Preview: Kingdoms of Amalur The Reckoning!(XBOX360 version)

       The first time I heard about Kingdoms of Amalur, I think I was actually at E3.  Which was also probably the last time I was at E3.  Anyway, since then I’ve been casually to rabidly interested.  The demo that just came out on XBOX LIVE, PSN, and PC doesn’t disappoint for the most part.  I do have a few things I need to mention about this demo as a responsible journalist.  Even though I really liked the demo overall; there were a few problems that I need to mention.

      Kingdoms of Amalur is a wonderful action/adventure game but it’s demo has some serious problems.  The first time I’d loaded up the demo, after about 10 minutes into the tutorial the whole demo froze, hard stop not a crash; just a complete and utter freeze.  The last time a game froze on my XBOX 360 the system had just launched.  But knowing that this was probably just a minor problem, I restarted the system; cleared the system cache and started all over again.  Then when I loaded it up my character appeared for around 5 minutes headless.  After that her, head finally reappeared.  I then proceeded to play through my tutorial and my allotted 45 minutes.  However, I was exploring around in the world and ended up getting cursed, twice.  I eventually made it back to town where the game told me a healer could cure my curses.  I got to the healer with plenty of cash, but the game would not let me select the cure curse tab.  I tried every button and stick to move the selection but nothing happened.  There are certainly some combat situations where the framerate slowed down quite a bit.  But that too, I’m guessing is just the demo.

       All of this was probably due to the demo being an old build.  Which was fine, I generally experienced the game the way it should be played.  I did have a very good time and the game plays as advertised.  I would say it reminds me of the new Dungeon Siege 3.   While I did have a lot of problems with the performance in the demo, I do have to say that it showed how the player can quickly switch from one type of ability to another and certainly has a wide range of choices.  The stealth is a lot of fun and while the magic might be a little overpowered.  The game throws enough enemies at you so that this isn’t an issue.

       While I ended up doing most of the quests, I think the game is at it’s best when the player is just wondering around enjoying themselves; by discovering different areas.  I loved the wide array of abilities and equipment.  I did really like the game, as I said, the game is pretty much like Dungeon Siege 3 with a little bit better graphics and a snapper combat system.  Here’s hoping that the final game is technically better than the demo.  One thing I can say, if you have the XBOX 360 version of the game, your probably going to want to install it to the hard drive.  It’s not anything more than a guess, but I’d say it’s a good one.