Reviewed: October 10, 2007
Reviewed by: Randy Riley
Publisher
SouthPeak Interactive
Zuxxez Entertainment
Developer
Reality Pump
Released: August 21, 2007
Genre: RPG
Players: 1-8
6
6
6
6
6.1
System Requirements:
Recommended System:
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
Every good video game reviewer will or has already compared Two Worlds to Oblivion. It’s easy to see why, the two games are essentially going after the same market, and they are the same type of RPG. But comparing a Bethesda game, with a first time RPG maker (Reality Pump) isn’t entirely fair. Sure, we’re comparing one of the greatest RPG’s in recent years to the new comer. Unfortunately for Two Worlds, there isn’t any comparison. Oblivion was amazing, brilliant, and a masterpiece, while Two Worlds is mediocre at best.
Two Worlds is an open ended RPG. It can be played by yourself or with up to eight friends online in various game modes. Players shape their own story by choosing the path of conducting the main conflict and resolving meaningful side-quests. The game works like an MMO except you have the option of playing alone.
The story isn’t anything new. There was a war in the land of Antaloor between orcs and humans that resulted in the imprisonment of the orcish god Aziraal in a magical tomb. You begin the game 300 years later when a mining expedition has potentially uncovered Aziraal’s resting place. You play the role of a mercenary whose only pressing concern is rescuing your sister and not that of Aziraal or saving the world.
Before beginning the game you’ll customize your character’s general attributes (hair color and physical size). There aren’t any classes in this game so you’re stuck with the male character. From that point on your customization comes in the form of skill points, which you can assign as you like. You can craft the main character into a warrior or mage. There are skill caps depending on what level your character is which forces you to balance your placement of skill points some.
After a short introductory video the game begins with a short ten-minute tutorial. Since the game is so difficult, you’ll probably want to complete a fair number of quests before wandering around the world of Antaloor. Doing quests will also inform you about what’s going on in the world and help boost your reputation.
I’m not sure if other people will have as many problems figuring out how to play this game, but for me there was a one-hour learning curve. I found myself continually referencing the manual on how to do things. This surprised me, considering I am a veteran MMORPG player and Two Worlds plays exactly like most MMO’s on the market. After this experience I have come to the conclusion that the tutorial is pretty worthless.
Once you’re 30-40 minutes into the game you’ll complete a quest that rewards you with a horse. Getting on your new ride is as easy as hitting the spacebar, riding it is a whole other story. You control the horse by using the “WASD” keys and you turn the camera manually using the mouse. It might not sound difficult, but believe me when I say it is. Getting the horse to trot and gallop takes way too long and so does getting the horse to stop. At least the horse makes it faster to get from point “A” to point “B” before you activate all the teleports.
Teleportation centers make transportation throughout Antaloor even easier once you discover and activate all of them. Once each teleport is activated, it will show up on your map permanently. There are no restrictions for teleportation other than having to activate them before use and once you have activated most of them, you’ll find it easier to travel on foot.
The combat system in Two Worlds is very simplistic. You get out your sword and hack the enemy to death. That’s at least how the combat should be. Instead not only do you have to hack and slash, but you must also dodge the enemy’s attacks. This gets tedious and takes a lot of the fun out of fighting. If you choose to cast spells on enemies you’ll do it much like sword fighting. Just keep casting the spells until your mana runs dry. Some ghosts that appear at night can only be disposed of by using magic.
Your magic comes in the form of cards which you’ll collect by questing, buying, or finding on an enemy. They can be assigned to one of your many hotkey bars for quick access during battles. The most useful card is the healing spell which you’ll be using after each battle. It doesn’t suck up a considerable amount of mana and you’ll find yourself healing during fights.
Dieing during a fight isn’t the end of the world. In fact, get used to dieing because it’ll happen quite often in Two Worlds. If you die you’ll re-spawn immediately at the closest healing shrine (that you’ve discovered).
Most of your deaths will come while undertaking the game’s various quests which range from killing orcs to solving murders and your standard delivery jobs. Various people will even hire you to do jobs for them. Be careful whom you help because your reputation is based on which clans you aid.
