Two Worlds 2
This is a rewrite of my Two Worlds 2 review that has been updated with more details and information about the game. I have logged over twenty hours into the singleplayer game.
Two Worlds 2 is a sequel to Two Worlds. The first Two Worlds was a third person action role-playing game that had an adventurer quest through a vast and open world. The first Two Worlds suffered famously from various bugs and lag that for most crippled the playing experience and left a terrible taste in most gamers’ mouths. Needless to say, I approached Two Worlds 2 with extreme skepticism after I was burned by the first one. Most players who spent sixty dollars on the first game are unwilling to give the second game its due. I don’t blame them. The first Two Worlds came out a year after the more popular Elder Scrolls Oblivion and supported inferior graphics, controls, and polish. I am glad to state that after twenty hours of play and various quests conquered Two Worlds 2 is far superior to the first Two Worlds. Throughout my impressions you will read about a wonderfully detailed and thought-out world. Polish publisher TopWare and developer Reality Pump have crafted a large western style RPG that almost touches on triple A quality. The game does lack when compared with more mainstream RPGs like Elder Scrolls Oblivion and the Mass Effect series. I will argue that although Two Worlds 2 is not as finely tuned as those other two game series, it has as much to offer a RPG fan.
Before I get into the details I think it is important to point out that I enjoy a good western role-playing game that allows the player the freedom of character development and questing. I have enjoyed popular games like Oblivion, Mass Effect 1 & 2, Fallout 3, and less popular games such as Deadly Premonition, Risen, Divinity 2, and Sacred 2. I mention these games because Two Worlds 2 has something in common with all of them. The open world and questing systems are similar to most RPGs. I mention this to give you an idea of my tastes. I don’t play every game that is released and tend to be fairly picky. That being said, Two Worlds 2 is a definite buy if you like western style RPGs.
The game starts like most RPGs with a linear tutorial that takes a good hour or so to completely get through. Captured from the start, the player follows friends through a great escape that slowly introduces the player to the large array of combat systems and worldly happenings. I had never played much of the first Two Worlds and thus found the slow tutorial and baby-step process a nice welcome. Once I escaped from the clutches of evil, I soon realized that with the size of the world available during the first chapter there was plenty of stuff left for me to have to figure out on my own. This game is large.
The world does open up once the game gets going. There are portal points that are littered throughout the world that really help you get anywhere you want quickly. There is a horse and sail boat to also break up the running around. I hated riding the horse though. It seemed to be the one aspect of the game that they forgot to improve over the first Two Worlds. Horse riding is slow and clunky. You must continually hit the A button or the horse will slow down to a stand still, and if you hit the button to much you get thrown from the large animal. This wouldn’t be so bad if the horse riding was cool looking or even helped you get somewhere faster. It really doesn’t. The animation on the horse looks like a slide show. It truly is terrible. Thank goodness the horse is only available on one continent and is not a part of the whole game. On the other hand the sailing was great. It reminded me of a more serious Windwaker (Zelda) in regards to the sailing. It took me awhile to get the hang of it. I thought I hated the sailing but once I realized that I could control the sail itself by moving the boom with the left and right trigger, I could catch the wind facing in any direction. In no time I was zipping around the two main continents and various islands. The exploration in this game is amazing. Without giving away spoilers, I found giant statues and ruins outside of quests that were placed throughout the world. Each area had a sense of history that at times make up the best parts of Two Worlds 2.
Back on dry land, the third person perspective is surprisingly well done for a RPG of this magnitude. Games like Mass Effect that also do third person well, are linear in design and lack that vast open world experience. The effect is not quite as fluid as a Grand Theft Auto game but it is still well done. Unlike the terrible horse animation, I found the main character to be animated well.
At times the game reminded me of the Fable franchise and is definitely more of an action RPG than I expected. At the start, the combat system seems to be very straight forward, but soon opens up into a very advanced system for a game such as this. It reminds me of Dragon Age Origins and Fable mixed. In Dragon Age you set your different attack commands to controller buttons and press them when you want to attack, Fable is more of a hack n’ slash type style. This game takes the hack n’ slash of Fable and gives you the combat tactics and commands of Dragon Age. What is produced is an action hack n’ slash system that is fast and intuitive. For those of you that are still a little lost, it feels like a mix between Zelda and an MMO like World of Warcraft.
I am playing a warrior so I haven’t dabbled in magic too much. That being said, I can say that a great aspect of this game is the freedom it allows when building your character. On the fly, you can swap weapon sets and armor sets at the touch of a button. This means that you can start combat dressed as a rogue firing arrows at the enemy in your cloak that gives bonus to accuracy, then as the enemy approaches change to an armored warrior with duel swords and engage in hand-to-hand combat. If too many enemies gather around you can again swap into your mage robes and blast a couple area effect spells for maximum damage. This system gets very fun and not only makes combat so much more engaging, but you never feel handicapped or at a disadvantage, and it makes you focus on collecting various armor sets and weapon sets- so collecting is more enjoyable and useful. This also adds to the great exploration. It should be noted that everything I just said does take a little bit of playing to get to know how everything works. One thing the game could do better is its explanation of these systems and strategies. This is what I was talking about earlier when I stated the game lacks the polish of triple A games.
