Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios knocks this one out of the park.
It’s hard not be struck by deja vu while playing Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, as it’s an amalgamation of every major Western RPG of the last five years. The art style and vibrant color palette are heavily inspired by World of Warcraft, the loot system rivals that of Borderlands, and the character development is an interesting Dragon Age: Origins/Fable hybrid. While Reckoning is quite liberal in its search for muses, it expands beyond many of them to forge a unique identity. Reckoning is to the games it borrows from, as baseball is to itself from 40 years ago; the concepts are basically the same, but everything is on steroids, making it far more enjoyable.