Dragon Age Inquisition combat shown in 'pre-alpha' video

Dragon Age Inquisition is still some way off, but BioWare have shown the world (the world via Game Informer ) the first glimpse of its combat system, which aims to mix the best bits of the first two games - Origins' more tactical nature and II's quicker pace - into one salubrious brew. Despite going on about how important team mechanics are, none of that's shown off, but scrapping does look a whole lot more dynamic - positively Witcherian, even.

Obviously this is early footage, so we're unlikely to fight the spritely broccoli-person the guy in the video spends quite a lot of time dodging, but I'm happy the team have added a rolling move. Also of note: the warrior can now learn a hook-shot style 'harpoon' move that can bring enemies closer, or pull shields away from annoying defendy types. We're also promised more environmental options, thanks to the unholy power of the Frostbite engine.

Tom Sykes

Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.