laughable to an adult who has an actual sex life, they also don’t leave much to the imagination. As a parent, I wouldn’t recommend them for a kid who wasn’t allowed to watch R-rated movies with sex scenes, or even for adults who might be struggling with porn addiction or similar issues.
Additionally, if nudity is a concern for you, there is a whole class of enemies, “desire demons,” which are rendered as essentially busty, topless women with horns and tails.
Which brings up another issue with the game–this is a “dark fantasy epic” which means that it contains depictions of magic, demons and the occult, so if those things are not cool in your household, take a pass on Dragon Age Origins.
That was pretty interesting ready
You know another reason why you shouldn’t let children play this? It’s rated M, for Mature. We have a ratings system for a reason and with a generation of people who grew up on video game we are going to see more and more games catering to a mature audience.
Some things you missed:
There’s an option at one point to murder a child (who has a demon in them)
There are SEVERAL opportunities to commit murder in cold blood and/or mercy killings with cutscenes
There’s a brothel in the capital city where you can purchase sex and be involved in a three or four-some depending on different circumstances
That said – the game doesn’t CENTER on these things. It is an epic tale of hard choices that you can make for the benefit of yourself or the benefit of others and your companions FREQUENTLY judge your actions – with a balance of some companions who are dyed in the wool do-gooders and others who are more morally ambivalent. It makes you think about what you choose and why that choice was good or bad in the long run is revealed at the end of the game.
So, for adults or very mature older teenagers with more liberal parents, this is actually an extremely rewarding gameplay experience.
Katherine: Thanks for dropping in and commenting. Good point on the fact that, like Assassin’s Creed II, the game is clearly rated M.
I actually specifically mentioned the brothel. While I didn’t specifically call-out the murders, I was trying to give a general gist of the type of inappropriate content without giving out too many direct “spoilers.”
I agree that, for the adult gamer, it’s a very rewarding gameplay experience that makes every effort to force you to really address and think through the moral implications of your choices. (And I think that the resolution/end of the game was more thorough and satisfying than about any other game I’ve played).
But it definitely earned that M rating, on all fronts.