Dragon Age Origins: Awakening Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides) [Paperback]

This review is for the paperback version of the Dragon Age Origins Awakening (DAA) game guide.

I have previously reviewed the Dragon Age Origins (DAO) game guide and I will be making some comparisons between the two.

This guide has 256 pages (DAO had 336 pages)

The paper used is the slightly shiny plasticized type you find in magazines. It feels and looks better than the paper used in the collectors edition of the DAO guide. Pictures and maps particularly look more vibrant than in the original guide.

The heavy paper used means that unless you are very near the front or back of the book, it will actually stay open on its own (without need for a paper weight) which is a bonus.

Thankfully the contents page has been expanded this time around and you get four pages compared to the inadequate two for the larger DAO guide. As a result looking things up is easier than was the case in the first DAO guide.

Main Sections in this book are:

How to use this guide : 4 pages
Basics (includes Character Generation) : 6 pages
The Classes : 53 pages
The Party : 8 pages
Companions : 15 pages
Supporting Cast : 9 pages
Equipment : 37 pages
The Bestiary : 15 pages
Walkthrough : 57 pages
Side Quests : 36 pages
Random Encounters : 2 pages
Achievements and Trophies : 3 pages

This is more or less the exact layout used in the DAO guide. Almost half the guide just explains how to play the game and it is understandable that some that brought the first guide may feel this is a waste. However, players that did not buy the first guide will find a wealth of useful information in the first half of the guide that is both relevant to the original and expansion. Even those that read the first guide, will when you actually read it, find that it is not simply a cut/paste of the first 150 pages of the first guide. Everything has been updated for the new levels, skills, crafts, items, creatures etc.

The first half of the guide:

The classes section has been expanded to take account of the new specializations, spells and talents. However they still don't list the stat bonus from specializations eg: Shapeshifter = +2 Con, +1 AC (you can only find this in the game itself at level up time...)

Thankfully sections have not been filled out with useless information from DAO. For example the weapons section quite concisely lists the tier 8 and 9 standard weapons (leaving out the lower tiers), and dedicates most of its pages to the unique weapons that most of us are interested in.

The Walkthrough onwards:

The walkthrough part of the book doesn't actually start until page 154, so your walkthrough is just 98 pages long. In the DAO guide your walkthrough didn't begin until page 152 and was 179 pages long. These figures compare favourably with the first guide, since the game content is less this time around.

The maps are better annotated this time around and they have used different types of icons and colours to help with understanding the more complicated mapped areas.

The better paper allows you to examine the screen shots better than in the original guide and (from what I have noticed) screen shots included are actually relevant to the section and not just random eye candy to break up the text (as was the case in some sections of the original guide).

The addition of spoiler warnings is a nice touch to stop you flicking ahead and ruining the story surprises (if you are worried about that).

In the walkthrough, side quests are still listed without giving a page number so to get to them you have to go via the contents page. This was the same in the DAO guide and is still annoying...

It is obvious that Mike Searle (the Author) has made an effort to build on the structure of the earlier guide by making improvements to the format. There are a couple of niggling things that need fixing for the next guide, but overall it is another excellent guide for anyone wanting to play this latest DAO expansion to its capacity.

4 Stars (would have given 4.5 if it was possible).

if you like actualy roleplaying in Dragon Age and not just swinging a sword around then this book is for you. Better than the 1st guide, with clearer design and easier to follow. I found myself going back to the 1st section a lot to find where to buy the best items and where to find rune tracings. I prefered the paper in the Origins guide as it's less slipery and my bookmarks tend to slip out of this one. It also details more character reactions to your decisions in this guide. Basicaly i found myself using ALL of this guide instead of just the walkthrough maps. The sidequest section could have used more detail though. All in all, this book is indespensible for people who want the fullest experience of DA: Awakening, and worth the money.

The guide is ok, covers the basics of the quests and gameplay. Giving a little insight into the different styles of character but sometimes it does not always seem to give you all of the information that you need for side quests or info about a particular character build. That being said the game isnt huge and if you get stuck (unlikely) this will give you just enough to get through. If you are thinking about buying Awakening or the actual dragon age you would probably be better to get the full game guide as it is obviously much larger but i havent used it.