As if on cue with my return to work, BioWare has announced the "first official expansion" to the game due for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 16. It will retail for $39.99 and will require the full version of the game and allow players to use previous characters or make new ones.
Called "Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening," the press release describes it as, " . . . a brand new area of the world to explore known as Amaranthine, featuring an epic story that will allow players to unravel the secrets of the darkspawn - and their true motivations! Players will face a range of horrific and terrifying creatures including an evolved, intelligent breed of darkspawn and other menacing creatures such as the Inferno Golem and Spectral Dragon."
A video came with the press release and I must admit, even though I know it is a promotional piece, it worked and I look forward to the game.
Now, in fairness to other games, I can only select games I personally played. One comment suggested "Uncharted 2," was the best game of 2009 while another said "Left For Dead 2." I didn't play "Uncharted 2," but it won a lot of awards and probably is as great as I heard it was. Unlike our full time movie critic, television critic and music critic, there is no full time games writer here at the Deseret News or almost any newspaper for that matter. Instead full time staffers do the job with extra time. Lois Collins has headed this up for years and Layton Shumway, Charlie Craine and I contribute along with Lois.
None of us has the funds or time to play every game and most video game information comes out in new media while newspapers in general don't quite understand games yet. So we do the best we can with what we have and we do it because we love games, not for extra pay.
So feel free to vigorously disagree but don't make it personal. I am the leading expert on my own opinion.

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