Two Worlds

I see a LARGE amount of negative reviews popping up about this game, and all I can say is that the people playing this game who have given it bad reviews are simply not , in my opinion, " into " their RPGs.

This game has some similarities to Oblivion ( massive size, open world) but at the end of the day if you like RPGs that require some serious hard work ( Think Might and magic series 6 -9, or Gothic 3, all of which i thoroughly enjoyed) then this game may well be up your street.

It requires a lot of time and effort to play and get the best out of, but frankly considering the size of this game, and the detailed graphics, I am amazed how well it runs on 360. I have now completed the game twice ( on PC ) and am going through it a third time of the 360. I would advise NOT playing it on easy , go straight to medium.

The story is and ok RPG tale, your sister gets kidnapped, you have to find who, why and what you need to do to get her back. There are 100s of side quests, and two clans you can join ( joining and committing to one clan means the destruction of the other)

The end game gives you an option of 3 different ways to complete the game, and I would say to get to the end of the game takes around 30-50 hours.

Saving and loading is very fast on 360 and the game runs very well.

To briefly answer some of the very unfair criticisms levelled as this game by the other reviewers on this site:-

Graphics- Push the 360 to its limit and do very well. Every now and then a zone needs to load in , and you get a frozen screen for anywhere between 2-3 seconds. Hardly game breaking.

Combat:- Starts out with simple hacking and backstepping, new skills learned later add Fire, water, earth , air and Necromanitc magic. Advanced stealth, backstabbing, pick pocketing, multiple firing of arrows, improved combat from horse back and faster swimming. There are lots of other skills to learn too....

Horse/mount riding:- Not as free form as Oblivion, essentially the mounts cannot climb over certain surfaces ( steep sided hills , walls etc ), so they auto track to find a way round the objects, and this is where people don't take the time to understand how the mounts work, get annoyed at them, and slate the game. Simply stop the mount, turn round and continue in a different direction. Simple.

Quests:- Some are simple kill quests, many are tied in to each other and when you complete one part, it connects over to another quest. Lots of XP and cash for these ones.

Essentially, you need patience with this game, and a good sense of humour as some of the voice acting is pretty poor quality ( often made me smile) but it all makes up for a new gaming universe/experience.

One thing I would say, don't bother paying for the special edition, as the extras are total rubbish, just buy the standard version, as all you need is the game. The Spec edition comes with some artwork, a few tracks from the game and a very poor small hardback book which tries to set itself up as a desktop version of the game, why not print a nice artbook instead ?

The online side of this game requires a VERY fast internet connection, but allows you to play missions with upto 8 other players. However, your online character is for online only, your offline character for offline only.

When this game first launched ( march this year) it was on PC and was version 1.0. I wrote a review that pointed out many issues that the game THEN had. The Xbox 360 version ( and PC version) is now patched upto version 1.5 and now plays like a totally different game. Excellent quality patches and a company that listens to its user base and improved and fixed the game based on the feedback it got from players. Great Game. FULL STOP.

From the team that has brought us classics titles such as Dark Summit comes their next fantastic offering, Two Worlds.

This was a game I was eager to get my grubby mitts on for some time after being teased with some juicy screenshots and a short trailer. After several hours of playing the only feeling I am left with is the fact that I will never get those hours back! Poor controls mixed with poor graphics and some of the worst voice acting ever in a game (I feel they may have just approached the first few people they had met in the street and offered them a job) saps any enjoyment from this game. The combination of all these elements means you will really need to want this game to see past its flaws. On the plus side the world is masive and will keep you busy for some time and the item comparrison is a welcome addition to this style of game... err sorry thats all I have for pluses.

Please buy Oblivion instead, and if you already have it play it again.

Oh my god! This game has been so hugely anticipated and it looked so great, but in reality, it's pants! There's some quotes on the back of the box, and honestly, they're either about a different game or the people were bribed to say it. It's described as 'Oblivion on steroids', well if it is it must have beed a bad trip! They say that it's a much needed advance in RPG's and will set the standard by which all others will follow. I hope not! This game has got the worst acting and dialogue I've seen in a long time, the fights consist of mostly button bashing (ooh wow, that's a new concept!), and the graphics are about on a par with the old xbox. They should have written this on the back of the case, although if they did I have a feeling no one would buy it. In short, this game is not legendary or even good for that matter in anyway, and is about as next gen as my left bum cheek! The only possible use for the disc is to throw it at the game's makers to ensure they don't make a sequal!

