SUCK or SUCCESS

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

In this new series of opinion pieces, we’ll be assessing the most important features of those big game releases on the horizon to asses where they might soar or, as the case may be, come crashing down to earth in SUCK or SUCCESS.

The first game we’ll look at is the upcoming Role Playing Game (RPG) from Big Huge Games and 38 Studios called Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. This game is noteworthy for a number of reasons; chief amongst them is the amalgamation of RPG and MMO elements, with a combat system more akin to Action games added to the already heady mix.

And like all good RPG’s and Massively Multiplayer games one of the big talking points of Amalur is...

Size:

Success:

Where this game is concerned; size really does matter. A quick look at Amalur’s map  will show you that the world you get to explore is huge. In the first town alone you can pick up around 5-6 side quests right off the bat, so you certainly won’t be struggling for things to do while traversing the dangerous faelands. To say that Amalur is as big in scope as Skyrim and will give you lots of bang for your buck is as much as RPG fans could ever hope for.

Suck:

Epic games that you can potentially invest 100+ hours in can be a fine thing; although they can also be a drag on occasion should certain unwelcome sections outstay their welcome. For instance; a gamer can only take so much traipsing across large spaces to pursue fetch-quests before it becomes a chore. Thanks to a quick travel option from the map, and the fact that side quests appear to occur fairly close to where they’re started from, overly long treks shouldn’t be a problem.

Another aspect of Amalur that could tip the balance of whether you like or dislike the game is the lore and story. Amalur’s universe has been created by the fantasy author R.A. Salvatore; who has an impressive array of published work from which gamers can take comfort from.  

Which leads us neatly onto debating the merits and demerits of the...

 Story:

Suck: While playing the demo for Amalur you may get the impression that it’s too much of an archetypal fantasy tale. If you know anything about well-worn fantasy RPG tropes, or the lord of the rings, then you’ll definitely feel you’ve seen this all before. Also, although the people you talk to don’t tend to yammer on for too long; early on the game bombards you with all kinds of names for races, places and faces. So to try and take them all in, and make some of them stick, is a taller order than is necessary.

Success:

However, if you’re after a good old fashioned fantasy RPG to tide you over until Mass Effect 3, then you really can’t go too wrong with Amalur. If you aren’t all that into exploring every conversation option with every Non Playable Character (NPC) then you don’t have to. Lines of questioning that result in being given a quest are clearly highlighted in the conversation menu, meaning that if you don’t want to listen to a heap of conjecture and want to get to the good bits you can. For the story to truly be a success though, we have to hope that the quests themselves can alleviate themselves above the norm for the genre.