Before I started up Kingdom of Amalur Reckoning, I was completely skeptical about what 38 studios was promising to bring to the table. Even though 38 studios was founded by Curt Schilling, a former Boston Red Sox’s pitcher. It has some impressive talent behind the game, which drew my interest towards the game. Ken Rolston, who is mostly known for being the lead designer for Elder Scrolls “Morrowind” and “Oblivion”. Todd Mcfalane, who was the creator of spawn and lastly R.A Salvatore, who is a well known scifi writer. This trio of talent dose many rights then wrongs, but it lacks a strong identity and the game suffers because of it.

One of the biggest reasons to get excited about Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is the combat. From the get go, KOA: Reckoning is easy to grasp. If you are a fan of various RPG’s like Dragon Age and Ninja Gaiden, then you are going to find familiar ground here. if you aren’t familiar with those games, it’s a fast paced button masher mixed with rpg elements.The controls are very lose and it only takes one button to inflict mass damage upon your opponent, but that’s not what is most impressive about the combat system.

If you prefer to play multiple play styles, then the combat system is flexible in just about every conceivable way. “Reckoning” doesn’t hide the fact on what it’s centered around as the box art clearly symbolizing what the game is all about. If you wanted to wield an bow and bring destructions to your opponent using an electric sword, then the game gives you that option. The game gives you every chance to be an ultimate badass with finishing moves, yes I said finish moves, that rival the classic arcade fighter. Impaling a giant beast with my lighting bolt, beating him to a pulp, then throwing him into a pit of fire was an in creditable feeling that I feel many will enjoy.

"Impaling a giant beast with a lighting bolt, beating him to a pulp, then throwing him into a pit of fire was an in creditable feeling that I feel many will enjoy."

I played mostly as a mage in my 50-hour play through. Normally I would be tied down to my magic, but now I have many options deal out damage. Your primary attack button with all of your special combos is always going to be ‘x’, but what makes the combat system so intuitive is how equal secondary attacks are. You always have a devastating side arm with you, which speeds up the gameplay and always keep you in the grove of the game. As a mage I was able to be a powerful wizard and be powerful melee fighter at the same time thanks in part to how smartly the respec system is designed.

In most rpg’s , once you choose a play - style, you are stuck with your decision and their is no turning back. However in “Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning”, I was never tied down by moves I made early in the game. I was given the chance to fix and change however your character plays like. It this freedom of reckoning that makes the combat system stand out from the rest. Now with saying, their is a few things that combat system struggles with.

While your traversing the world and slaughtering enemies, your combat equipment will eventually wear down over time. This wouldn’t have been a bad thing, if it didn’t happen all the time. Far too often my equipment would be rendered useless in mid battle, making normal opponents far more troublesome then they should be. A minor problem I came across was adequately defending myself. The only way you can defend yourself is by dodging or by blocking, but it just doesn't respond well. Depending on how you respec your character, blocking is rendered useless due to how much damage it dose to you. Dodging is the best means of defending yourself, but it tends to react late. These problems are still very minor and didn’t get in the way of the awesome gameplay.   

"I was never tied down by moves I made early in the game. I was given the chance to fix and change however your character plays like."

About the Author

Alex Martinet

Writer/Editor

Alex Martinet has been working in the industry for a year. He has worked for Player Affinity and The Gamer Studio. He is currently attending Gavilan College and majoring in Journalism. Follow him on twitter at http://twitter.com/LightForceJedi