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Different Kind of RPG overshadowed by the success of 'Oblivion'

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 36 / 37
Date: September 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Intro:

I think of RPGs on PC as an acquired taste. The genre, in my opinion, was never fully embraced by the mainstream gamers for the longest time. Classic CRPG such as `Ultima' and earlier `The Elder Scrolls' series were perhaps not easily accessible to the mainstream gamers as much as Japanese RPGs such as `Final Fantasy' and `Dragon Quest' series. Part of the reason is that such games do not grant the player instant gratification like most of action, adventure, FPS, and sports games. Even monstrously successful western-styled RPG `The Elder Scrolls' series were not fully accepted by the general gamers until `Oblivion' came out and sold over 3 million copies. Even `Morrowind', while selling over 1 million, was never fully embraced by the casual gamers. But I've always had a soft spot for computer RPGs. I just had to play `Two Worlds'. Is `Two Worlds' a good RPG?

Gaming World:

'Two Worlds' is a non-linear, open-ended RPG set in a massive gaming world similar in those from 'The Elder Scrolls' and 'Gothic' series. The gaming world in the game `Antaloor' is truly massive, even bigger than `Cyrodiil' of `Oblivion', and the world is full of towns and settlements and monsters of all sizes and shapes. The world of `Antaloor' is very diverse world filled with different environments from mountain to forest to desert to volcano to glacier. Wait till you get to the much much darker and evil places like hell's gate. The overall feel of the gaming world is probably much closer to that of `Gothic 3' than `Oblivion'. As much as I love `Oblivion', the lack of diversity in environment in the vanilla version of the game grows tiresome as the game progresses. It is very refreshing to jump into a world where everything looks distinctively different. Except a few places, you can go anywhere in the world, whenever you want to go. However, the enemies in many areas will overpower you in a blink of an eye in the beginning. They are outrageously powerful as you move down the southern part of the world. There is no loading zone except underground level.

Game Mechanism:

In the beginning, casual players will be disoriented, lost, and even upset about the lack of direction or inability to defeat even your very basic foes like wolf and bear.
You have to meticulously build your character. It is a time-consuming chore that is required in all RPGs in general, but that's where the fun lies. Once you build your character, you will be able to blast the packs of enemies in a single blow. Although the game has a main storyline, you can ignore the main story and just go anywhere and do any side quest.

Combat / Magic:

The combat mechanism in this game is somewhat clunky in the beginning. It's a real-time combat based on your stats, and it's not menu-driven action like `Neverwinter Nights'. You have to make contact to inflict the damage. I wouldn't call it terrible but not quite well-implemented like `Oblivion'. Initially, instead of feeling kinetic and fierce, it feels like a button-smashing click-fest.
There is no block function; instead you have backward parry function that comes very useful to dodge the enemy attack. There are tons of varieties in weapons / armors / magic so you will eventually gain more control over your combat / magic movements. Different weapons give you different combat movement, and they give you different combat styles and maneuvers that are really magnificent. Once you gain some experience and increase character level, the initially clunky combat mechanism becomes very exciting and addictive. The 3rd-person perspective of this game is far better than that of 'Oblivion', although there's no 1st-person perspective combat like 'Oblivion'.
Another thing that this game does right is magic. It is very easy to use and the magic effects are amazing.

NPCs:

NPCs in the game are quite dynamic. They move around, they go into their houses, they lock their houses, they go to sleep. They do share many dialogues from the same pool within the same region. Many of them offer you side quests and side quests are plentiful. They are your usual Fedex fetching quest consisted of item delivery, assassination, combat, and locating someone / something. When attacked, they will respond with deadly force. When they see enemy approach, they will fight and even assist you in combat. Their response will vary depending on your reputation. If you commit assault or stealing, you will be attacked or banished from the town you commit the crime at.

Enemies:

There are tons of enemy types in `Antaloor', and many of them are no push-over. In fact, in the southern part of the town, they are outrageously strong. They are very well drawn and designed. In combat, many occasions they attack you in packs. Anywhere from 3 to as many as 20 I've seen. They will follow you to certain distance then disperse, so running away from combat is a useful tactic early on. Retreat until you are strong enough. When in combat, use parry function often.

