Considered one of the great RPGs of the last generation, Bioware's dungeon crawler released to high praise when it hit shelves in 2008. With an old-school combat system and an emphasis on stats and loot, the game marked a departure from the action-oriented nature of the developer's other flagship series, the sci-fi epic Mass Effect. While the game is huge, full of content to explore and places of interest to conquer (even more if you pucker up for the substantial DLC expansions), the combat system and the stilted character interactions don't quite keep up with the ambition of the rest of the game. Although the action itself harkens back to classic PC RPGs, it's not the antiquated system that bring down Origins as an excellent game - it's just the fact that the cumbersome combat is nowhere near as intuitive or as satisfying as it should be. The action feels weightless and frustrating, making encounters with some of the more difficult enemies a chore to slog through. It would be fine if these sections could be bypassed or were minimised, but they take up a good chunk of the game, crippling an otherwise exceptionally ambitious title.
