Games Xbox 360 Two Worlds

Two Worlds

Written by Toma-kun January 17, 2009 Hits: 914 Favorites

Game Info:

Platform:

Xbox 360, PC

Developer:

Reality Pump

Publisher:

Southpeak Interactive

Players:

Format:

1 DVD

Gallery:

Xbox 360 » Two Worlds (6)

Editor review

I guess copycats aren't all bad

There's no denying the effects The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion has had on the world of gaming: bringing CRPGs into the mainstream, solidifying the future of multi-platform titles, and more recently, giving rise to a would be competitor in Reality Pump's Two Worlds.

You play a mercenary hired to look after an expeditionary team along with your sister while they pore through a dwarven mine. The group gets more than they bargained for when they discover that it's actually the tomb of a fallen god, rife with hidden powers waiting to be unleashed. The joy of the discovery is short lived, however, as the group is ambushed leaving you to fend yourself. Worse yet, your sister is kidnapped in the melee! While it appears to be a random attack, as the story progresses you will find out that all of these events are intertwined with the sinister plot of a power hungry villain.

Naturally with games of this genre, the main story takes a backseat to the multitude of side quests you can under take and Two Worlds is no exception. The large game world provides a ton of locations to plunder and the world's denizens won't hesitate to send you out on an errand. Oh and did I mention there's no auto-scaling difficulty system in place? Power leveling will feel rewarding again; not that it matters much since death is pretty much a non-issue in Two Worlds. Dying will only teleport you to the nearest shrine with no penalty. That's not the only departure from Oblivion, however, the first thing you'll notice is that the game is played exclusively in third person.

While it doesn't reach the same dizzying heights of visual splendor as Oblivion, the game is far from unattractive. The draw distance is amazing and you get every type of environment possible, from thick forests to the dark, barren rooting ground of the undead and everything in between. The character modeling not quite to Oblivion's standards, but share many similarities, including extensive customizability ensuring that you never see the same face twice. Equipment appears on characters in real time and is easily the best thing about the character models. All of this is mired only by occasional slowdowns and not so minor clipping issues. Animations also leave a lot to be desired, character movements are jerky and are about as fluid as cured concrete, somewhat reminiscent of the early days of stop animation. The interface icons are also way too small; things like map markers and even items in your inventory are difficult to see and discern if sitting farther than three feet away.

The audio may be my favorite part of this game and it's not because of the sound effects or the music, but the voice acting. It's not amazing or particularly bad, but it is entertaining... to say the least. The delivery is ridiculously deadpan and the fact that Olde English is used exclusively, you can't help but laugh. Normally I just skip voice overs, but I found myself listening to the dialogue just to get a laugh or two; it's just so hard to take them seriously!

The biggest offender in this otherwise above average game is the controls. They're seemingly harmless until you decide to mount a horse. It's difficult to describe in words how bad the mounted controls are; I had issues just getting the horse to go straight never mind initiating combat or turning to another direction. If you want to enjoy this game, skip the horses altogether; yes it looks cool and it's much faster than walking, but it's not worth losing your mind over.

In a lot of ways, Two Worlds is very much like the Diet Pepsi or Intel Celeron of the open-ended CRPG genre; you've still got lush, sprawling vistas and detailed character models, but it just lacks the polish of a AAA title. That may just the price of being in the same genre as an Elder Scrolls game, but Two Worlds serves well as both a beginner's alternative to Oblivion as well as yet another adventure for CRPG lovers.

Highs:	Next-gen visuals, huge game world, hilarious voice acting?
Lows:	Horse-riding controls broken, animations need work, laughable voice acting?
Bottom Line:	With a little more refinement, Two Worlds could very well compete with The Elder Scrolls games.