Kingdoms Of Amular: Reckoning

When Big Huge Games announced they were working on an RPG, I was both skeptical and hopeful. I knew them for their strategy titles, and while they created quality games I was dreading another slow-paced entry to the genre. Well, it looks like all my fears were for nothing. While they don't deliver anything extraordinarily ground breaking here, every element they have pulled into the game are ones I have found fun in other games. And one point I feel I have to make early on: This is nothing like Skyrim. Many people have asked me if it's like Skyrim/Oblivion, and I'm assuming this has to do with the designer being involved in the game. Really, the only thing familiar was the lockpicking, the rest of the game plays vastly differently from Skyrim and it's a good thing. So on to the key points I get asked about:

Combat--

This is where Reckoning shines. The combat is slick and fun, and it's the first game I've heard touting the 'Play any style you want!' where it actually seems to work. Nothing like sneaking up, backstabbing someone, instantly throwing a fireball in the face of your next foe, and then switching to a two-hander and charging into the next group of enemies. If I had to compare the game to anything that would give you an instant idea, at first impression I felt like it was a mix of Fable and God of War. No, it's not quite as much of a slaughter fest as God of War, but the combat has that fluid, satisfying style that God of War brought to the table.

Environment--

It's big. It's not a sandbox, and you will find yourself in valleys and going down paths without any clear way to get to the other side (if there even is anything on the other side), and in this regard the world reminded me more of Fable. But there is a lot to explore and do here, and I never found myself thinking 'I really wish I could climb to the top of that mountain' because there was too much to keep me busy right in front of me.

Sound--

Aside from a few times where I just thought the environment music was a bit odd, the music is great and the voice acting actually surprised me. Though I've read Salvatore, I find him a bit cheesy and repetitive at times, and for some reason my brain associated that with terrible voice acting. Fear not, everyone you meet is voiced well, and while I did roll my eyes once or twice the reason I did so has been long forgotten. Also, there is a lot of voice acting here. Even NPCs who have nothing really important to do for the story have quite a bit of dialog for the purposes of lore.

Graphics--

The environments are gorgeous, but you know that from watching the trailers. There will be some who don't like the slightly cartoony direction that BHGs took with this, but I for one have thoroughly enjoyed it. I just got done putting in over a hundred hours with Skyrim (I know, I know, I'm running behind the rest of the pack), and I'm tired of looking at 'realistic' graphics. This was a refreshing change and one I thoroughly enjoyed. I will repeat what I've seen in other reviews because I agreed: As beautiful as the environments are, the character models are slightly lacking. They're not terrible, and probably would have done well in many other games, but in comparison to the environments they feel a bit underpolished. Given a choice between fluid combat and a fantastic looking model, though, and I'll take the combat any day. I know they had to make a choice here, and they made the right one.

I suppose it should be noted that I'm playing this on Steam, as I'm a bit once-bitten-twice-shy with Origin registration. I've seen reports of bugs and glitches, but aside from the odd texture popping up where it shouldn't maybe five times during my play, I haven't encountered anything that would bring me to a halt. Really, though, if you're not sure if you want this game, play the demo. It runs you through the tutorial portion of the game and then gives you 45 minutes to explore--and while you'll only touch the tip of the iceberg in that time, it will either save you sixty bucks if you don't like the style of the game or it will make you crave more. Personally, I'm betting on the latter.

This review is being written from the perspective of a gamer who has beaten Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning on hard difficulty straight through. I've completed roughly half the side quests and put 50 hours into the game. The one shortcoming (and I blame this on game burnout), is that I have only fully leveled my character up the Might ability tree, neglecting both Finesse and Sorcery.

This is a great game. It was an undertaking five years in the making and the look and polish of the gameplay reflects this fact beautifully.

The best part of the game, no question or debate about it, is the ability to tailor your combat preferences to your exact liking. You like big bulky weapons, but want to be able to cast powerful spells? No problem. You want to sneak around and backstab? Easy as pie. How about all three at the same time? Yup. You can mix and match all three combat trees to form your own personal badass. In fact, the game encourages you to do so by means of Fate cards, which are passive bonuses that heighten your skills/abilities. Depending on what skills you decide to specialize in, you'll get different Fate cards. And if you don't like your skills, you can always opt to reset them by means of a Fateweaver. This gives the game immense replayability.

The second best aspect of the game is the combat mechanics and the fluidity of these mechanics. Ripostes, counter-attacks, and other combat abilities are tweaked in such a way that the player should be fully capable of stringing combinations together seemlessly. You press the button, you use the skill - no problems. Controls are exceptionally responsive. This is impressive to say the least.

Third best aspect is the sheer size of this game. I wasn't expecting a world this huge, nor was I expecting to put in 50 hours and still not do everything there is to do in the game. I admit, I was overwhelmed at certain points of the game because there are so many sidequests. There are tons of things to craft, and tons of places to explore.

Fourth, this is a beautiful game. Skills look awesome and you will feel awesome when you use them. The land is varied and well detailed. And the customization of your character is interesting to say the least. It's easy to say that this game is pretty. This game is pretty.

All in all, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is excellent.

The reason I take one star away is partly because of the story. I found that it was as a whole, convoluted and borderline uninteresting. However, there is intelligent dialogue and hilarious moments throughout the story. The voice acting is well done.

The second reason is because of the lack of variety of mob encounters. It became too easy to kill the same creatures over and over once I learned their combat habits. Seeing that I played the game on Hard difficulty from the beginning, I was expecting a bigger challenge.

Those are really my only gripes. This is a definite purchase for anybody who is into action RPGs. If you're a completionist, you'll be busy with this game for a very long time. Hope this helps! Happy gaming, friends!

Creative and interesting presentation. Combat system is unusually well done and quite responsive. Other designers could definitely learn from this one!

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