Imagine for a moment, if you will, that video games were organic life forms and that three well known role playing titles: World of Warcraft, Skyrim and Fable had a three-way and fired their DNA at each other. Now cast your gaze forward a few months and imagine that this unholy union somehow resulted in an offspring. The resultant progeny would probably yield an RPG title bearing a great deal of resemblance to 38 Studios and Big Huge Games' brand new original IP, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. So how does it compare to its inspirations? There's only one way to find out!
Kingdoms of Amalur, from the get go quite literally drops players, as a corpse into a deep dark hole from which they are magically revived from the dead. Confused and alone our hero fights their way to freedom only to be told they belong outside of the natural order, with no part in the pattern of fate and no destiny to speak of. In search of answers our nameless hero sets off on an epic adventure... And perhaps even to save the world. After all, in a realm where everybody's future is already predetermined, only the fateless one can modify Amalur's destiny and alter events to change the bleak-looking future for the better.
The game is an action RPG that does an admirable job of merging the grand scope of an Elder Scrolls game with a levelling system reminiscent of World of Warcraft with a splash of Fable and an action combat mechanic that wouldn't seem too far out of place in a God of War or Devil May Cry game. Whilst this may sound like a glorious hodgepodge of mixed ideas thrown in together (and it is) they blend together admirably to create a singular game play experience that is similar, yet different in its own unique way.
As with any RPG worth your time and money, players are able to customise their character both aesthetically and functionally. The levelling up system feels like a solid hybrid of both Fable and World of Warcraft. As a player gains experience points, either through dispatching foes, exploring new areas or completing quests they will level up, earning skill points. To cater for gamers of all persuasions, the game features three deep ability trees: Might for all those sword swinging beefcakes out there, Finesse for the sneaky Pete in everyone and Sorcery for when you want to unleash your inner Merlin. Each of these skill trees has dozens of unique skills in which to invest your heard earned levelling points and as the main character starts off as essentially a blank slate, this levelling system enables the hero to be shaped in any way the player deems fit.
With these skill trees, the title allows players to completely control how they want to approach the games combat. The system facilitates the players ability to either invest heavily in a single tree to become an unstoppable warrior/mage/rogue juggernaut or to mix and match between the various trees to give themselves a few options during combat.
Investing points in the different skill trees unlocks destiny cards, each of which is essentially a character class. Placing points into the different trees unlocks additional destinies that the character can assume, for example if one point is invested in finesse; the rogue destiny is unlocked, whilst 37 points in each tree would unlock the Universalist destiny. These destinies not only give your character a class title, but they also provide unique bonuses ranging from increases in overall hit points or mana to bonus damage or increased chance of critical strikes occurring. Handy!
Perhaps the most appreciated addition to the game is the ability to re-set your spent experience points. Players can pay a visit to a fate weaver and for a cost, all of the character's abilities and skills will be reset, allowing players to re-specialise their heroes in a different skill tree and to experiment with all the game has to offer without starting a brand new character. It is a great feature (also borrowed from world of Warcraft) and one that I wish more RPGs would implement.
Combat in Kingdoms of Amalur is quite well done and although the controls feel a little loose at times, it is very solid and enjoyable. The game lets players equip a large number of weapons ranging from swords to chakrams, and scepters to daggers (among many more) and utilise them in conjunction with magic spells and other special abilities unlocked through level progression. This essentially means that as players level up, the combat feels as if it constantly evolves with them, keeping itself fresh and entertaining. Unfortunately though, anyone who has ever played a semi-difficult action game (Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry, God of War etc.) won't find a whole lot of challenge here as once players get a feel for the flow of combat, they can essentially dodge and kite enemies to death indefinitely.
The game's combat also features a unique, but extremely overpowered Reckoning mode. By using special abilities in combat or felling enemies, the Reckoning gauge will slowly fill up. When the bar is full, players can activate Reckoning, which slows down time, increases weapon damage and enables players to perform brutal finishing moves that with a bit of button mashing, can multiply the experience points received from the deceased. Its good fun and will undoubtedly help players out of a few tight spots or assist in overcoming some of the trickier boss battles.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning boasts one of the largest game worlds I have experienced in recent memory. It consists of five main regions, each of which has its own unique feel, from the dusty expanses of Detyre to the rolling Plains of Erathell or any one of the games many city hubs, there is plenty to take in (more than 100 different locations!) and whilst it may not quite be on par with the immense scale of Skyrim or World of Warcraft, it certainly does its best to populate each of its various regions with great attention to detail and numerous points of interest.
The game features an Elder Scrolls flavoured approach to the main quest lines, with a core storyline bolstered by several side-factions, each with their own series of associated quests. The game also features upwards of 200 additional side-quests, a robust crafting system that requires you to hunt the lands for reagents, scores of dungeons to pillage and hundreds of collectibles to discover. Whilst completing the main quest lines will set you back between 20 – 30 hours, completing all of the side-quests, maxing out the hero and finding all of those pesky collectibles will take the average player anywhere between 70 – 100 hours.
Rather than taking the 'realism is best' approach to visual presentation that is honed in on by endless numbers of RPGs in this day and age, Kingdoms of Amalur instead takes a page out of World of Warcraft's book, providing a more cartoonish style. This appearance affords the game a somewhat unique look, which is carried strongly throughout the lands of Amalur with a great degree of detail. The audio presentation on the other hand is fairly average, with some memorable (and not so memorable) music and voice acting that is done well in places, but grates in others.
Regrettably, in addition to the occasional audio foibles, Reckoning has a number of other weak points that let it down. First and foremost is the camera which loves to zoom and pan by itself during combat at times, which can lead to a bit of frustration when enemies decide to attack from off-screen. The side-quests all feel a little too samey, with the vast majority falling into the stock standard fetch or kill quests with very little variation to talk about. The same can be said for the denizens of Amalur, as no matter where players venture throughout the game, they are likely to run into the same few enemy types over and over again. Finally, the story, whilst decent enough at providing motivation to press forward (and does have a few strong moments), for the most part is fairly weak and probably could have been presented a little better.
However, despite the weak storyline, limited variation of quest tasks and lack of challenge, Kingdoms of Amalur provides players with an enormous, open game world absolutely crammed full of content just waiting to be discovered. Whilst the game doesn't break any new ground, it does provide an incredibly lengthy, satisfying experience with a well implemented combat system that makes the equivalent in Skyrim seem clunky and slow.
Overall Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning may be the first RPG game in many moons to provide a decent substitute for an Elder Scrolls game. Although it may lack the graphical prowess, sheer size and depth of lore observed within a game such as Skyrim or World of Warcraft, it has more than enough charm of its own to invite players into its immersive game world. For an original IP, this is a fantastic effort and a must buy for anyone who considers themselves an RPG fan.