Is Kingdoms of Amalur The New Elder Scrolls? Can Reckoning Be Bigger Than Oblivion?

When we arrived at the panel for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning during the first day of Comic Con 2010, we had no idea what to expect.  Up until only a few days prior, the game was still shrouded in secrecy and referred to only as, “Project Mercury.”  But we knew some very important things.  1.  It was going to be an epic RPG and 2.  There were some seriously talented individuals behind it.

As you may already know, the creative forces that have come together to bring us Reckoning are indeed some serious members of their respective fields.  There’s Ken Rolston, who was the lead designer of Morrowind and Oblivion; R.A Salvatore, NY Times Best Selling author and creator of some of the most legendary works of Dungeons and Dragons fiction; Todd McFarlane, legendary artist made famous for his work on Spider-Man and for creating Spawn via Image comics, and last but not least; CEO Curt Schilling, world series winning and future hall of fame pitcher for teams such as the Boston Red Sox and Philidelphia Phillies.

Now you may be thinking, ok  … ok … ok … wait, Curt Schilling?  The pitcher?  What the hell is he doing heading up a gaming company.  Well, if you don’t already know, then let me tell you.  Curt Schilling is a bigger nerd than you.  Hell, he’s almost a bigger gaming nerd than me … almost ;-)  Ask the guys at Sony Online Entertainment and they’ll tell you, Curt has played more Everquest than most hardcore MMO gamers would care to admit.  He’s played more Ultima Online than you have, and he may have even played more WoW than Ripten.  (We still wield Shadowmourne however)

I'm Curt Schilling, and I Approve of this Demon

Let’s just say that Curt is a serious gamer, so serious in fact that he decided to form his own gaming company, so serious that he’s assembled this A-Team of visionaries to bring his own personal vision of what an RPG “should be” to life.  Let’s just say that I believe in Curt Schilling, let’s just say that I believe that 38 Games (twas his MLB number) is capable of creating one of the greatest RPG’s in recent history, and as a complete PC-RPG fanboy, that’s saying a lot.

But getting back to the panel, (after bumping elbows with Curt himself) we had a front row seat, and I filmed the whole damn thing.  Enjoy.

Front Row At The Comic Con 2010 RECKONING Panel – Ripten.com from Dave Oshry on Vimeo.

After the panel, (and getting killed hard by Todd McFarlane) I managed to catch up with Ken Rolston as well as Todd (They autographed some epic loot) and they were clearly excited about the reaction to the game.

I'm Ken Rolston, and this is my Happy Face!!

Yes, Todd signed our swag, and NO you can't have any!!

If you still don’t believe that all four of these talented individuals are “all in” on Reckoning, then I don’t know what to tell you.  If you haven’t yet seen the cinematic trailer for Reckoning, then check it out right now!!

Great, fabulous, wonderful.  The only problem is that along with that trailer and a few screenshots, we haven’t seen or been told much of anything yet!!  Not that I don’t believe in what this game can and will be, it’s just that I’m clamoring for more!!  More information!! More screenshots!! More anything!!

You may be saying, “Ok, I get it, Reckoning is going to be a giant epic RPG the likes of Oblivion, but what the hell is Kingdoms of Amalur?”

Well, according to 38 studios:

Kingdoms of Amalur is an original fantasy universe that serves as the setting for both Reckoning and 38 Studios’ upcoming massively multiplayer game, codenamed Project Copernicus. Amalur’s cultures and expansive history were created by R.A. Salvatore, and the world is being brought to life through the artistic vision of Todd McFarlane. Legendary game designer Ken Rolston provides players their first journey into Kingdoms of Amalur through the hero’s journey in Reckoning. The story of Amalur will continue to expand through comic books, novels, toys and additional games.

However, Reckoning itself has been described as follows:

Reckoning is an epic, open world role-playing game that gives fans their first experience with Kingdoms of Amalur, a new universe imagined by R.A. Salvatore, brought to life by Todd McFarlane, and designed by Ken Rolston and his team at Big Huge Games.

R.A. Salvatore is the creator of the immortal Drizzt Do’Urden and author of The New York Times best-selling Forgotten Realms series. Todd McFarlane is a Grammy and Emmy-award winning artist, writer and toy designer best known for creating the fantasy series Spawn. Ken Rolston served as the lead designer of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion before joining Big Huge Games development studio, the Baltimore, MD-based wholly-owned subsidiary of 38 Studios, based in Maynard, MA.

So first comes the giant single player RPG, Reckoning, only to be followed up by the massive MMO set in the Kingdoms of Amalur.  Can they really pull this off?

Oblivion was a great open world RPG, but it lacked story and substance.  One can only hope that R.A Salvatore can solve this problem for us.  He says he will create a world that is beautiful, one that is “worth defending” with a threat that is “worth fighting.”  Oblivion was a great “looking” RPG, but it lacked that visceral design and art style that would make it feel “real.”  One can only hope Todd Mcfarlane will solve this problem for us.  He says they will kill things in this game “better than anyone has ever killed anything!!”  Ken Rolston clearly knows how to make a great RPG, but it seems that he is more excited than I have ever seen him before (and Ken gets pretty excited) about Reckoning.