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In Dragon Age 2, the story takes shape as it is passed along from narrator to listener. A short, plump man sits upon a throne and regales his unnamed female counterpart with the tale of our new hero, Hawke. In my preview session with executive producer Mike Darrah, I sampled two different versions of the game's opening: an exaggerated introduction of the powerful Hawke and her crew; followed by what really happened.

Dragon Age Legends is a Facebook-based strategy RPG launching this February. Perhaps more importantly, it's a method through which you'll be able to unlock stuff in the upcoming Dragon Age 2. Legends takes place in Kaiten, a city in the Dragon Age 2 setting of the Free Marches. Players ally themselves with a Viscount named Ravi (nephew of Khedra) in order to save Ravi's son Elton from danger and protect the Free Marches.

"Alongside their Facebook friends," according to EA, "players will take on challenging quests within an engaging storyline, earning loot, sharing rewards and growing their kingdom." EA 2D general manager Mark Spenner hopes to "raise the quality bar" of Facebook games with this offering, in order to draw traditional gamers.

While we don't know exactly how Legends' cooperative tactical combat works, we'll find out soon enough: EA will hold a beta for the title starting in January, with invitations distributed to lucky EA account holders who have Facebook accounts and subscriptions to the Dragon Age Newsletter -- and who sign up for the beta, of course.

Dragons and comics sitting in a tree.

Unsurprisingly, Dragon Age 2 will feature some manifestation of "Project Ten Dollar" (an incentive to buy EA's games new) akin to Mass Effect 2's bonus content delivery pipeline, the Cerberus Network. "We will be doing that," executive producer Mark Darrah confirmed to Joystiq during a recent press preview of the game. "We haven't announced what's in it, but it'll definitely be something kind of in that Cerberus vein where there will be additional content."

Speaking of Dragon Age 2 DLC in general (and not necessarily just the freebie content), Darrah said we could expect to see a boost in quality over the Dragon Age: Origins DLC, which prompted complaints about a limited scope and areas being recycled from the main game. He assured us that the sequel's add-ons would be more unique: "What we're doing with the DLC in Dragon Age 2 is making it larger; so it'll be bigger teams, more unique environments, more unique creatures -- so that it gets the attention it deserves to get."

BioWare intends to offer free DLC to early birds as well, with pre-orders of Dragon Age 2 being upgraded to the BioWare Signature Edition at no extra charge. Dragon Age 2 will launch on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on March 8, 2011.

The Dragon Age 2 trailer posted below follows the ascension of Hawke, who goes from refugee to "Champion" over the course of the game -- but we're still unsure about what's he's champion of, exactly. Romance? Beards? Not cutting himself with double-swords? Slow motion jump-cutting?

An adventurous lady awaits your party.

An adventurous lady awaits your party.

Pre-order the highly anticipated action RPG by January 11, 2011 and receive an automatic upgrade to the BioWare Signature Edition at no additional cost.

There will be blood. Dragon blood.

Bioware gives back to its fans in the form of the Dragon Age 2 Signature Edition.

Enticement? Enticement!
BioWare has conjured up a new incentive to pre-order next year's talkin' Tolkien-esque epic, Dragon Age 2. Pre-orders for the game will be automatically upgraded to the "BioWare Signature Edition," which comes packed with a download code for an extra playable character (and accompanying missions), a downloadable soundtrack, an in-game armory with bonus weapons and "additional downloadable items." In total, BioWare values it as a $20 bonus that you could get for no extra charge.

This special edition of Dragon Age 2 (for Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3) will be available via pre-order from Gamestop, Amazon, Electronics Boutique and the online EA store, with more stores to be announced later. You'll also be able to find it in several European territories, as well as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

There's just one catch: Your pre-order will only transform into BioWare Signature Edition if it's placed before January 11, 2011. If you miss the deadline, you'll have to pick up a regular copy of Dragon Age 2 on March 8. Maybe you could take it to a convention and have someone from BioWare autograph it for you.

