Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Preview

EL33TONLINE has churned out a preview for 38 Studios’ open-world action-RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, courtesy of a hands-off demonstration offered by lead designer Ian Frazier at an EA press event. Sampling ahead:

The most interesting aspect of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, for me personally, was the surprisingly fast-paced and multi-tiered combat system in the game. You won’t be hovering a cursor over an enemy and inputting queues of actions but you’ll instead take direct control of your character with what seems to be a very robust fighting system. I witnessed the main character pull off chains of combat abilities in a smooth sequence of actions, both magical and melee, with what looked to me like the ability to cancel one attack and move straight into another as the requirements of battle changed a feature that I later confirmed to be present.

The team at Big Huge Games claim that the combat in Reckoning is (the best in an RPG) and combines ‘˜visceral’ action and RPG elements together to form a greater range of experiences for players. During a roving boss fight with a particularly tough gnome, the main character pulled off ranged arrow attacks (aided by an intelligent targeting system) as well as up-close melee swipes and magic abilities in quick succession, while rolling and dodging back and forth to avoid incoming enemy attacks.

Also demonstrated were the special ‘˜Reckoning Mode’ attacks. Every foe you destroy in the game will net you ‘˜Fate Energy,’ which appears just below your health and magic bars. Once you’ve collected enough Fate Energy, you can enter Reckoning Mode and unleash even more devastating attacks as time slows down to help you gain an advantage over your enemies. As you attack your hapless victims, they will begin to unravel,’ and every enemy attacked while in Reckoning Mode will contribute to a massive experience points bonus. At the end of this special period of combat, you’ll be able to perform a Fate Shift move (an incredibly powerful attack) guided by a series of simple Quick Time Event button presses.

The last very noteworthy aspect of Reckoning that I saw was the dialogue system all main and certain side characters will be fully voiced and your conversations with these important people will be controlled as you choose dialogue options to further (or end) an exchange. You can listen to as much or as little speaking as you want in order to either discover more about the world and your missions, or simply to get to the action again.