Tech Blog

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"We don't call you our customers, we call you our guests."  Those words spoken by 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling preceded the very first live demo of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning at PAX East, welcoming those in attendance into its epic world.  With just two days to go before the release of the game for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, the world of Amalur is about to visited by an influx of guests from across North America. 

Not only is the studio being led by the famed World Series MVP and avid gamer Curt Schilling, the all-star creative team behind Reckoning is sure to impress.  The technical leadership for the game comes from Ken Rolston, former lead designer of critically acclaimed games, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.  The game universe and lore was created R.A. Salvatore, the New York Times best-selling author of The DemonWars Saga and several Forgotten Realms novels.  Also lending his talent is award-winning artist Todd McFarlane, the creator of Spawn, who worked on the game's artwork and animation. 

Here's the launch trailer for the game to get a sense of what this dream team has produced:

One of the goals set out by the design team behind Reckoning was to create an action RPG that blended and balanced the two genres seamlessly.  After their search for a suitable game engine didn't bear fruit, the team decided to create their own, which they call the Big Huge Engine.  The results are evident with richly detailed world environments and fluid, contextual-based combat.

In the game, players will begin by choosing their starting race from four available: two human races, lights elves and dark elves.  The story takes place on the world of Amalur during the Age of Arcana, a time when magic is freshly returning to the world after a long absence.  Each character race has the ability to attack and defend using weapons and shields, as well as harness the power of magic to aid in combat.  The item system is similar to Diablo, in that there are thousands of pieces of loot to find, along with handcrafted special equipment and armour sets that provide bonuses. 

A demo for Reckoning was released on XBLA, PSN and PC on January 17.  In addition to the demo, 38 Studios has partnered with BioWare for a cross promotion that will encourage players to download the demo of Reckoning and Mass Effect 3.  By playing both demos, players will receive special in-game items, such as Mass Effect-inspired Omni Blade daggers, designed by Todd McFarlane. 

The game is looking very ambitious, and Schilling already has plans for an Amalur MMO game to be released some time after Reckoning.  It seems like there may be big plans with this new series, as Schilling says the 38 Studios is committed to "creating the next generation of entertainment experiences that embrace all mediums, including film, television, comics, novels, toys and, of course, games.”

For those of you who have played the demo, what did you think?

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Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is releasing for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on February 7.

For more information, check out the futureshop.ca product pages here.

Or visit the official game website here: http://reckoning.amalur.com