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Saturday, 11 February 2012 14:14

Written by Max Parker (The Game Guy)

I am a powerful mage whose abilities are peerless.  I’ve been dropped into the center of a tumultuous war, and this war’s outcome hinges on my decisions and action.  Power like mine comes at a price.  I have a list of antagonists who want nothing more than to destroy me.  You could build a mountain with the carcasses of the enemies they’ve sent to slay me.  I spend my days roaming the wards of Faeland, assisting the downtrodden, battling the native creatures, and forging new weapons and potions.  It’s all part of a quest of self-discovery while carrying the burden of being “the chosen one.”  Also, I’m a woman.

The above accounts are a small portion of what makes a great RPG, and more specifically, what makes Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning a great game.  This is 38 Studios' first crack at greatness, and it’s rare to see a home run in a studio’s first at-bat.  The baseball analogy is appropriate since 38 Studios was founded and is currently handled by retired baseball great Curt Schilling.  This may be 38 Studios’ first game, but the people behind it are veterans of their respective crafts.  Schilling formed a game-making dream team of sorts, bringing in talent like Todd MacFarland, R.A. Salvatore, and Ken Rolston of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion fame.

I kicked off this review with citations of my experience told from the first-person perspective, because that’s how an RPG should feel when played.  Your character is your image projected on a fantasy world.  Spending dozens of hours developing a single character and opening new chapters of his or her story makes for an intimate experience.   If an RPG does its job correctly, you should be engrossed in your character, and Reckoning accomplishes this in stride.

Reckoning introduces us to the new, high-fantasy world of Amalur.  Schilling and 38 Studios have ambitious plans for this universe, so expect to see it expanded in the coming years.  The Kingdom of Amalur we roam in Reckoning is called the Faelands.  The Faelands are – appropriately enough – occupied primarily by elf-like magical creatures called the Fae.

The game begins with your character waking in a pile of corpses.  You died and were resurrected by what is called a Spirit Well.  Your resurrection altered your fate, giving you carte blanche over your destiny.  From that turning point, you are known as “the fateless one” or the “child of dust.”  Your title is the Amular equivalent of Skyrim’s “Dragonborn.”

It’s difficult to ignore the parallels between Skyrim and Amalur. Both are contemporary RPGs, plus any RPG that comes out two months after the freight train that is Skyrim is going to face comparison.  If you missed my review of Skryim, here it is in a nutshell:  It’s a vast RPG that seriously lacks polish in key areas like presentation and combat.  I did not crown it Game of the Year as many outlets did.

(This beast is about to perish)

I might as well get my Skyrim comparison out of the way now.  Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is better than Skyrim.  Reckoning excels in its narrative, dialogue, and especially its combat system.

Amalur needed to make a solid first impression if it wants our interest in the future.  Fortunately, the developers nailed it.  This small sample of Amalur not only feels original, but feels like a living, breathing world.  Enemies aren’t just pacing around waiting for you to walk by.  Soldiers are doing sit-ups in their camps or sharpening weapons.  Bears are rolling around in the grass trying to scratch an itch.  The peons of Amulur (called brownings) are worshiping shrines until you come in eyeshot.  Things aren’t waiting for you to be a catalyst for activity.  Everything has a life of its own in the Faelands.

The believable atmosphere of the Faelands is a testament to Reckoning's stellar presentation.  The game has a whimsical style ala the Fable series, but includes gritty violence, which implies that the stakes are high despite a cartoonish look.

While Reckoning’s are style is quirky, the voice acting is rock solid.  Here’s another contrast when compared to Skyrim. The world of Skyrim had completely forgettable voice work.  Side quests lacked that oomph usually provided by strong voice work.  The cast of Reckoning sports characters with different backgrounds, accents and demeanors.   Dialogue even features a concept usually lost on RPGs: humor.  Your character is voiceless, which I actually prefer in an RPG.  I can better relate to a voiceless character than I can to someone like, say, Shepard from Mass Effect.

(A staredown, Amalur style)

Conversation is handled similarly to the Mass Effect series, or any BioWare title for that matter.  Each response is chosen from a dialogue wheel.  Reckoning is less concerned with making sure you choose a “good or evil” path for your character, and rather focuses on your overall impact on the land.

An essential piece of the RPG puzzle is a competent battle system, and a lot of work went into Reckoning’s system to make it enjoyable even when played for hours on end.  You can equip two primary weapons at once while having the ability to cast magic as a third option.  The primary weapon categories are daggers, bow and arrow, faeblades, longsword, greatsword, staff, scepter, shakrams and hammer.  Scepters are magic-based ranged weapons.  Faeblades are beefed up daggers, and shakrams (my weapons of choice) are magical rings that are hurled like boomerangs.  Think of them like a less violent version of Kratos’ Blades of Chaos.  Each category has a different attack speed, range, and damage score.  As you progress, you’ll find countless weapons in each category that will vary in strength, worth and rarity.

The best advice I can give is to develop your character with an open mind.  I began Reckoning with every intention of being a brute that relied on the strong sword and heavy armor.  About midway through, I traded it all for a set of robes and a staff.

Reckoning is more action-centric than most RPGs, which is a compliment since many great RPGs lack this necessary ingredient.  The game’s combat system rivals gaming’s best beat ‘em ups.  Gaining experience and leveling up unlocks new moves for each weapon class adding even more depth to the expansive weapon catalogues.

(An image of power and strength)

Like other RPGs, I became quite powerful towards the end of the game.  That’s how the game should be.  The fabled “chosen one” should be able to demolish a pack of foot soldiers with ease, and when you do, it’s a tremendous feeling.

Reckoning’s story progression is quest-based.  You’ll have a main quest line and list of side quests.  Additionally there are task quests, which are typical MMO-style quests like “collect or defeat X of Y,” and faction quests, which are jobs that raise your notoriety within different organizations around the land.

Developers’ efforts are evident when exploring the map.  Characters everywhere are up for conversation, meaning that there’s no shortage of side quests.  Herein lies my biggest complaint with Reckoning: The number of quests gets overwhelming.  Every quest, including minor side quests, is substantial, and can take at least a half hour.  The quest log has the potential to fill up quickly, making each individual quest feel less special.  The sheer amount of stuff to see can be overwhelming at times.

(YOU SHALL NOT PASS!)

When “the fateless” isn’t fixing problems around the Faelands, the world has plenty of other things to do.  Leveling up strengthens your ability to craft custom-made weapons and armor, create potions and mine for gemstones.

Curt Schilling described this game as God of War meets Elder Scrolls. While this is an accurate description, it should be noted that Reckoning uses the very best elements from these games and none of the elements that hinder the experience.  It’s unfortunate that this game came out so closely after Skyrim.  Gamers might be burned out on RPGs after dunking 100+ hours into Elder Scrolls. This would truly be a shame because I had more fun playing Reckoning.

It’s never too early to talk about Game-of-the-Year candidates, and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning deserves to be at the front of the line of hopefuls.  This is the best game we’ve seen in 2012.

9.5 out of 10

Pros:

One of the best combat systems I’ve seen in an expansive RPG
Huge original setting with plenty to see and do
Whimsical presentation with top-notch voice work

Cons:

The amount of quests can get overwhelming

What did you think about Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning? Let me know on Twitter @GameGuyPGH

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