Graphic:

Again, the graphic in RPGs is never on the same level with FPS mainly because exterior game world is simply too huge for PC to process and optimize at the level of FPS while FPS only have to deal with one limited, linear level at a time (usually interior level). To maintain a persistent outside world as whole, RPGs usually lose some quality in graphic department. The graphic in `Two World' is not quite polished like `Oblivion' but it is by no mean bad. In fact, Shade effects and colors are quite vibrant and lively. Where it falters is the design of the character model. It is bit jaggy and unpolished, and the facial design is just ugly. There are occasional collision problems and creatures stuck in the wall. On the other hand, enemies, weapons, and armors are drawn quite impressively. Environments and plants are simply beautiful. And there are dragons. You simply have to see them in games...beautiful.

PC Requirements:

The official requirements are single-core CPU of 2 GHz or faster with RAM of 512 MB or more and graphic card with Shader 2.0 or higher.

My once-glorious but now aging 4 year-old, custom-made PC equipped with 3 GHz P4 HT CPU with 2 GB of RAM and NVIDIA 7800 GS has no problem running this game beautifully with all the effects turned on and maxed out. The loading time is only 3-7 seconds.

Verdict:

`Two Worlds' is a computer RPG through and through. It has its flaws but it also does many things even better than `Oblivion'. 'Oblivion' has so much raised the standard of RPGs, by which all other RPGs will be measured, it's a tragedy that 'Two Worlds' will be unfairly criticized and ignored. If you like `The Elder Scrolls' series before `Oblivion' and if you are in the minority of enjoying `Gothic' series, give this game a chance. It will grow on you. If non-linear, open-ended world sandbox is your thing and you love to traverse the world doing side quests, building your stats, and kill enemy on sight the way you want it, whenever you want it, and however you want it, you will like this game. If you are more into `Final Fantasy' series or FPS and action game, most likely you will not enjoy this game. Still curious? Try free demo from the official website at http://www.2-worlds.com first and decide. This is not a game I can whole-heartedly recommend to a casual gamer. This is for die-hard RPG lovers only. `Two Worlds' falls a bit short of `Oblivion', but it is a very impressive achievement. In the current RPG markets where RPGs choices are scarce and plenty of bad RPGs like `Dungeon Lords' and `NeverEnd' are on the shelves, `Two Worlds' is simply far superior to most computer RPGs available today.

Two Worlds Rock

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Two worlds is an excellent PC game to exceed Oblivion. It has excellent graphics, very good story. If I had to say something negative about it is that, I run a high end PC and occasionally the game jerks and after a few hours of intense gaming the games freezes up.

Other than that, everything else scores high for me

TwoWorlds is a keeper

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

If you enjoy playing Oblivion and Gothic, you will enjoy this game, too. It is not on a par with those games, but does have a number of elements from each plus other RPG games such as Sacred. It is outstanding in load time and game saving options. The graphics are not quite up to Oblivion standards, but better than Gothic. Early in the game, the hero dies a lot, but it is fun figuring a way to overcome opponents. Later, after acquiring stronger weapons, much armor and many spells, the opponents are either too easy, offering little challenge or too hard, killing the hero with a single blow. I have not completed the game yet, but will probably replay it later with a difficult setting.

Not worth the money

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: October 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The game has serious flaws that prevent it from being what I would call a good RPG.
First, it has a drab plot and comically bad dialog. The old English style of speaking is made even more rediculous by the crummy voice acting. It makes it hard to get into the game's already lackluster story.
Second, the action is repetitive and seems unbalanced. Magic isn't nearly as powerful or effective as melee or bow, with the exception of healing, which you will no doubt use frequently. The character development is pretty standard but not bad, as you do advance in power as you move through the game, learning new abilities from trainers when/if you find them and increasing your core stats.
Horseback riding is frustrating at best, but transport is made easy because of teleport nodes.
Sidequests are boring, for the most part, and pretty standard. You are given some choices as to whether you are "good" or "evil", but for the most part the ethics system of this game are poorly implemented. If you slaughter an entire town, no one really seems to care. The result is that you never really feel the effects of your moral choices.
The graphics are good, if poorly optimized. Be sure to update your video card.
The game isn't as bad as it could be, but certainly isn't worth the price. Even if Oblivion was never released, this game wouldn't be a good example of an RPG. It lacks the attention to detail, interesting plot, dynamic world, and engaging combat that would make it a great game. Buy it only once its cheap.

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