We Support an R18+ game Classification

There has been a stack of excellent game demos appearing for download the last two weeks. Asura’s Wrath, Darkness 2, Final Fantasy XIII-2, a real smorgasbord of free game bites for people too cheap to spring for full games, and people like with no time but a bites worth.

The stand out for me was Kingdom of Amalur. This is a demo that sold me in a huge way putting the game firmly on my preorder list.

When I first read about Kingdom of Amalur I was excited, a few screenshot and gameplay videos didn’t enthuse me much. But after playing the demo I am psyched. For a start, it’s a timed demo, not some rough cut of the tutorial stage. You get to go out and explore some of the huge world, find your own quests and complete them, within forty five minutes. The gameplay is a very slick and pretty hack and slash style with charge moves, combinations, counters and violent finishing moves.

Immediately you think ah ha! This is one of those hack and slash games with middling level up bonuses that pretends to be an RPG. Not so, the game is massive, open world and has deep crafting elements that are easily the rival of Skyrim. The levelling system is complex with lots of options to customise your character in all sorts of directions, cross pollinating abilities between the three classes, rogue, warrior and mage. I’ve played through the demo four times so far using very different characters.

The world is far more cartoon like and animated than most RPG games, looking more like Warcraft than Oblivion, far more fantastical fantasy than mediaeval fantasy. The closest comparison would likely be Fable, only with a far smoother and action friendly control scheme and a bigger focus on fighting than farting.

Still not convinced? Well playing the demo unlocks a special item in Mass Effect 3, and playing to the end of your allotted play time earns you another special item. So there you go.