Set in the fictional kingdom of Ferelden during a period of civil strife, the player assumes the role of a warrior, mage or rogue coming from an elven, human, or dwarven background who must unite the kingdom to fight an impending invasion by demonic forces. BioWare describes Dragon Age: Origins as a "dark heroic fantasy set in a unique world", and a spiritual successor to their Baldur's Gate series of games, which took place in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.
Upon its release, Dragon Age: Origins was lauded with overwhelmingly positive reviews and considered a critical success. Review aggregator site Metacritic ranks the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 versions of the game with scores of 91, 87, and 86, respectively. The game also received multiple awards from numerous outlets, ranging from IGN's "PC Game of The Year (2009)" to the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences "Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year 2009".
An expansion to the game, titled Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, was released in March 2010, and the official sequel, Dragon Age II, was released in March 2011. BioWare intends for Dragon Age: Origins to serve as the foundation for a much broader intellectual property. Even before its release, plans to expand the universe introduced by the game were underway; this included sequels, pen and paper games, books, and comics that would expand the scope of the Dragon Age franchise. Several of those projects have since been released.
Read more about Dragon Age: Origins: Gameplay, Development, Downloadable Content, Soundtrack