Last week we had the pleasure of being invited by Electronic Arts to go hands on with Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning from Big Huge Games and 38 Studios. We were also lucky enough to have the opportunity to meet with two members of the development team, Lead Designer Ian Frazier and Producer Sean Bean.
Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning is a large scale open world role playing game that takes place in the high fantasy world of Amalur. Originally developed as a MMO, it was later redeveloped into a single player adventure when Big Huge Games was acquired in 2009.
During our time with the title, we were given free range with the opening sequence that sets the plot for the game. Kingdoms of Amalur opens to two gnomes disposing a corpse; turns out, said corpse is the character that you will controlling for the duration of adventure and it’s at this moment that you determine the look of your mighty hero.
The character customization for your character is incredibly diverse, flexible and it’s almost impossible to create a bad combination of physical traits. Facial features, hair style, hair colour, body disposition — if you can name it, you can change it. You also get to choose between four races: a human race and an Elvan race, each with a good and evil counterpart.
Amalur has similar themes to most high fantasy RPG. There is an expansive roster of races to encounter, and many pieces of armour, weapons and other items to collect and use against all manner of monsters that you will face. Of course, there’s magic by the barrel-full. You get to romp around in a large scale world that’s been seemlessly fit into this game.
As our character seemingly returned from the dead, we were immediately thrown into the game’s first dungeon, which also serves as the tutorial to the gameplay and control elements that will used throughout the game. This first dungeon let us try out the Kingdom of Amalur’s trademark Destiny System. The Destiny system at its core allows players to experience the aspects of a particular play styles known affectionately as Might, Finesse and Sorcery. As you put points into these different styles you open up different classes, known as destinies, that reflect your choices. It’s a refreshing approach to the often shoehorned class choices in most modern day RPGs. There are 40 different destinies available to players over the course of the game.
The visual style used in Kingdom of Amalur is extraordinary and something worth taking note of. Character models are stylized, which is something that made us appreciate the title even more as it gives the game a more immersive and memorable feel. The environments are colourful and detailed requiring moments where players just need to stop and look around to enjoy the amount of effort gone into making these landscapes. The detail on the whole is amazing and it’s no wonder when the development team is so passionate about what they create.
Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning is an incredibly promising title. The atmosphere and detail are undeniable. RPG fans are in for a real treat and even those who usually steer clear of RPGs may just be converted. It arrives on 9 February 2012 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.
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