Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Reviews

Big Huge Games’ Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has been given the review treatment from several other gaming websites, and we’ll start this latest round-up with a perfect 5/5 from Digital Spy:

38 Studios and Big Huge Games have done a great job with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, providing a deep and sophisticated RPG with core gameplay straightforward enough to appeal to genre newcomers. If nothing else, it’s good to see an original IP come along and show some of the established franchises how it’s done.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun doesn’t score it:

Perhaps the worst part is that the core conceit of the Amalur’s plot that you are the one person in this world you can truly decide his own fate and therefore change the fate of others is an interesting idea (even an interesting meta-comment on RPGs generally) that is dropped into an abyss of trad fantasy wibbling. The immutable weight of that stuff soon smothers any clever intention that the story might have held. Kingdoms Of Amalur’s story is dramatic and spectacular in places, but it scarcely matters. I have no real stake in what is going on, and I don’t really care. I’m just happy that my character has a huge moustache and a giant hammer. He’s going to smite the living shit out of that ettin over there. And that’s probably enough.

EvilSourceGaming gives it an 8.8/10:

This game is a great game aside from some issues here and there and this is coming from a non RPG style game fan, with the gameplay and the plot that keeps you on track this game was just a few hiccups away from being one of the great and won’t surprise me if they consider it one of the Games of the Year when this year is done. So far one of the best games to come out in 2012.

PSX Extreme gives it a 7.7/10:

But the end result feels.I dunno, split, I guess. I still can’t decide if it suffers from a lack of identity or if it successfully blends various traits and styles. I do know the storyline and quest objectives could’ve been better, and I know this super fast-paced action may cause RPG purists to go, (uh.this is an RPG?) Yeah, it is. One you want to play? Well, one you want to try, at least.

Softpedia gives it a 9/10:

After a realistic experience like Skyrim, Reckoning is the perfect alternative, offering a fun-filled experience with a dynamic combat system and a freedom that you won’t soon forget.

WorthPlaying gives it an 8.0/10:

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an ambitious RPG that mostly delivers on its promise. The main quest is as lengthy as RPGs of yesteryear, while the amount and variety of quests bring an MMO flow to a single-player experience. The story is interesting, even if it lacks elements that people have come to expect, like a morality system. The graphics and sound are flawed but are more than acceptable this late in the console life cycle. For those looking for a deep action game or a more hands-on RPG experience, Reckoning fits the bill perfectly. For those recovering from or still in the middle of Skyrim, be warned that this game is just as deep.

Daily Echo gives it an 8/10:

Faelands is a beautiful and huge place. It’s not your usual bunch of corridors and pathways to walk through; instead it’s massive open areas that work as hubs to labyrinths and mazes. There’s very few other worlds I’d like to wallow away my time in.

And Metro gives it a 7/10:

But this is still a game patched together from half a dozen other titles, with very little to add of its own. The only real surprise it can offer is that the whole Frankenstein creation is still a great deal of fun. Original it is not, but the game itself clearly doesn’t care.