14 DAY TRIAL // What it is: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning hasn’t made quite an impact since it was first announced, largely because it’s a high fantasy role playing game with multiple classes, branching paths and lots of choices to be had, making it similar to quite a lot of other games that have been coming out in recent years.
That’s a shame, however, as Reckoning is being led by Elder Scrolls III and IV designer Ken Rolston, with an universe written by R.A. Salvatore and imagined by Todd McFarlane. Thankfully, the energetic presentation given by Rolston at EA’s Gamescom 2011 conference made me try it out.
How it is: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning may have traditional features in a traditional genre, but its execution is very interesting, aiming to make the whole fantasy role playing recipe more dynamic, by implementing fancier combat, cinematic boss battles and stylish execution or combos.
The world of Amalur is a huge one, with 5 massive regions spread across two continents, filled with over 120 different dungeons, according to the developers at 38 Studios and Big Huge Games. Throughout the adventures in the game, players will forge their own destiny and choose various skills, powers and destiny cards, which replace the traditional classes.
Instead of opting for a class at the beginning of the game, Amalur allows players to fight however they want and, based on those actions, offers various destiny cards which give out bonuses to certain skills. As such, the variety of character builds is quite large and, seeing as how there’s a lot of special gear as well as dynamically generated one, Reckoning can be played in a lot of ways.
In terms of actual gameplay, as I’ve said, Amalur wants to deliver a more stylish and cinematic experience, borrowing from hack and slash titles like Devil May Cry as well as from action adventure ones like Uncharted, which, while sounding a bit weird when talking about a fantasy RPG, is a great mix.
When and on what: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is out on February 7, 2012, for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms.
We have a special page with all our Gamescom 2011 coverage.