There seems to be a lack of variety in the enemies and they’re too sparse for the game’s size. More specifically, there are certain enemies set in distinct and rather large areas in Antaloor. You get tired of fighting the same types of enemies in a given area over and over again. Enemies also respawn in the same locations over time and they don’t wonder outside of a given range. This makes the game boring, dull, and disappointing.
If it weren’t for the game’s good variety of weapons and spells I would have been extremely unhappy with the gameplay. A lot of times I found myself killing enemies and doing quests just to get enough money to buy another spell, armor, or weapon. This is a game you can have fun leveling up and kicking butt. It’s too bad there are so many other problems with the game.
When you begin a game in Two Worlds you’ll be treated to an opening video that’s ridiculously hazy. It will surprise you how bad it looks before the in-game graphics make their first appearance at the conclusion of the intro-video. Two Worlds is a very colorful game, with decent visuals and generally good character animation.
Unfortunately the facial animations are just about as horrible as the opening video. Most of the time when you’re talking to an NPC they act like they’re thinking about something else or don’t care about you at all. Even if they’re scared, sad, happy, or angry their facial animation is pretty much the same (a blank, expressionless stare). It’s actually rather amusing the first dozen times, but it’s more of an annoyance than anything else after that.
The game doesn’t help itself by running at a horrible frame-rate. You’ll see textures refreshing in the distance as you travel through the nicely detailed (foliage filled) world. There are just too many polished games this season that blow this game away visually.
Two Worlds might just win the award this year for worst script writing and voice acting in a game. I can’t begin to describe how truly bad it is. After starting up the game and hearing a few lines, I was confused. Were they serious or joking around? In fact, the voice acting/writing is so bad; it’s hard to listen to when you’re questing. Two Worlds is full of the corniest lines you will hear in a video game this year, I promise.
The one stellar point is that Two Worlds has custom music that fits the game well and is very enjoyable. The music never got dull or repetitive enough for me to turn down the sound, but I will admit the sound being completely turned off when NPC were talking.
All the other general sound effects are here, but there isn’t a lot of variety. For example, when you pick up an herb in your inventory it makes a “squishy” noise. The game uses that sound effect for every type of plant in the game. More attention to detail in the sound effect department would’ve helped.
Considering this game dropped in price $10 after its first week on store shelves, I’d say the value still isn’t as high as it should be. Many people would argue that this is a very large game that offers you at least 30 hours of gameplay. That doesn’t mean the game is a good value if its gameplay is this weak and the writing/voice acting terrible?
It’s a game that has an epic scale and depth right? Yes, the game’s world is huge, but good luck finding fun anywhere besides level grinding. Two Worlds features co-op online play for up to eight other friends or random people. I recommend teaming up with some friends if you buy this game. Random people aren’t fun to play with.
My biggest gripe about this feature is that the dude you trick out in single player mode can’t be used in co-op play. Why? Don’t ask me, it’s dumb not allowing people to transfer their single player character over for use in multiplayer co-op. Even if you try going online with this game it’s often unplayable due to serious lag issues and dropped connections. The frame-rate was bad to begin with, lag makes it unbearable.
If you purchase the Collector's Edition you will be supplied with 2 cards which allow you to unlock exclusive weapons in the game. You’ll also get a map, and bonus CD with artwork, music, video’s, and a web kit to make fan sites with. On top of that you get a 48-page, hardbound book that’s essentially a Two Worlds tabletop Dungeons and Dragons game.
If you’ve been wondering if Two Worlds is worth picking up, the answer is no. Sure, the screen shots and gameplay elements make it attractive on the outside, but once installed, the game loses all appeal.
If you can get around the game’s amateurish design, horrible frame rate, terrible writing and voice acting, crappy horse riding controls, and a default difficulty setting that’s annoyingly hard, then you might be able to find a few ounces of enjoyment in Two Worlds, but with Oblivion relaunching it's GOTY edition I think we all know which RPG is right for you.