Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning: Preview
We’re seeing such a glut of enormous, high-quality RPG’s at the moment that the market risks being flooded. Your Skyrims, SWOTORs (that’s Star Wars of The Old Republic) and Mass Effects all offer incredible experiences that can last for many tens (if not hundreds) of hours. It was thus with a sense of something approaching mild dread that I tried out Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which on the face of it seemed like it might have little to offer to make it stand out from the fantasy/sci-fi horde.
How mistaken I was. Blending fast-paced God of War-style brawling combat with spells, elves and death knells, Reckoning is one of the most exciting new RPGs I’ve played in years, and probably one of the most accomplished conjuring-up’s of the Tolkin-esqe spirit that marks a truly great fantasy world.
In the Kingdoms of Amalur, everyone has a set destiny. This is pretty depressing for mankind as a whole, who know they’re destined to be defeated by a homicidal race of evil fae creatures, though it’s particularly depressing for you, because you’re dead. Fortunately it’s not too long before you un-kick the bucket when a gnome playing the role of Frankenstein brings you back to life.
This leaves you in an interesting position. Having died, your destiny was fulfilled. Now that you’re alive again however, your future is a blank slate. And so you are let loose upon the world of Amalur, ready to screw up other people’s destinies left right and centre, track down your killer, and maybe save the world along the way.
This lack of destiny also stops you from being tied down to your class choices. Fancy playing as a sword-wielding brute who bonks people on the head until they go dead? Go ahead. Suddenly feel like playing a sneaky-wizard who throws fireballs and creeps around with double daggers? You can swap over whenever you feel like it. This helps tie story into gameplay, making it easy for a character who up until now has specced magic to go team up with the local thieves and assassins.
It’s unlikely you’ll find yourself short of things to do, factions to team up with, or worlds to save (alright, admittedly there may be only one world to save). The game world is huge and all of its towns, dungeons and quests feel like they’ve been handcrafted by a developer with a lot of tlc. The fast-paced combat is what sets it apart though; transforming what in other games would have been a tedious fetch quest that involved you hitting a bear with a metal stick until it was dead, into a frenetic life-or-death battle with a worthy ursine foe.
Some other good old fashioned fantasy tropes pop up with a new twist: there’s plenty of the old-fashioned elf/human racism, which tend to make people’s initial reactions to you in the first town amusingly unpleasant, should you choose to play as an elf. You can aid ensorcelled wolves, defeat vile Wizards and help damsels in distress. But most importantly, the character creator lets you create a medieval version of Doctor Watson, complete with amazing mustache. I mean, what possible reason could you have for not wanting to go run around as Doctor John Watson, Wizard?
You can be fantasy this guy.
I guess the highest compliment I could give Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is that about two hours into the preview build I was playing, I became acutely aware that I just wanted to grab a full copy and sink tens of hours into it without stopping. In a market with no shortages of quality RPGs, Reckoning is definitely one to look out for.
Find more cool art by Les McClaine at www.evilspacerobot.com