The graphics of Two Worlds 2 look great, and for the most part run at an acceptable frame rate, except immediately after a teleport or when there are many characters moving on screen, but the motion blur effect when running and turning can get a little distracting. In fact, I found myself hating the blur effect at first and it took me awhile to adjust. I had read somewhere that it is possible for you to turn off the blur effect, but it requires a little internet research and is not fully accessible in the settings menu. The bloom effect can also be over done at certain times of day when the sun is supposed to be bright. It is a little annoying but nothing big. Besides those small issues, the graphical quality of this game has impressed me. It is not the greatest looking game on the Xbox 360, but it is very well done and can make your jaw drop at certain vistas. The environments are different than most fantasy RPGs of late. You start in a European forest area, but soon venture out to an African type savannah, a Japanese forest, and a haunted wasteland. These breaks from RPG clichés and norms makes Two Worlds 2 have an identity all its own.
The graphics are complimented with a decent sound track and voice work. I love when the music sweeps in when in towns and cities. It adds to a sense of adventure and never got old. One thing about the first game that was so bad was its voiceovers. Reality Pump had all the voice actors speak in a Shakespearean style and it was ridiculous. This game does not have that silly issue; all characters are voiced in a very average manner. It isn’t great but it won’t ruin the story.
The mission structure is also nothing revolutionary, but is decent. As I play this game I find that it is not breaking any new ground, but rather is just a good game- which is nice considering how bad the first game was. You walk up to people with a talk icon and engage them in conversation. They give you missions, most of which are voluntary. The cinematic conversations of some recent games like Mass Effect are not copied here. The conversations in Two Worlds 2 are static discussions that require you to make a choice only once in awhile. And I found that most of the choices you make just decide the order in which you get information, it doesn’t actually change anything in the game world. This is a shame and after playing games like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Fallout is a huge negative. If you like making choices that change the lay of the land this is not your game. You can make more subtle choices, like how to build your character and interact with the game world.
So far Two Worlds 2 is a blast and way more enjoyable than I expected. The developer should be proud of what they have accomplished and gamers interested in this genre should play this game. It is not the best RPG on Xbox 360, but Two Worlds 2 is a great game. I highly recommend it.
P.S.- I haven’t played much of the multiplayer component and will add to the review when I have more of an opinion on that topic.
Two Worlds 2 is a sequel to Two Worlds. The first Two Worlds was a third person action role-playing game that had an adventurer quest through a vast and open world. The first Two Worlds suffered famously from various bugs and lag that for most crippled the playing experience and left a terrible taste in most gamers’ mouths. Needless to say, I approached Two Worlds 2 with extreme skepticism after I was burned by the first one. Most players who spent sixty dollars on the first game are unwilling to give the second game its due. I don’t blame them. The first Two Worlds came out a year after the more popular Elder Scrolls Oblivion and supported inferior graphics, controls, and polish. I am glad to state that after twenty hours of play and various quests conquered Two Worlds 2 is far superior to the first Two Worlds. Throughout my impressions you will read about a wonderfully detailed and thought-out world. Polish publisher TopWare and developer Reality Pump have crafted a large western style RPG that almost touches on triple A quality. The game does lack when compared with more mainstream RPGs like Elder Scrolls Oblivion and the Mass Effect series. I will argue that although Two Worlds 2 is not as finely tuned as those other two game series, it has as much to offer a RPG fan.
Before I get into the details I think it is important to point out that I enjoy a good western role-playing game that allows the player the freedom of character development and questing. I have enjoyed popular games like Oblivion, Mass Effect 1 & 2, Fallout 3, and less popular games such as Deadly Premonition, Risen, Divinity 2, and Sacred 2. I mention these games because Two Worlds 2 has something in common with all of them. The open world and questing systems are similar to most RPGs. I mention this to give you an idea of my tastes. I don’t play every game that is released and tend to be fairly picky. That being said, Two Worlds 2 is a definite buy if you like western style RPGs.
The game starts like most RPGs with a linear tutorial that takes a good hour or so to completely get through. Captured from the start, the player follows friends through a great escape that slowly introduces the player to the large array of combat systems and worldly happenings. I had never played much of the first Two Worlds and thus found the slow tutorial and baby-step process a nice welcome. Once I escaped from the clutches of evil, I soon realized that with the size of the world available during the first chapter there was plenty of stuff left for me to have to figure out on my own. This game is large.
