Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

   Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an upcoming single-player action role-playing game for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.Ken Rolston, the lead designer of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, acts as the game's executive designer. Additionally, noted fantasy author R.A. Salvatore created the game universe and lore, with Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn, working on the artwork.It is being developed by 38 Studios and Big Huge Games. The game will be released on February 7, 2012 in North America and February 10, 2012 in Europe. The first public demonstration was at the Penny Arcade Expo East 2011 held in Boston, Massachusetts, United States on March 11, 2011.

Gameplay:

   Kingdoms of Amalur will feature "5 distinct regions, 4 playable races, and 3 class trees with 22 abilities per tree."The 4 playable races are the Almain (noble Humans) the Ljosalfar (Light Elves), the Dokkalfar (Dark Elves), and the Varani (nomadic Humans).The 3 class (or ability) trees are Might, Finesse, and Sorcery; they correspond to the fighter, rogue, and mage classes respectively.The player starts off as a "blank slate," waking up in a pile of corpses after returning from the dead. The game will utilize a unique "destiny" system, whereby the player can invest in a skill-tree system to unlock various "destinies," which acts as the class system for the game. Combat works based on the timing of button presses, similar to the style of an action RPG, with occasional quicktime events like those in the God of War series. Lead combat designer Joe Quadara, however, emphasized that "twitch skill is only going to get you so far. Strategy and proper RPG playing is going to get you farther." 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling said that the style of the game would be a marriage between God of War and Oblivion.

Development:

   38 Studios, owned by former baseball pitcher Curt Schilling, originally began developing the Amalur universe for use in an MMO, codenamed 'Copernicus'. After acquiring Big Huge Games in 2009, the studio decided to transform the project into a single-player RPG, as Ken Rolston and his team had already been working on an RPG while Big Huge Games was part of THQ.Currently, there are still plans to expand the Amalur universe into an MMO after the release of Reckoning.

More about this game:

   An open-world action RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is set in Amalur, a rich and deeply immersive world underpinned by 10,000 years history, created by 22 time New York Times bestselling author, R.A. Salvatore. Immersing players in a rich, living, breathing open-world dripping with magic and rife with danger, underpinned by strong storytelling, Reckoning lets players define their destiny as they engage in intense action combat while exploring the huge, vibrant and varied world of Amalur as envisioned by the visionary creator of Spawn and acclaimed artist, Todd McFarlane.

    Designed by open-world RPG legend Ken Rolston, Reckoning offers players unparalleled choice in a world of infinite possibility. Together, the visionaries and development team behind Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning are creating a game that aims to forever change the RPG genre.

Published by: Electronic Arts
Developed by: Big Huge Games
Genre: RPG
Release Date:
US: Feb 07, 2012
Australia: Dec 31, 2012
UK: Feb 07, 2012
Mature
Also Available On: PlayStation 3 Xbox 360
Also known as: Kingdoms of Amalur