Guest review by MG Thabo
Let me just come right out and say it, this game has one of the most confusing names in gaming history. A friend of mine asked me what I was playing and when I said “Two Worlds Two”, he was on the floor laughing his brains out. Really, they couldn’t conjure up a more creative name than that?
Nonetheless, as you can obviously make out from the name this game is a sequel. I will be quite honest and say I was more than weary to pick up this game. It’s predecessor received shockingly low reviews that range from the 30’s to 50’s, but I decided to give this game a proper chance to startle me and it did…somewhat.
Has Two Worlds 2 risen to the challenge, or will it fall into oblivion? Full review after the jump.
The start of the game is riddled in mystery. You wake up in a throne next to some woman and some big Sauron looking guy is shouting at you for no apparent reason. Turns out the woman next to you is your sister and the big black armour-wearing gentleman is the evil emperor of the land.
The story is totally confusing and half the time you will be asking “what the hell is going on?” rather than completely know where the plot is going. It does pick up some speed, but only later on in the game, and I’m talking a good 10 hours in, you will start to have more context and a better understanding of the plot.
Back to the story. You are first tasked to somehow escape the ancient castle you are imprisoned in. You then get rescued by some orcs that think you are the key to everything or something and you will be their saviour. They then whisk you off to some desolate town in the middle of nowhere and off you go on your dangerous journey. That is where the real fun begins actually. From then on, you are given complete freedom to do whatever you like. Be it going after the numerous side-quests or simply hunting some rhino in the fields (No I am not kidding). It’s all very varied and in no time at all you will have completely forgotten what you are suppose to be doing and off to find the lone woman in the stable’s horse that is being attacked by wild baboons.
The inventory system can be a daunting thing to understand. The developers should have made some effort in streamlining it a bit. It’s functional, but all your items are displayed in massive icons and throughout the game you will pick up much of the same stuff too. This can make it very frustrating when you have twenty normal clubs just laying there and you’re in search of that magical club you got from some old man after saving his daughter. A more text-based approach could have been more than sufficient with only small icons next to the text. It would have made pillaging much more satisfying without the need to waste your time looking for that boulder axe that makes you too heavy to run.
The combat elements are well laid out. You have the choice of specializing in three combat styles, which are swords/clubs, bows or magic, which are upgraded by the skills strength, accuracy and willpower respectively. The sword/club skills are pretty straightforward with attacks suck as sweep, smash and the like. Bow skills offer more of a tactical aspect with fire arrows, poison arrows and even an attack that summons a creature from Hell to distract and attack your enemy. The magical skills are more robust and quite complicated. You have a carrier card which can be fire, frost, decay etc and a casting card which specifies the manner in which the spell will be cast like bolt, self, area etc. It’s all very complicated and you need to collect cards in order for them to be more effective. Your character will also call out some truly ridiculous casting rites, which are funny the first time, but later become a pain in the butt whenever he casts a single fireball.
Your character is also a very interesting person. His outward appearance is totally dependant on you with a thorough albeit shallow character creation setup. He doesn’t have a name, but is fully voiced and you can only steer the conversation in two directions. One is the more understanding and approving choice and the other is filled with contempt and pure hate. His voice is also worthy of mention. To put it frank he sounds like Satan that has smoked ten packs of twenty daily for 100 years. He really sounds scary even when he is being friendly and I’m quite surprised how people accept his help at times.
The animations of some of the characters are a joke. When you talk to them they flail their arms violently as if they are desperately looking for a handshake and in combat they run around like chickens without a head.
Last Updated: May 30, 2011
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