Game Summary: Starcraft 2 and Kingdoms of Amalur

I'm back from a short vacation and there is no shortage of issues and games to talk about.  I'll try to throw out what I think about some of the biggies.

Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty

Releasing next week, I'll be at the midnight release at my local GameStop for sure.  Whether I take the following day off work or not... I'm not sure.  However, to say I'm excited about this would be an understatement.  I feel like Vegeta when he first turned Super-Saiyan.  Yeah, a DBZ reference.

The latest trailer doesn't fail to excite either.  A lot of people have been focused completely on the gameplay and multiplayer for Starcraft 2, since that's what has been fine tuned during the beta process.  Of course, let's not forget Blizzard's ability to craft an engaging story too!

Kingdoms of Amalur

Remember Big Huge Games?  Maybe not, but they are the minds behind some great games such as Rise of Nations and the less aclaimed but still great Rise of Legends.  Most of their titles are RTS games, but they've been secretly working on new projects in conjunction with 38 Studios, that development company founded by Curt Schilling.

Kingdoms of Amalur is a single-player, fantasy RPG.  And, while it looks exceptionally generic from what we can see in the trailer, it does have a few things going for it.

• The mind of Ken Rolston, lead designer of the Elder Scrolls Morrowind and Oblivion games
• A world crafted by R.A. Salvatore, which I don't fully appreciate because he is unknown to me.  Nevertheless, his name sounds very fancy and all important-like.
• Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn.
• It ISN'T being developed by Cryptic Studios.  (Sorry for the cheap shot)

The trailer doesn't show us much of anything except a guy who enjoys slashing at skeleton warriors.  Also, pay attention to the opening monologue.  Remind you of anything?  **cough** Lord of the Rings **cough**

Exit question:  How exactly does one kill a skeleton warrior by repeatedly stabbing it between its bones?  I mean, if they had organs or something to stab, sure.