While news of a demo for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning may be (slightly) old hat by now, the gameplay slice for Big Huge Games’ action RPG serves a second purpose, above and beyond giving everyone a taste of what they can expect in the epic, fantasy world dreamed up by personalities like Ken Rolston, Todd McFarlane and R. A. Salvatore.

If you play the demo of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning when it’s released next week, you’ll be able to snag awesome in-game extras for EA and BioWare’s Mass Effect 3!

General Manager of EA’s BioWare Label and Co-Founder of BioWare, Dr. Ray Muzyka, said of the partnership:

“We are excited to be collaborating with 38 Studios to bring pieces inspired by the Mass Effect universe into the world of Reckoning and to have items designed by Todd McFarlane in Mass Effect 3.

“This is an awesome way to reward our fans with unique content that not only looks cool, but also delivers some great in-game benefits.”

Releasing on January 17th, if you play the Reckoning demo you’ll unlock the following items in Mass Effect 3:

• Reckoner Knight Armor: This armor will maximize damage done in close-quarters combat while a beefed—up power cell feeds energy into weapon systems to increase projectile velocity.
• The Chakram Launcher: This weapon uses a fabricator to manufacture lightweight, explosive ammunition discs. This weapon is earned after completing the Reckoning demo and watching the trailer at the end.

You’ll also unlock the following items for use in Reckoning proper:

• Twist of Fate Card: This card boosts the player’s ice resistance and is immediately unlocked when he or she activates the Reckoning demo using his or her Origin account.
• Twinned Souls Chakram: A unique weapon that damages enemies while boosting player health and mana in Reckoning.
• The Infernal Helm: Unlocked after completing the Reckoning Tutorial Mode, this protective helmet increases players’ fire damage throughout Amalur.

But wait, there’s more!

If you play the upcoming Mass Effect 3 demo, you’ll unlock the following items in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning when the game releases in early February:

• N7 Armor: Players can unlock special armor inspired by Commander Shepard’s iconic N7 battle armor including Helm, Cuirass, Gauntlets, Chausses and Greaves.
• Onmiblade Daggers: A holographic blade stemming from Commander Shepard’s Omni-Tool, the Omni-blade allows players to stab enemies in close combat. Once players install and play the Mass Effect 3 demo, they will unlock the daggers.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning releases across Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on February 7th in the US and February 10th in Europe and the UK - get background information and more detailed explanations of the game with El33tonline’s preview over here, and look over our previous coverage of the game for more trailers and screenshots.

Mass Effect 3 releases on March 6th in North America and March 9th in Europe on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC - look over El33tonline’s previous coverage of this epic action RPG, and read our preview of the game.