Whilst the rest of the gaming world is currently hip-deep in this Autumn’s onslaught of must-have franchise entries – “Halo 4“, “Black Ops 2″, “Assassin’s Creed 3“, to quote but three titles currently snaring gamer hearts and minds – I’ve found myself enraptured by…something else.
The game which torpedoed it’s studio – but it’s a lot better than that factoid suggests…
Yep – “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning” - the brainchild of former baseball great Curt Schilling, brought to life by a team headed by legendary game designer Ken Rolston, sterling fantasy novelist R.A. Salvatore and comics superstar/geekery mainstay Todd McFarlane.
I picked this game up in the summer and finally got stuck into playing it a couple of weeks ago – and I’m loving every second of it. Action RPG games are definitely my bag and this game from EA and the now-shuttered 38 Studios/Big Huge Games gives me the stuff that I love – comparing stats, loot grabbing, multiple classes of characters, fast action against hordes of bad guys, huge maps full of fun environments to explore and the obligatory giant mutant spider Big Bad villains to lay the smack down upon.
There is nothing new here, arguably, but the game’s determination to reduce the barrier to entry for new players in this sub-genre – combat is easy to pick up, the skill trees are easy to understand, there’s freedom to re-specify your character if you find that you don’t want to be a mage and want to be an assassin, say – is a real selling point.
Eat swirly, elemental arrow doom, dark creatures of the forest!
If you’re a fantasy nerd and you want to pick up a game which scratches your Elf/Dwarf/Wizard itch whilst looking gloriously colourful and appealing, “Amalur” is definitely worth your time.
Related articles
- Amalur Lead Designer Joins Turbine (escapistmagazine.com)
- 38 Studios Project Copernicus – Concept Art Dump (awesome-robo.com)
Might have to try this one out. Sounds awesome. I’m still pretty hooked on Skyrim, but this sounds right up my alley!
I avoided “Skyrim” because I was concerned about getting into a 120 hour RPG.
By my conservative estimate, “Amalur” is at least as long as “Skyrim”. There’s a lot of game in it for not much money. Give it a try – you might like it.
Looking for it today when I head off to work
Sounds awesome. What system(s) is it on?
PC, 360 (the version that I’m playing) and PS3. Demos available certainly on Xbox Live and PSN – and on PC too.
At this rate, EA should put me on commission…:)
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