Platform:
360/PS3/PC
Genre:
RPG
Released:
February 9
Kinect/Move:
Not compatible
RECKONING
Kingdoms
of Amalur: Reckoning, the epic battle that is EA's latest blockbuster role-playing
game introduces a massive game world with many hours of adventuring to be had,
the game promises us a lot and I intend to find out if it delivers.
Reckoning
is an epic, open world role-playing game, dreamt up by R. A. Salvatore, (creator
of Drizzt Do’Urden and author of The Forgotten Realms series) and brought to
life by Todd McFarlane (artist, writer, toy designer and best known for
creating Spawn), Ken Rolston (the lead designer of The Elder Scrolls III:
Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion) and his team at Big Huge Games.
 |
| Drizzt Do'Urden |
 |
| Spawn |
HOW IT PLAYS
The game
has three main “Destinies”: fighter, mage, and rogue. This system lets you
determine your play style. You can choose one style or mix depending on how you
play. You can use a primary and a secondary weapon; whether you want to be a
warrior who uses a sword, while shooting with a bow, or a mage that uses a
staff, who also shoots magic from a sceptre. These styles and more can be mixed
in any combination along with parries, combos and cancels. Each weapon also
swings and damages differently, and the skills you unlock give them more power
throughout the game; once you add advanced abilities such as advanced spells
and skills the combat becomes the highlight of the game.
The
enemies are varied, especially in the early and middle stages of the game. You
encounter sprite-like creatures such as Brownies and Boggarts, wolves, bears,
Tuatha, Ettins, trolls, you name it! The bosses are also stunning, holding some
awesome challenges.
There is
also Reckoning mode, where time slows and you have a ‘Fate’ meter that runs out
wherein you can rapidly attack anyone nearby and finish them off in a brutal, intense
way which also gains more experience as well as just looking cool.
As you
level up, character development points can be distributed toward strength, sorcery
or finesse, also worth noting is that you don't have to put all your points into
one single style to make a decent character. Outside of combat, you can
customize your character with a variety of skills ranging from blacksmithing
and potion-crafting to improved stealth and hidden item detection.
LOOK AND FEEL
The
graphics reminded me a lot of Fable with a colourful backing and kind of
cartoon World of Warcraft type look and feel to it. There’s plenty of gorgeous
scenery, crazy scenes and amazing town designs to satisfy, as well as a near endless
supply of dungeons, quests and NPC’s to find. The world would take hours to run
across from one end to the other (there is a fast travel option). In Kingdoms
of Amalur: Reckoning you can even gain access to real estate. You can expand
your home, add rooms, crafting stations and more which adds just another touch to the game.
The game
continues on after the credits to let you keep adventuring if you wish, it also
offers quests that cannot be completed until this time which also adds gameplay
value if you wish to keep playing on. There is no New Game + which is a shame
but hopefully this and future DLC will make up for that.
Kingdoms of
Amalur: Reckoning is out February 9 on 360/PS3/PC.
SCORE: 4.5/5 SCARECROWS
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