Publisher: Bioware
Genre: RPG
Summary: Earthquakes are disrupting the dwarven lyrium mines and leaving them open to attack by the fearsome darkspawn. You must delve into the depths and discover the true source of these tremors.
Gameplay: The only major change from the regular game is that enemies level with you, and boy does it make a difference in difficulty. The exact amount will depend upon when you attempt to to play the DLC and how characters have been built (and skill of the player), but no matter what, a bunch of equally-leveled characters seems to be more of a slog. Perhaps it's just that enemies are more closely clustered here than in the open environments of the main game.
There are also a few puzzles to get and find extra loot (including a Towers of Hanoi puzzle, for old times' sake), but nothing that is vital.
Style: This is the most beautiful the Deep Roads have ever looked. The cutscenes, too, are the best in the game in terms of sharp, smooth animation.
Story: The two dwarven companions are interesting and quickly well-characterized, but there's sadly little dialogue from your usual party. There is fascinating new lore learned, but only after several hours slaughtering things. Overall, the combat outweighs the story. I wish there was a more even balance between the exploring and fighting. I can't focus on exploration while fighting an army of darkspawn, and the new areas the can be opened up afterwards are small.
There also aren't any choices in the story. I'm sure Bioware is getting tired of having to account for every new possibility, but having some sort of options within the story would have been nice (maybe some paths with less combat? Or even just alternate routes?) As is, I find little reason to replay.
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