Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning review

The action RPG genre gets some much needed action

Words: Hollander Cooper on February 7, 2012

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yaswanth - September 24, 2012 6:25 a.m.

GOod combat but boring world.
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nikrusty - April 13, 2012 4:57 a.m.

Love the game :) thanks Big GAme Studios
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Nightwalker11 - February 25, 2012 midnight

It's a real worthy of playing game.
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payonel - February 13, 2012 2:12 p.m.

That is one pathetic rational for "not better than Skyrim" Basically what this unjustified review (is submitting|claims) is that it is more fun walking around and doing nothing but sight-seeing [world exploration] than actually playing the game and progressing your character [stats and combat]. Note that Reckoning does not fail in world exploration, it is actually enormous and dense in content; whereas Skyrim is enormous, yet sparse. Oh, and he has a fetish for dragons, so Skyrim wins.
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payonel - February 13, 2012 4:34 p.m.

That ending, "...so skyrim wins" was sarcastic, by the way :)
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evermore9871 - February 10, 2012 12:16 a.m.

For a second there when they asked if it was better than Skyrim I was like "You Bastards!" and then I saw "No". So I was just like "Oh thank god".
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FinderKeeper - February 9, 2012 11:22 a.m.

I always enjoy reading the review from the start, and guessing at what the review score will be. Before I got to the last page, I was thinking "he's gonna give it an 8." That doesn't always happen with reviews, but I appreciate it when it does. It means that the reviewer has done a good job of explaining how he sees the game. Everyone will have a different opinion, so even though the readers may think the game is rated too high or too low, they know why the reviewer gave it the score he did. But yes, AAA titles from established powerhouses sometimes (not always, but more often than they should) seem to get the benefit of an extra 5-10% (for example, a 10 instead of a 9), because of "who they are", and not "what they are."
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FinderKeeper - February 9, 2012 11:26 a.m.

To be clear, I'm not referring to KoA as a "AAA title" nor to 38 Studios as a powerhouse. The powerhouses in this case would be Bethesda, Bioware, and Lionhead.
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Slayer11496 - February 8, 2012 3:28 a.m.

Characters of KoA's world are ironically more believable than skyrims, which is strange because skyrim prefers to cater towards believability. Anyway, i've just put some hours in with this game and actually found myself engrossed and role-playing, not just stat whoring like a few other modern RPGs. If you like games like fable you'll really enjoy this. Did i mention how beautiful the world is?
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patbateman17 - February 9, 2012 6:45 a.m.

So I'm not comparing games because I think the comparisons are silly (just like trying to compare Dark Souls and Skyrim when they are just two great games with different takes on the genre) - but I'm a PS3 user currently debating whether to get Skyrim (patch today to hopefully fix the lag issues) or KoA. I liked the KoA demo and LOVED Fable, but I'm just not super sure. I rented Skyrim and was totally overwhelmed, but relish creating a super powerful warrior mage character that rips guys to shreds and has awesome armor (the epic mage battle youtube vids convinced me :). Any thoughts? Again not comparing the 2 or 3 games since I'm sure they are all good. I'm currently working through Dark Souls but def. want something I can play without stress haha. Appreciate any insights! Thanks!!
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FauxFurry - February 7, 2012 7:30 p.m.

The last "You'll Hate" bullet point was exactly what I was most worried about in the game based upon my impressions from the demo, though the second bullet point was a close second. The first bullet point was more of an annoyance than a concern for me but still, there it is. Unfortunately, it sounds a bit too much like Sacred 2 to me in that it is a game with solid game play mechanics and a somewhat interesting though unremarkable premise and lore hindered by being set in a dull,flat area which requires one to take the long way around everything due to the perplexing inability to jump or climb over anything and no real surprises to be found therein. As such, like Sacred 2, it will be a reliable time-sink until the next big RPG comes out at which point, it will largely be forgotten. Mass Effect 3 comes out next month, so that won't even take very long this time.
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IceBlueKirby - February 7, 2012 4:56 p.m.

I wasn't entirely sure I wanted this game, but now I think I'm sold on it. I'll probably still download the demo first, just to make sure.
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Thequestion 121 - February 7, 2012 12:56 p.m.

This looks great, I will pick this game up
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pr0tostar - February 7, 2012 12:51 p.m.

I don't blame ya'll for bumping the art/graphics, but hey that's the industry perspective. Some people will like this game because it retains familiarity of their favorite life-stealer, others like me and in another comment I saw, never played WoW;I(for one)still liked the art though. Maybe they weren't very inspired, maybe it was intentional. Comparing it to Skyrim feels like a bit of a stretch though. I'm not saying you're implying this, but it kinda sounds like you're saying "we're gonna start bumping RPGs down if they don't live up to being able to jump over rocks and free-roam out into the fields!" Again; a matter of preference. I'm playing Skyrim on occasion, because it might be a little too big for me. I get on, I wander, next thing I know, it's time for bed. The Alamur world is still huge and nice to marvel at, but with "walls" to keep you from getting overly side-tracked. I think a better comparison to this regard would have been XIII-2, which has very similar (yet smaller) zone structure. Other than that, great review and nice touch on the game's unique points. Can't wait to get it today and shove my massive gaming queue further back!
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Zeos - February 7, 2012 12:25 p.m.

Man I really want this game, the demo was awesome and I love R.A. Salvatore.
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MetroidPrimeRib - February 7, 2012 12:22 p.m.

Day one dlc locked out on disc that you can only get with an online pass that you have to get from buying the game new
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KnowYourPokemon - February 7, 2012 6:56 p.m.

What? You mean purchasing a used game actually has you miss out on something compared to people who buy it new at full price? My god the absurdity!
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MetroidPrimeRib - February 7, 2012 8:24 p.m.

So you're saying Day One DLC that is on the disc locked out that cannot be accessed without internet is okay as long as you spend extra money to support it.
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KnowYourPokemon - February 7, 2012 8:33 p.m.

That's one way of completely twisting my words, sure. That response is rather vague to the actual issue. You make it sound like they're forcing you to pay for that DLC whether you buy the game new or used. No, they're forcing you to pay for that DLC if you bought a copy that they will not see ay revenue from at all. It's not even remotely important DLC, anyone who decides to purchase a used copy of the game will still be able to complete the story without the few extras. The only real issue I have with this is that even in today's world not everyone has the internet, the vast majority of gamers do but I don't doubt there are some without it and that's a downside. In the end it's no different than when games include a code to access multiplayer or whatever to their game that can only be obtained through a new copy. I honestly can't blame them for doing it, they should just sit back while retailers make money off of their games and cost them sales through used purchases that they will never see any revenue from? Is that what you're saying?
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KnowYourPokemon - February 7, 2012 8:35 p.m.

Actually, replace "forced" in my comment with "given the option" because like I said, this "DLC" isn't needed to enjoy the game. It's just an extra that people who actually support the developer get for free.
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