Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning offers fantastic combat, a decent story, intuitive menus and the occasional visual flourish. Yet it's almost entirely lacking in creativity.

The gameplay mechanics are there, but the essence and soul of a true RPG, is absent. The world is beautiful, but somehow feels like you've been there before.

I wanted to love Reckoning. I really did. And don't get me wrong, it's a good game; I did enjoy it. But I also got really tired of playing it.

With some more selective content editing and a more carefully crafted balance, 38 Studios could have something unbelievable in their hands. For now, Amalur is an interesting proof of concept, and one to watch.

This Fable-esque game is one that anyone who enjoys the genre is going to have a good time with for the thirty plus hours it'll take to complete as it opens itself to many different play styles, here's to hoping for a patch to fix the quest markers and my 'frozen' character though.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an ambitious and good looking game, and if you're into more action packed role playing games you'll find a lot to like here. The sense of freedom is a bit of an illusion though, and the linear layout is a bit of a shame. But as long as you're aware of this you'll have a good time in Amalur.

Even though it's not the renaissance many were expecting, Reckoning is a decent addition to the genre which will keep fans of western RPGs occupied for many hours.

Even though the Kingdoms of Amalur title looks like it's meant for Michey's fans, it is a fair and entertaining video game with a particularly well-made combat system. However, don't expect anything more. Stories of the world along with your hero will be pointless after some time being in the game, and all that's left are vast regions and tens of quests without their own identity. Regardless of my criticism, it's still worth it. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is worth of your playing till the very end, therefore you should reserve a few days and play.

It rivals Skyrim's scope, but as a genre piece (albeit a smart one), it lacks the other game's mystery - there's no craggy elusiveness, no glacial hinting at secrets beyond comprehension, to help you overlook the more familiar elements. It's less a world you discover, ultimately, as one you revisit, and that's a failing no amount of fancy footwork can disguise.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is not all bad, it's just very bland. For a game that was in development for roughly seven years, the different gameplay systems don't seem all that well-thought-out. And perhaps the lengthy development also explains why Amalur brings absolutely nothing fresh to the table. It simply lacks its own identity.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning just isn't fleshed out enough to be the product of the three visionaries behind it. The story isn't concrete enough for anyone to feel engaged in it, the art design falls flat due to the handful of repetitive enemies and the combat is halted by strange choices in enemy AI and attributes.

Amalur is a very easy world to drop in and out of – if only Skyrim were so willing to share us with our real lives – but it is never a place where we can truly put down roots. And all this is a shame, since Salvatore's encyclopaedic creation is something worth investing in.

Had Amalur been stripped down to its bare essentials it would be a much easier game to recommend. This would make for an excellent 12-15 hour action game with its cool combat and fun player progression and a main story that's certainly no worse than most other videogame fare. However, as an especially long RPG masquerading as an open world design it simply overstays its welcome, it feels soulless, and tries to juggle too many balls at once.

While it's great to see a developer take a new (and very welcome) approach to spicing up combat in an RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is purely mechanical where the soul and inspiration should be. Players who can content themselves with massive amounts of loot and an endless series of simpleminded errands may be in heaven, but RPG players craving depth and the ability to make real choices or play a role will be out of luck. It might be a great game if the goal is to kill hundreds of hours of free time, but Amalur doesn't have much to offer otherwise.