Two Worlds II

Posted June 9, 2012 by Speed - 0 comments

In 2007 the first Two World, a typical RPG aimed at the action aspect like Oblivion, arrived. The game gave you a huge open world, hours of gameplay and the necessary variation to actually spend those hours on. Still it was only mildly received due to the rather crappy finishing and many bugs. Luckily the game sold enough so that Reality Pump got to still release a sequel.

Those that haven’t played the first game will be stunned by the introduction movie. You won’t understand a word of what they’re talking about! Luckily I had a friend who had played the first game and filled me in and I’ll share that experience with you.

The story is set five years after the events from Two Worlds which almost destroyed the world of Antaloor. The hero did what he could but was captured together with his sister Kyra by the bad guy on duty, Gandohar. One day a group of Orcs, the lesser and most hated race in the world, come to save him. It’s still unclear why they did this, but that’s up to the player to discover.

As with any RPG you start with designing your character, but with limited freedom and recreating yourself is not an option. Then you can choose your class and by means of a smal queste they all get introduced to you. If you still can’t choose, you can decide to be a bit of everything.

Those that spend their time mostly on magic will notice they need to design their own spells. This is done by means of different cards with all of them having their own properties. There’s for instance a card of fire that can be combined with an attack so that you can shoot a ball of fire. Or you can choose a card that creates an aura of flames which protects your character. If you prefer to keep things cool then using ice may be more up your alley. The possibilities grow exponentially and feel a lot more personal than similar spells from other games.

Weapons lovers can make their gear stronger by gathering resources and that’s an important part of the game as those that don’t spend time on this will quickly run into problems against stronger enemies. Luckily the combat system isn’t set up in such a way that only stats count, but also the skills of the gamer in question get their turn in the real-time combat. Choosing between a defensive or offensive position is important, but also the how you take on an enemy. Exploiting weaknesses is makes you the warrior every beautiful lady is dreaming of.

During your travel you meet all kinds of people, some have little to say while other have tons of missions for you to perform and send you through the wide world filled with villages, beggars, woods, wild animals and thieves. The distances your quests require you to do aren’t the shortest, but a hose will make that you get there faster. Unfortunately this does make you miss part of the beautiful fauna and flora.

Those that prefer playing online can head to the multiplayer section. Here you have to create a new character but you’ll also be playing a completely new co-op adventure in the Two Worlds II universe. As you spend more time with your online character, you also unlock a village that you can control. The possibilities aren’t as extensive as in Civilization, but it’s easy to get lost in it for quite a number of hours. If you prefer checking out your strength against others you can do some short PvP fights. Unfortunately the balance here is sometimes hard to be found.

Graphically Two Worlds II doesn’t disappoint but it’s not setting new standards either. The game world looks beautiful and the diversity of surroundings brings forth a vivid atmosphere. The characters are a bit less detailed but certainly don’t pale next to the rest of the environment. Sadly enough their movements are a lot less and things look a bit sturdy. A second problem were the regular framedrops on console when loading new data information. The sounds of the environments on the other hand are pretty good. Only the characters lack some intonation in their voiceand sometimes they tend to now complete their sentences as the game already wants to load the next dialogue.

Two Worlds II offers fans enough to keep them busy for hours. The many missions, areas, enemies or spells that can be created are responsible for this. Each environment feels fresh and new so that you’ll have no problem wanting to check it out. The biggest issue of the original has been fixed but there are some flaws that do remain and sting you in the eye, preventing us from giving a higher score. Small tip; gamers with all formats available should go for the PC version as the quality there is definitely a bit higher.

LittleBigPlanet 2 Tron: Evolution