Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Demo Review

At first I had no interest in this game whatsoever being that I was still occupied with Skyrim. It wasn't until I saw a preview of it on G4 that my interest was piqued. The combat looked fun and interesting especially for an RPG. The animation looked cartoony and somewhat mystical like Fable. In all honesty the reason that I played this demo is because I knew that I would get armor for Mass Effect 3. I wouldn't say that I was overly impressed but I definitely want to play it again.

The demo starts the same way the full game starts - at the beginning. Right away the animation kind of bugged me because it just seemed a little too cartoony for my tastes. The story is pretty generic. You were dead and now somehow you're alive and you can change the world through your actions and decisions. It's been done before and they don't exactly do it any better than other games like this. What really stands out and makes this game fun is the combat. This game is very similar to Fable as it is in 3rd person, it's an RPG, and so forth. As I was saying the combat is fun because it gives you options. You have ranged, close combat, magic, and stealth. The combat is very easy and seamless to transition and utilize different combat styles. If I felt like being sneaky and using daggers I could do that, or use my bow, then cast a lightning bolt and charge in with a giant hammer or sword.



The story was pretty weak but I did really enjoy all the little side quest there were. The side quests were fun, some short and easy and some pretty fleshed out. Though I didn't care for the animation I really enjoyed the spectacle of this new big beautiful world. The demo was actually pretty long. After you get past a certain point in the story you have 2 hours to just wander around, talk to NPCs, do side quests, fight enemies. Parts of the world are blocked in the demo but there was still a big world to venture about.

In conclusion this demo was a great example of what the full game consists of. This showed me exactly what I needed to know: the story is mediocre, combat is really fun, lots of side quests, and cool looking world. Overall I would say that the story was weak, combat was exponentially more fun than I had imagined, animation is odd and cartoony yet filled with awesome environments with tons of fun side quests. As impressive a the demo was and how intrigued I am to play this game some more I can only suggest the game as RENT but I do feel that the demo is a MUST DOWNLOAD. If anything this demo is more than worth playing just to get the bonus armor for Shepard in Mass Effect 3. Stay frosty my friends.

Verdict: Rent