• Kingdoms of Amalur

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    “It’s World of Warcraft meets Fable,” was how the nice man at the GameStop described it. I was on vacation and what better way to spend vacation time then shopping? I didn’t actually know anything about Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, but it was an RPG and I was buying about every PC RPG that the GameStop had.

    World of Warscraft meets Fable turned out to be an excellent description and frankly I would recommend Kingdoms of Amalur to anybody who enjoys the world of WoW but not the MMO experience.

    The strongest aspect of Kingdoms of Amalur is the fighting mechanisms, the special moves based on timing and button combinations make fighting far more interactive even for warriors. On top of which Kingdoms of Amalur is one of the first games I have actually ever bothered backstabbing in.
    The story follows starts when you are mysteriously resurrected by a gnome and you quickly learn that your character is now outside the stream of time, with the ability to write his or her own fate.

    The world of Amalur has a 10,000 year history which was written by R.A. Salvatore (a name any Drizzt Do'Urden fan will recognize right away) for an MMO, and was decided to be used first for an RPG. Consequently the story has a very rich and full history, which is interesting and impressive though occasionally annoying when trying to find the right people in-game to explain it to you.

    The main plot line is extremely engrossing while at the same time I have never found side-quests so easy to find and so tempting since playing Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn. The Fraction Quests are also very well plotted, each with their own storyline, the most interesting of which is the House of Ballads which is both unique and clever, with an idea that is different from anything I have seen before.

    The world itself is fair. Before release it was compared in size to the world of Oblivion, and while very pretty and diverse, it feels nowhere near as open or free. There are set paths and limited off-road wanderings. You do not feel like you are in an open world with any horizon to guide you as you see fit. You have roads to follow and a few off-road spots to explore but no freedom and no mountains to climb.

    Kingdoms of Amalur does not instantly wow but it entertains, it does not overly impress but it endears. As you learn more about the world that is somewhat too slowly explained, and you explore the combat and very personalized leveling system you become extremely invested and entertained; which after all, is what you want from any computer game.
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