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In the world of role-playing games BioWare is king. With their latest release "Dragon Age: Origins," they have expanded upon their extensive kingdom. "Dragon Age: Origins" takes players back to a time of swords and shields, kings and queens, magic and myth. You are a Gray Warden and the only thing standing in the way of the burning sea of a demonic army that has sights set to destroy your home country and the eventually the world.

Anymore when it comes to RPGs, role-playing games, customization and open-ended game play is the key. "Dragon Age: Origins" has plenty of both to go around. Players can select from three races: human, elf, or dwarf, and from there select from three classes: worrier, rouge, or mage. Depending on which combination you choose the game has six different origin stories that offer a specialized feel to your character and a decent need to go back and replay the game. Not only does the beginning change depending on your race and class but also the overall game experience will change. How you play, your tactics in fighting, how other characters react to you or treat you.

No matter what opener you go with for yourself, the path will eventually meet with the others in that you are chosen to become a Gray Warden, a fraternity of heroes with only one mission on the agenda: stopping the Blight. The Blight, as you later come to find out, is a massive army of what else? Demons, lead by a giant dragon beastie, of course. After being whisked away from wherever you call home to fight the "unstoppable" demon army you begin to meet others who share the same goal as you, Gray Warden or not.

One of the most interesting and entertaining aspects of this game is the relationship formed between you and your companions and among the companions themselves. Each character you run across has extensive back-stories, interesting talents and different effects on the story and overall game play.

Through interaction with these characters and your decisions throughout the game you can influence how they feel about you, be it infatuation and idolism or unbridled hatred and eventual abandonment. Either way it makes for a unique play through and the ability to come back for more.

Now, the retail game itself comes with 100 plus hours of game play, this includes main quests and side quests but after you've completed these stories, BioWare has and is planning to create more add-ons and purchasable downloads. The developers have also given PC gamers the ability to create and share their own stories and quest with a tool set available for download.

Overall, "Dragon Age: Origins" offers players with enough game play to keep them busy through most, if not all, 'Dragon Age: Origins' Role-playing game gold of the winter break. Its in-depth story lines and character interactions can keep you entertained and wanting more. However, this game does have its drawbacks. When it comes down to it, for the Xbox and the PS3 this game is hard to play. The button layout takes time to get used. On the other hand, the PC version offers you that handy keyboard and mouse that make these types of RPGs much easier to play. Not to mention the toolset that is only offered for the PC. If you have the choice between a console or PC go with the PC version. You'll be much more pleased, trust me on this one.

Another small annoyance you may have with this game is the constant baby sitting. It is impossible to play through this game and only have concern for your character alone. In battle you'll find yourself pausing and flipping through your party members to set commands and make sure that they're actually helping and not standing in a corner watching you get beheaded. BioWare's game developers did their best to take the stress off the player by adding "Tactics." It allows you to set your parties reactions to certain scenarios pre-battle. Using the "Tactics" well can make the battle sequences much more enjoyable.

"Dragon Age: Origins" really doesn't offer much in the way of online play. Not that this is a requirement for a good RPG, in fact it's rarely asked for. But, for those of you out there addicted the massive party online play, you are not going to find it here. So, if the online thing is what you are craving you may want to wait for latest installment of the "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic," which is set to be entirely online.

BioWare's "Dragon Age: Origins" comes out on top for me despite some of it's less desirable qualities. It's able to stand along side BioWare's legendary creations on the RPG front, like, "Neverwinter Nights," "Mass Effect," and many others. Offering hours of game play, fascinating stories this game is well worth the sixty bucks. For me "Dragon Age: Origins" gets a four and half stars out of five.

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