What was really on display during the demo was the game's robust combat system, particularly the control scheme known as the Tactics System. This system is much deeper than any that have appeared in Bioware's previous games, as it allows players an incredibly flexible amount of control over how their party fights. If you want, you can micromanage your party members' behavior or simply control your own character while Tactics handles the rest of the group.

Combat itself was shown to be involved, featuring some fast-paced action that would have been a little confusing if it weren't for the color-differentiation that springs up during battles: allies have a blue ring around them, enemies get a red one. While the traditional combat classes were utilized as would be expected, we were shown how spells and abilities will be able to be combined for devastating effects.

The two examples were an "earthquake" spell, which knocked all the enemies down, combined with an "indominatable" ability, which prevented the character from being knocked down at all; the end result was an area where only one person could stand upright and move freely. Shortly after that, we were shown how the "Cold of Cone" spell could be combined with the "Stone Fist" ability to freeze enemies and then instantly shatter them. Wizards will also have the ability to enchant weapons so they provide extra bonuses in combat.

While the combat looked like a lot of fun, it should be noted that the character animation seemed a little clunky and not-quite-finished. The other concern I had was that, while Tactics seemed like it was easy enough to navigate with a mouse, it didn't look particularly friendly to use if one was going to play on a console. No details were given about whether or not there would be an alternate menu interface for console builds, but here's hoping Bioware comes up with something a little more user-friendly.