38 Studios and Big Huge Games released the first cinematic trailer for their Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning at the San Diego ComicCon yesterday.
It’s hard to get a sense for the game based solely upon its cinematic trailer. Videos like this aren’t supposed to be acquainting you with the UI and the gameplay, but for its milieu. What can be told from this?
The opening shot shows a standard musclebound Kratos/Den type, beaten, chained, being infused with some sort of mystical force that turns him into a killing machine.
We see him next defeating a mob of skeletons with a variety of physical and mystical powers. A huge monster sneaks up behind him; he pulls a giant meat tenderizer out of nowhere and jumps into battle.
I dunno, but at this point it’s seeming like a better-rendered version of Deathspank….
… which isn’t a bad thing. All games of this genre deal with a hero-type single-handedly defeating armies and legions of enemies while earning levels, new gear and awesome powers that will allow them to survive one more day.
You can’t fault a fantasy RPG company for coming out with another entry in the genre, but… for all the immensely talented people working on the project, I was hoping for something a little more memorable. God of War can absolutely match and beat these same visuals, features huge battles against huge villains and has cinematic trailers cut from GAME FOOTAGE – and two sequels. So a year before Amalur comes out, I want to know why I can’t just play through God of War again right now.
(The trailer also reminded a lot of people of the PS3 single player RPG “Demon Souls” – I was trying to remember the name of that game! But yeah. My only problem with the trailer, really, is just how generic it all seemed. The heroic adventurer single-handedly fighting against impossible odds is DONE, and done WELL. Show me what makes KoA:R DIFFERENT.)