Below are some spoilers. Ye have been warned.

As cinematic as the Lord of the Rings films, Dragon Age has enough jaw dropping moments to keep even this reluctant RPG player interested. I started as a mage and though that has perhaps the most boring origin story, I was still totally floored by how they introduce the forbidden blood mage sect of magic. The first battle with the darkspawn and the introduction to the overarching plot was also spectacularly well thought out, as was the execution many of the side plots. That said, this is a completionist's nightmare--there's simply too much to do in the game and too much to see, and every decision you make will open certain paths and close others. I had a certain character in my party so I was able to beat a pirate queen at cards, but I lacked the charisma to get her to bed. Both paths would have unlocked the duelist ability she was going to grant me, but one was much more fun.

While this is the first game since Call of Duty 4 that's flirted with a five mouse rating, there are some gameplay elements that could be improved. You'll want to save after every major battle because autosaves are few and far between. It's simply good advice too in case you want to go back and see if your conversation can go a different way a second time. The dialogue is on the whole fantastic, but I wish that some of it could be skipped when the characters repeat themselves. Sometimes, particularly some missions in the fade, I'd kill a character and the NPC I talked to would still be talking about them like they were alive.

There's no multiplayer component, which some players will cite as being a weakness. In Bioware's defense, they've made a compelling and immersive experience that is as fine-tuned as a clock. Every piece and character is exactly where it should be. By introducing the chaos or universality of millions of users shaping the world, the game would lack the impact it has on the individual player.

Macworld's buying advice