Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

It's undeniable that the names attached to Reckoning are both impressive and expensive. Its lead developer is Ken Rolston - formerly lead on Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and the undisputed king of free-roaming role-playing.

Its animations are being overseen by Todd McFarlane - legendary creator of Spawn. The world of Amalur and the narrative unfolding within it, meanwhile, comes from the pen of R.A. Salvatore - whose novels currently occupy half the fantasy shelves in your local Waterstones.

What's more, if you're American then you'll even be impressed by the name of the guy who owns the studio - some bloke called Curt Schilling who's apparently a big deal in a little game called 'Baseball'. (Imagine a developer being run by Ian Botham if you want a UK equivalent.)

With such a roster of talent, and with a myriad of ex-Bethesda developers running amok below stairs, it seems a shame to point out that the third-person action looks entirely solid - but also a mite generic. It's an interesting blend of deep RPG stats and button-hammering combos - but the number of rival games it instantly recalls are legion.

The game sees your character born in the Well of Souls, albeit sadly not the Indiana Jones one. An enthusiastic gnome is attempting to reanimate corpses, and you're the first one to intelligently stride forth from a vast pile of bodies into the light - and straight into combat with those who only made it halfway.

Changing faces

The specialism of your chosen character affects the way you move and hold yourself (for instance, warriors roll, mages teleport-dodge and so on) but as you direct their powers of sorcery, might and finesse, your character will truly begin to change in both abilities and appearance. This is one attempt at a classless society that could just work.

Otherwise, however, the open (yet corridor-y) world looks entirely like Fable's Albion - while the action magic doesn't exactly fall far from that particular tree either.

Elsewhere, giant golden exclamation marks hover above quest-givers in World of Warcraft fashion, loot screens appear more than a little Diablo-ish, character creation looks identical to Oblivion and the enemy-juggling and finisher-moves of combat are certainly infused with the spirit of Darksiders and God of War. This really does look like a game developed by committee, and a committee that's played an awful lot of rival RPGs at that.

Are we being too harsh for a game that's not due out until next year? Indubitably, yes. The game's systems certainly appear as solid as they do familiar, but the game will sorely need an injection of its own unique character by the next time we meet.