The world does open up once the game gets going. There are portal points that are littered throughout the world that really help you get anywhere you want quickly. There is a horse and sail boat to also break up the running around. I hated riding the horse though. It seemed to be the one aspect of the game that they forgot to improve over the first Two Worlds. Horse riding is slow and clunky. You must continually hit the A button or the horse will slow down to a stand still, and if you hit the button to much you get thrown from the large animal. This wouldn’t be so bad if the horse riding was cool looking or even helped you get somewhere faster. It really doesn’t. The animation on the horse looks like a slide show. It truly is terrible. Thank goodness the horse is only available on one continent and is not a part of the whole game. On the other hand the sailing was great. It reminded me of a more serious Windwaker (Zelda) in regards to the sailing. It took me awhile to get the hang of it. I thought I hated the sailing but once I realized that I could control the sail itself by moving the boom with the left and right trigger, I could catch the wind facing in any direction. In no time I was zipping around the two main continents and various islands. The exploration in this game is amazing. Without giving away spoilers, I found giant statues and ruins outside of quests that were placed throughout the world. Each area had a sense of history that at times make up the best parts of Two Worlds 2.
Back on dry land, the third person perspective is surprisingly well done for a RPG of this magnitude. Games like Mass Effect that also do third person well, are linear in design and lack that vast open world experience. The effect is not quite as fluid as a Grand Theft Auto game but it is still well done. Unlike the terrible horse animation, I found the main character to be animated well.
At times the game reminded me of the Fable franchise and is definitely more of an action RPG than I expected. At the start, the combat system seems to be very straight forward, but soon opens up into a very advanced system for a game such as this. It reminds me of Dragon Age Origins and Fable mixed. In Dragon Age you set your different attack commands to controller buttons and press them when you want to attack, Fable is more of a hack n’ slash type style. This game takes the hack n’ slash of Fable and gives you the combat tactics and commands of Dragon Age. What is produced is an action hack n’ slash system that is fast and intuitive. For those of you that are still a little lost, it feels like a mix between Zelda and an MMO like World of Warcraft.
I am playing a warrior so I haven’t dabbled in magic too much. That being said, I can say that a great aspect of this game is the freedom it allows when building your character. On the fly, you can swap weapon sets and armor sets at the touch of a button. This means that you can start combat dressed as a rogue firing arrows at the enemy in your cloak that gives bonus to accuracy, then as the enemy approaches change to an armored warrior with duel swords and engage in hand-to-hand combat. If too many enemies gather around you can again swap into your mage robes and blast a couple area effect spells for maximum damage. This system gets very fun and not only makes combat so much more engaging, but you never feel handicapped or at a disadvantage, and it makes you focus on collecting various armor sets and weapon sets- so collecting is more enjoyable and useful. This also adds to the great exploration. It should be noted that everything I just said does take a little bit of playing to get to know how everything works. One thing the game could do better is its explanation of these systems and strategies. This is what I was talking about earlier when I stated the game lacks the polish of triple A games.
The graphics of Two Worlds 2 look great, and for the most part run at an acceptable frame rate, except immediately after a teleport or when there are many characters moving on screen, but the motion blur effect when running and turning can get a little distracting. In fact, I found myself hating the blur effect at first and it took me awhile to adjust. I had read somewhere that it is possible for you to turn off the blur effect, but it requires a little internet research and is not fully accessible in the settings menu. The bloom effect can also be over done at certain times of day when the sun is supposed to be bright. It is a little annoying but nothing big. Besides those small issues, the graphical quality of this game has impressed me. It is not the greatest looking game on the Xbox 360, but it is very well done and can make your jaw drop at certain vistas. The environments are different than most fantasy RPGs of late. You start in a European forest area, but soon venture out to an African type savannah, a Japanese forest, and a haunted wasteland. These breaks from RPG clichés and norms makes Two Worlds 2 have an identity all its own.
The graphics are complimented with a decent sound track and voice work. I love when the music sweeps in when in towns and cities. It adds to a sense of adventure and never got old. One thing about the first game that was so bad was its voiceovers. Reality Pump had all the voice actors speak in a Shakespearean style and it was ridiculous. This game does not have that silly issue; all characters are voiced in a very average manner. It isn’t great but it won’t ruin the story.
The mission structure is also nothing revolutionary, but is decent. As I play this game I find that it is not breaking any new ground, but rather is just a good game- which is nice considering how bad the first game was. You walk up to people with a talk icon and engage them in conversation. They give you missions, most of which are voluntary. The cinematic conversations of some recent games like Mass Effect are not copied here. The conversations in Two Worlds 2 are static discussions that require you to make a choice only once in awhile. And I found that most of the choices you make just decide the order in which you get information, it doesn’t actually change anything in the game world. This is a shame and after playing games like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Fallout is a huge negative. If you like making choices that change the lay of the land this is not your game. You can make more subtle choices, like how to build your character and interact with the game world.
So far Two Worlds 2 is a blast and way more enjoyable than I expected. The developer should be proud of what they have accomplished and gamers interested in this genre should play this game. It is not the best RPG on Xbox 360, but Two Worlds 2 is a great game. I highly recommend it.
P.S.- I haven’t played much of the multiplayer component and will add to the review when I have more of an opinion on that topic.
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