Two new screens from Dragon Age 2 have been passed along from BioWare, one of which showcases dudes with anteater masks. Sure, that may not be the technical term for said masks, but we're totally going with it. Head past the break for both.

Hoy babes and crazy monsters await your eyes.

Experience the stunning directorial cut version of the new Dragon Age 2 "Destiny" trailer, featuring extended footage more blood, more story, more action.

Wait, you actually liked that Dragon Age 2 trailer that surfaced last week? You're clearly not as big a trailer buff as the rest of us. See, about 40 seconds of additional footage ended up on the cutting room floor, which compromised the vision of the director. Watch it in all its restored glory after the break.

We ditch the controversial topic to talk about all the new announcements from Gamescon

The rise to power begins.

The debut trailer for BioWare's next, arguably even bloodier installment in its newest RPG franchise, Dragon Age 2, recently saw the light of day during EA's Gamescom press conference. Though trailers for the first installment focused on the game's menagerie of protagonists, this clip focuses on just one: Hawke, the spear-staff wielding badass who can apparently hold his own in a fight against the burliest of Darkspawn. Then again, when you can summon demon hands to literally rip enemies in twain, we suppose your fighting prowess isn't all that important.

#gamescom No, Dragon Age 2 won't look this good, but the Dragon Age 2 trailer that just debuted in Germany should give you a sense of the action they're going for. The game will be out in late March. More »

Dragon Age 2 has been given a March 8 release date for the US and March 11 in Europe at this morning's EA press conference at GamesCom. That's one week late, according to the liner provided with Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening!

BioWare's medieval RPG returns next spring.

Those Darkspawn don't stand a chance.

EA has announced its lineup for GamesCom, both to be shown on the show floor and behind closed doors, and Dragon Age 2 is on both lists. If you plan to attend the August 18-22 event, you'll be able to meet (someone's version of) protagonist Hawke for the first time. Other games on the floor include Rock Band 3, Darkspore, the newly dated Crysis 2, and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Meanwhile, EA will have private showings for Bulletstorm, EA Sports Active 2, EA Sports MMA, The Sims Medieval, and more. Perhaps press will get an opportunity to interact with whatever Epic's "Bulletstorm-sized unveil" is -- though we don't necessarily want any of our colleagues' heads to explode. See the full list of showings after the break. Your head will ... be perfectly fine, but intrigued!

BioWare surprised fans at Comic-Con with a world premiere hands-on preview of Dragon Age 2, completely open to the public. A block down the street from the convention center, fans were treated to a short presentation by lead designer Mike Laidlaw, as well as a few very brief combat segments and a look at the story that kicks off the game.

I'll get impressions out of the way first: It's faster and more brutal, less cerebral and more exaggerated. You might think that's because BioWare wants to make the game a little flashier and more accessible, and you'd be right in part. But Dragon Age 2's dark secret is that even if the action is a little more over-the-top and a lot darker, there's a real, solid, story-based justification for it.

Did BioWare dumb down Dragon Age? Let's find out.

A brand new and fiery piece of artwork has been added to the gallery.

#bioware BioWare's next big role-playing game, Dragon Age II, will be a very different thing. For starters, the sequel sports a "new visual style," readily apparently from concept art and newly released first screen shots of Dragon Age II. More »

Saying that Dragon Age 2 has better graphics than its predecessor isn't much of a compliment. Though Dragon Age: Origins remains one of our favorite games from 2009 (as a matter of fact, it was our #4 pick!), on consoles, it looked like the game's entire texture library was secretly replaced with macro photographs of roadkill.

The game's announcement promised "updated graphics" and a "new visual style," and the first two screenshots - part of Game Informer's month-long look at the title - are certainly updated, but we're not quite ready to call them "visually super hot" and we're not seeing the "new visual style." The image above shows a highly detailed Hawke (remember, s/he's the new Commander Shepard-esque lead) but look at that ground texture! The image after the break shows a new Ogre, some awkward Hurlocks, and Hawke's not insignificant ups.

Be sure to peep the full-res images at Game Informer, then come back and tell us what you think. We're going with: unconvinced but optimistic.