A well-known author, a game designer, and a comic book artist come together to create a new series with great potential.
Artwork by Ed Gloor
Games ride on the success wave of their predecessors. Many game franchises in this day and age only find massive success when they have a previous game from which they advance. For the world of first person shooter games (FPSs) and role playing games (RPGs) this is a certainty that many new games can’t avoid. Game companies like Bioware and Bethesda have a very prestigious pedigree in RPG making, giving many of the games they release hype, even if it’s a new series. However, a new RPG has emerged from the minds of R.A. Salvatore, Ken Rolston, and Todd McFarlane called Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning (Amalur).
This is a completely new series, but it has already garnered some hype of its own with the knowledge that these three men are the creators. R.A. Salvatore is a New York Times best-selling author known best for The DemonWars Saga and his Forgotten Realms novels, and he has crafted the story for Amalur. Ken Rolston was a lead gameplay designer for The Elder Scrolls series, and designed the combat for Amalur. Finally, Todd McFarlane, who is a cartoonist and writer best known for his series Spawn was the lead designer for the art of Amalur. These three men, with the help of 38 Studios, Big Huge Games, and Electronic Arts, have brought their combined idea to life.
The world of Amalur is a massive world of varied environments, with a vast history. This enormous game begins with a prologue detailing the most important events in Amalur’s recent history. A group of Fae (magical creatures, not bound by fate) rose up to destroy all other so-called “young races of the world.” These Fae were led by an evil lord, and transformed into a new race called Tuatha. This war has claimed many victims, and the newest one is the player.
After this prologue, the player begins by being carted away on a stretcher by two Gnomes. This is where the character creation begins, as the Gnomes discuss the dead body. In typical RPG fashion, the player chooses a race (Almain, Dokkalfar, Ljosalfar, and Varani) a sex, and a starting bonus like extra health or more damage with fire weapons. Each race also begins with special abilities of their own, such as two starting points in blacksmithing or any other skill in the game (persuasion, picking locks, sage crafting, alchemy, detect hidden, stealth, and dispelling). To top it all off, the players can pick the names of their characters, and then they’re off on the adventure.
Almost every race in Amalur has a fate set in stone. There is nothing they can do to change how their life is supposed to play out. However, after being resurrected by the mysterious Well of Souls, the player has no fate. In a world where fate controls everything that happens to people, the player is the most important person to ever be in existence. The players have no fate, so by, the games logic, they can make those around them have no fate as well. This is where the story of Amalur sets sail.
The world of Amalur is a linear open world. What this means is that when players are in an area, they typically stay in that area until they are ready to advance to new ones. Many of these areas are very unique environments. The usual assortment of forests and mountains are a given, but Amalur also includes swamps, a desert, and rocky wastelands. The game has hundreds of side quests to complete, and they tie into the story of the game. Guilds or factions (groups of people with special skills) are also in Amalur, and they all include series of quests for the player to complete.
This game may have a fantastic world and set up, but the game play is what stands out the most. Many RPG’s have a fantastic leveling system and story, but also sub-par game play. Amalur has all the excitement and action of a hack-and-slash (a game involving brutal and melee combat) with the deep backbone of an RPG. Timing of button presses will result in a different succession of hits, and combinations. The player has a wide arsenal of weapons to choose from, including but not limited to: swords, daggers, bows, hammers, and magical staffs. Amalur also includes two completely unique weapon types: the magic shooting scepter, and two magically enhanced disks called Chakrams.
In addition to being able to use two weapons simultaneously, the player can have four skills hot-keyed (mapped to buttons) to instantaneously use during combat. These skills are things the players must unlock when they level up (upgrade). There are three skill trees (groups of skills) to put points into. Might is the warrior skill tree, Finesse is the rogue (comparable to assassin) skill tree, and Magic is obviously the magic skill tree. As players put points into these trees, they can unlock new skills for use in combat and raise their statistics with attacks and weapons. The player gains experience points by doing things like picking the lock of a chest, killing an enemy, and completing quests. This is how the player levels up.
Something that differs from the leveling up of other RPG’s is the Twists of Fate system. As the players put points into skill trees, they unlock cards with exceptional power ups to their game play preferences. For instance, a warrior might unlock a card that increases physical damage and his or her overall health. However, the game expects players to play it however they want. There are cards unlocked for being a hybrid character. My character was a mage warrior, with the ability to gain mana (limit to combat skill usage) from taking damage, and warp instead of roll.
Amalur is a massively expansive game, and an addicting one at that. For a completely new franchise, Amalur has set the stage for imminent sequels to come. The only real issue to complain about is the so-so voice acting, and the terrible lip-synching. Other than that, Amalur has changed what people have come to expect from RPG combat. This is what will keep the players intrigued and playing for dozens of hours to come.
Rating: ★★ ★★★
