Dragon Age 2 Wants You Back

There's been a tangy whiff of "hmm" around Dragon Age 2 amongst the PC faithful, with the game apparently headed in something of a press all the buttons kill all the monsters press them kill them press them kill them direction we perhaps hadn't expected from our beloved tactics'n'conversation opus. Turns out that perhaps we've got the wrong impression, though.

Now, while this video makes the bewildering mistake of primarily consisting of a chattering man filmed in near-darkness, it also very deliberately seeks to demonstrate that pause'n'play tactical combat remains present and correct in the PC version of the game.

That this video exists at all is more than a little fascinating: is this damage control after some journo-muttering in response to earlier killkillkill demos, or genuine, proud chest-thumping about the options the game offers? I honestly don't know, but I appreciate the gesture regardless.

So, here is a video. You should watch it, and then have some manner of feeling about it. Do try not to be afraid of the darkness-clad bespectacled man, though.

I've not first-hand seen the demo that made Quinns "very nervous indeed," so I'm not really in a position to be either reassured or unsettled by this one. It looks very much like Dragon Age: Origin's tactical combat to me, but it all seems ever so fast and OTT. A short promotional video doth not a fair benchmark make, however. I have faith that Bioware appreciate the importance of DAO's fanbase to DA2, and that we're yet in for something suitably meaty and brainy.

Meat. Brains. Such is the stuff of life.