Although I have to agree that the game suffers terribly in places (NPC dialogue, some combat aspects, next to useless map), I persevered with it and am now thoroughly enjoying it as a semi-serious alternative to Oblivion (which I have clocked up over 100 hours playing).

It may not be as immersive as Oblivion, partly due to the lack of a true first person persepctive (it switched to 3rd person as soon as you draw your weapon), and the graphics are not as polished as Oblivions, but it does have something to offer (not least the lack of long load times when moving between towns and countryside etc, as result of Oblivion's good looks)

Quests are just as much fun as Oblivion, and although the map does not really help you to work out where the hell you are going, this is in some ways better than Oblivion, which I found was a bit to 'guided' - you always knew where to go to complete each quest, so it took away the exploring aspect. This harkens back to the days of 'Morrowind', and I found it quite challenging to go wandering off course, hoping I'd make it to the right place - more realistic in some ways than Oblivion.

Upgrading weapons is another feature I really enjoy, rather than relying on adding spells to a weapon and then worrying about using it and depleting them, you can combine multiple copies of the same weapon together to make it more powerful, and can imbue it with one or more elemental properties (well, fire, ice, electricity, spirit & poison). These powers don't then dry up in the middle of battle, leaving you with a pretty weak sword (eg Umbra).

I could go rambling on for quite a while about how I'm enjoying killing every Orc i can find and selling their possessions so I can upgrade my armour and weaponry to the max, how it is really rewarding to kill a dragon or Golem that has been kicking your sorry ass every time you've previously encountered it, having upgraded your swords and pinched some better armour off of a bad guy you've just wasted etc, but I will leave it up to you to make your own decisions.

I wouldn't recommend this as a rental game, as you need to spend some time getting into the game and playing the side quests and exploring all over the place. While it is true that it doesn't quite live up to Oblivions extremely high standard, it is a decent game in its own right, and doesn't deserve the mauling that some of the reviewers have been dishing out, presumably based on a few hours of gameplay. I was willing to join their numbers until I gave it the benfit of the doubt for a few more hours, now I'm choosing that to play over Gears, Pro Evo, Stranglehold, Stuntman etc. It is my game of choice at the minute, and I can see it remainng so until Halo 3 comes out (that'll be next week then!)

There's alotta mixed feelings about this game everywhere. Firstly it was a big mistake to name this game to Oblivion, the main reason being, this game is nothing like Oblivion.
So if your going to buy this game, dont think its going to be Oblivion, or else you'll be dissapointed.
I played the game for ten minutes and turned off my console, I felt dissapointed that this game hasnt lived up to the hype. Then I was reading what alot of people said on the Xbox Forums, and they said to atleast get up to level 5 in the singleplayer and then judge the game.
So I did, and now I cant put the game down.
The multiplayer is unplayable due to too much lag, but they will be patching it in the near future to improve it. So expect that in the next few weeks.
The singleplayer also does have issues, but I think people forget or never had played Oblivion before it had many patches.
Two Worlds does have issues, and for the first ten minutes you'll want to hate the game. But if you read the book, and understand all the controls, then you'll probably begin to enjoy this game. I've played many games like this, and I never used alchemy, but for the first time I find myself using it, so I can make weapon enhancements. I.e adding 20% Lightning damage to my double handed spear.
Alot of the weapons and armour look excellent, and if you've actually TRIED different weapons, you'll notice that different weapons will have different ranges etc and you'll obviously swing the weapon in different motion. A double handed spear feels more like something off Dynasty Warriors mixed with RPG! Which I find cool.
There is actually a story to the game, and it tries to tell you the story through in-game small clips that tries to immerse you into the story. I hafta admit though, that the story is OK but nothing out of the ordinary.
All in all the combat is great fun, I enjoy alchemy for once! The weapon and armour stacking is an excellent idea and integrated well.
With a few patches this game will be better, the issues with multiplayer, and horses that only turn left and wont go right etc.
It is a bit of a patch up game, it doesnt feel like your playing an end-product. Pretty much all of the voices are cheese, but if you can laugh at stuff like that, then you wont mind it.
This game has great ideas and they do work well, but there are issues that the developers shouldnt of ignored.
So its your choice if you buy it or not, I cant really say if your going to like it. I really dont know why I cant stop playing it, even with all the issues. I cant see why people are bashing the framerate in singleplayer though, I havent had any trouble with the framerate and I have a bog standard 21inch TV.
The game is like marmite, you'll either love it, or hate it.
But if you have bought this game then try and reach level 5 - 10 before you make an opinion. As only then will you know all the controls, and all of the capabilities of the game. Because by then, you'll find yourself actually liking the game.