Review 4: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

-Nick Walker

       Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a game that I had not heard much of and was also made by a company that I had never heard of before. 38 Studios, the developers of Amalur, backed by Electronic Arts have quite a creation on their hands. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a hack and slash role playing game (RPG) that takes place in a massive open-world environment. It features a high fantasy setting that holds many familiar creatures to any seasoned RPG player such as elves, ogres, goblins, and much much more. If anyone wanted an opinion on the game without reading any further I would say that the amount of time you can spend playing Amalur is well worth it's price, so go ahead and pick it up.

       Amalur's combat system is very straight forward but offers just enough depth to have me enjoy it. As you play the game your character will level up and gain points they can spend in a tiered talent tree that enhances your abilities and makes your character more powerful. These talents also specialize your character so you can choose to be a specialized mage, rogue, or warrior. You could also choose to be a sort of jack of all trade and master no specific tree. Amalur offers many different ways to play your character and the combat itself allows for it as well. I tried a bit of everything and the way that you play the game and the thrill of the combat felt unique as each play style. The combat consists of a few active abilities, dodging, and one or two different attacks. While the combat was not very complex and a little bit repetitive, it does feel rewarding when you are able to play the hero and take down a group of bandits or defeat a hulking ogre.

       The world of Amalur, while similar to a lot of fantasy RPGs, still does have a unique flavor. The art style somewhat cartoonish but that works very well for the colorful, fantasy world that 38 Studios was trying to make with Amalur. The game space itself is also very large. I had played for twenty hours and left the large forest zone I had started in only to realize that there were three or four other zones just as large with just as many towns and quests within them.

       There is also a lot of lore and background story to the world of Amalur, and that would probably be my biggest criticism with the game. It's not that I don't like that the world has unique lore and other things happening it it outside of the story that you participate in, the problem I have is the way that this lore is presented. In order to get immersed into this new world the player needs to read the in game books or read every quest presented to them. The player has to seek the story out rather then have this world that they are playing in take flow over them and take them over.


       Overall I would recommend Amalur to anyone that is a fan of western action RPGs and is looking for something they have not played before. It's combat is fine while a little bit simple and it offers many hours of gameplay in a vast environment. For a person new to the genre however, I think I would recommend something else because while Amalur is a solid game it does not excel at any one with and just does everything fairly well.