Games

With franchises like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect under its belt, role-playing game specialist Bioware has long been a favourite with fans of the genre. This third instalment in the Dragon Age series will do nothing to tarnish that reputation, delivering the most expansive and enjoyable fantasy RPG experience this side of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

When a mysterious explosion creates a series of rifts in space, it opens the door to an invasion by inter-dimensional demons. It falls to you as the sole survivor of the blast to uncover the truth about what happened and traverse the land closing the rifts. Okay, so the plot is a bit hokey – but like all of the best role-playing games, the main narrative is only the backbone onto which players will carve out their own stories, through the characters they meet, the quests they undertake and the way in which they choose to manage the game's political manoeuvring.

For such a vast open-world RPG, Dragon Age: Inquisition is a surprisingly good-looking game when it comes to both the landscapes and the myriad creatures roaming around. And with every map packed full of side-quests and other points of interest, this third Dragon Age title will devour huge chunks of your life before you get close to the end credits.

Dragon Age: Inquisition, Electronic Arts, Xbox One/Xbox 360/PS4/PS3/PC, £50 Approx
HCC VERDICT: 4.5/5