No one in their right mind would accuse Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning of being short on content. The game’s world is vast, and packed with more quests than the average player will ever complete. Nonetheless, the teams at 38 Studios and Big Huge Games are intent on increasing the game’s already intimidating size even further. To that end, the first Kindgoms of Amalur: Reckoning DLC, titled The Legend of Dead Kel, will be released March 20, 2012, on Xbox Live, PSN, Steam and Origin.
Along with the announcement, publisher Electronic Arts has released a treasure trove of The Legend of Kel screenshots, showcasing the new region of Gallows End, and the challenges players can expect to face.
Not to beat the proverbial dead horse, but Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a really, really big game. (It’s also a really, really good game, as documented in Game Rant’s Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning review.) So, it should come as no surprise that Amalur’s first DLC — which I’m frankly tempted to refer to as an expansion — is itself a substantial proposition. How substantial? The press release announcing The Legend of Kel promises that it adds an entirely new continent to the lands of Amalur.
The official Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning website offers the lowdown on Kel and his legend.
“The legendary pirate Dead Kel and his Hanged Men have returned to haunt the seas of northern Amalur. Embark on a journey to the distant island of Gallows End with the eccentric Captain Brattigan in an adventure that will uncover a secret so great that it has incited wars and toppled kingdoms. Discover powerful new weapons and Twist of Fate Cards and use them to conquer the island’s unique inhabitants. Become the Lord of Gravehal Keep and lay claim to this once great fort that stands upon the edge of a cliff in the most expansive player housing option yet. In an extensive new story and a host of new side quests, battle treacherous new enemies and face exciting new challenges on the mysterious island of Gallows End.”
For a more detailed look at just how much content is packed into The Legend of Dead Kel, check out this list of features straight from DLC’s press release, along with an epic selection of screenshots.
- An Epic New Questline – The Legend of Dead Kel is only part of the story of Gallows End. It intertwines with numerous side quests, multiple dungeons to explore and a colorful cast of characters.
- New Enemies, Dungeons, Items – Multiple new enemies and enemy variants, a new dungeon type: Dverga Fastings, three new Twists of Fate, eight new armor sets, eight new shields and 18 new unique weapons.
- The Ultimate Player Housing – Gravehal Keep is more than just player housing, it’s a massive estate with multiple buildings and a full retinue of retainers, each with their own back stories, side quests, perks and quirks.
- Tons more to Explore – The Legend of Dead Kel DLC adds in more than 15% of additional land to traverse and explore in the already massively expansive world that is Amalur.
If there is a downside to The Legend of Dead Kel, it’s that the DLC is not covered by Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning’s controversial Season Pass. Expect to spend 800 MS Points on Xbox 360, $9.99 on PSN, Steam and Origin, for the chance to explore Gallows End — not exactly a King’s ransom, but not chump change either.
What do you think, Amalur fans — are you ready to investigate The Legend of Dead Kel? Have you come anywhere near completing every quest that shipped on-disc? What do you want from future Kingdoms of Amalur DLC? Let us know in the comments below.
The Legend of Dead Kel for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning releases March 20, 2012, for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.
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Source: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Official Website
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this game is just amazing, they did well at creating a sense of immersion by making the dungeons and areas so big. i’ll prob be getting this day one since i’ve almost finished the game with my main (nearly hit the cap to). the expansion on the housing system makes the already dynamic/epic housing system even more awesome (i love how upgrading actually expands your property and adds more then just fancy furniture/decorations/non-interactable trash).
imo this game s***s all over the elder trash (which is just that), everything is way more dynamic, crafting is more in depth, combat is fun, enemies are varied and fun to fight (and watch), areas are huge allowing for epic fights. really can’t wait for the mmo to come out (if this is anything to go by (which it is seeing as how everything feels like it’s suited for an mmo)) the mmo will be pure epic, even comparable to WoW (yeah i said that).
Lol youre comparing this to Elder Scrolls? You really cant they are 2 different game styles and plus Elder Scrolls isnt trash. Personally I like both games.
yes you can, both are large scale RPG’s, with focus on story (though i question that in regards to the narrative of skyrim). amalur succeeds where skyrim failed – it hardly has any bugs and the combat is really easy and fun to partake in.
in the whole 60hrs that i have been playing amalur i have only run into 2 GRAPHICAL glitches where my char got stuck where as in skyrim i encountered numerous game trashing bugs and quest bugs within the 20hrs of gameplay.
amalur is an example of how games should be made – fully complete with hardly any issues, you know just like 1st gen console games.
Only $10 for a 15% increase in land size, of an already huge world? Gotta get it.
I’ll get it when I beat the game, which might mean that I get it on day one. I’m in the Caeled Coast right now, so I’ll probably beat it before March 20th. As for the $10 price tag, that’s totally agreeable. As Matthew above me said, for %15 extra gameplay, that’s a good deal. Way better deal than $15 for 5 CoD maps.
my thoughts exact the game world is massive as it is (i couldn’t imagine it without load screens to separate everything and to create pace) and to have an expansion on it sounds insane. plus i hear the dlc offers some really powerful gear, stuff that makes the vanilla games content cry in fear. i’m up to the bottom half of the 2nd island (far right of the world map), and have been playing the game for a solid 50hrs (done every side quest so far and every faction quest).
if you take the time to explore, quest and hunt for gear, you’ll prob finish the game right before (or a little after) this expansion comes out.
on another note, this DLC reminds me alot of borderlands DLC for some reason, prob b/c both expand on the vanilla game and offer a ton of new stuff for devoted fans to do.
I won’t be done by the time it comes out, but I’ll be picking it up on day one.
Really hope they do another full game or keep making expansions after they start up the mmo.