Dragon Age has no co-op, multiplayer

BioWare doctor-bosses Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka have "no plans" to incorporate co-op or multiplayer into Dragon Age: Origins.

"This is a single-player game, and we chose to make it so that we really invest you as the character going through the world and make the experience that much more immersive and deep," Doctor Ray told MTV Multiplayer.

"But there is a social space outside the game. We know the world is connected and how important that is, so we've integrated the community and the game together.

"There's a ton of downloadable content planned, and also the user content generation tool is going to release. So user-generated content, at least on PC - we'll explore whether it's feasible on the console systems - will be shared with other players and fans. There's also servicing of your Achievements and what you've done in the game; that'll be true on all the systems," he said.

Dragon Age: Origins was delayed on PC recently so all three versions (PS3, Xbox 360) can launch together this autumn off the back of the same, beefy marketing campaign. This also affords BioWare more time to polish the desktop game, which has met with less slack-jawed admiration than the Canadian story-specialist is used to.

Doctor Greg and Doctor Ray remain optimistic, however, of a traditional role-playing renaissance that will recapture the magic of Baldur's Gate.

"Dragon Age is taking stuff we've done in the past with Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights to a new level, kind of mashing together the best of features," said Doctor Ray. "It's a pretty exciting combination."

But Neverwinter Nights, remember, spawned a significant online community due to robust multiplayer integration.

BioWare is currently working on Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

And, as for the future, Muzyka added: "You'll see more stuff along the vein of Dragon Age: Origins. You'll see more stuff from our MMO team [The Old Republic] and there's stuff we haven't announced yet that's different from all of those."

So Doctor Greg and Doctor Ray are a very successful team. But more successful than Doctor Sloane and his murder-solving medical staff? Really? Are they really?