If only polish and presentation were easy to come by.
You have to wonder why a developer would deliberately position their game in the long shadow cast by a hugely successful title like Oblivion. Sure, the market is obviously there, but it seems like such a cruel fate to thrust upon your brainchild, knowing it will be condemned to labels like "clone" or "rip-off." Nevertheless, Polish developer Reality Pump has stepped up with a confident swagger, proud to steal from the best, and confident it can stand on its own.
It's a tall order. Oblivion wrapped a massive amount of content and overwhelming level of freedom in a package that oozed high-class production value, with an accessibility that helped lure in the console audience that had long eluded computer role-playing games. Two Worlds seems to have all the basics down, with miles of terrain and bustling cities full of more to do than you'll care to explore. For those that like to roam rather than barrel through the adventure, there's a near endless flow of side-quests to take on, and some of these have interesting consequences. All of this comes together in a seamless world, with only the briefest loading pauses.
It's not a terribly appealing world, either. You assume the role of a bounty hunter tasked with collecting all the magic doo-dads to stop the resurrection of an evil god. Tired fantasy clichés are flung around like confetti throughout the awkward, Old English dialogue. Like a lot of Eastern European games, it has embarrassingly bad, voice acting, too. Imagine Steven Wright at a Renaissance Fair, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect.
Are you still with us? I know all these problems seem like a tough pill to swallow, but first impressions aren't everything. Despite the copious minor flaws that will chase many away in the first few hours, there is actually a lot to love here. Two Worlds makes some smart decisions that help it stand out just enough to be worth a second look.
The quest itself is very open-ended, at least after the first couple hours or so. Making progress is more than a simple matter of traveling from place to place marked on your map. Instead you'll need to take on many side-quests to build your reputation in order to make the allies you need to achieve your goals. This might not appeal to shotgun players who don't want to roam the countryside or talk to random villagers, but those that prefer a more leisurely pace will enjoy the sense of consequence it lends. Seeing sub-plots unfold and your reputation evolve can be a lot of fun.
The combat is a change of pace. It plays best in third-person, though the option is there for first-person as well. You'll be able to dole out some nifty-looking combos, and a dodge button lets you quickly avoid your enemy's strikes. The fighting is simple, has a nice stick-and-move rhythm to it, and the different weapons lend enough variety to keep things interesting. The AI is straightforward and predictable, so don't expect action on par with Dark Messiah, but it works. I don't like it as much as Oblivion's system, but it isn't really comparable.
Getting around is a snap, thanks to abundant teleports all over the map. You can zip around with ease between any teleports you've passed in your travels, which really helps streamline those endless hikes that have always been my least favorite part of games like this. You'll have access to horses and other mounts as well, but unfortunately these can't go through teleports with you.
Death isn't the cruel fate it once was. Dying in battle will simply find back at the nearest shrine, rarely more than a few hundred yards away, with all of your possessions safe and sound. These shrines will also heal you whenever you walk within range, which can be easily abused for some cheap victories. Of course, if you're looking for more of a challenge, the Hard setting has no re-spawn.
Not all the new additions work well, unfortunately. Much has been made of the horseback combat, a feature sorely lacking in similar games. It's nice to be able to pull out a spear and bust some skulls as your ride by, but the equestrian portion of the game controls so poorly, it's not effective to do so.
In fact, I can say without hyperbole that the horse riding in Two Worlds features the worst controls I've ever experienced in a game. I realize that horses do, indeed, have minds of their own, but perhaps this is not the best aspect of riding to simulate in a game. When your horse doesn't feel he can go a certain way, he goes off on his own, sometimes heading in the opposite direction of the one you're pressing. You learn to work around this and stick to the main roads, but trying to navigate the horse through complex terrain or tight spaces is simply more trouble than it's worth.
You'll need to make a new character solely for your online exploits. In the PC version you can meet up in a city that acts like a lobby, much like the ones in Phantasy Star Online. Here you can explore shops, talk to other players, and form a party to venture out on a quest. Although the multi-player maps represent only a fraction of the size of the single player game, they're still pretty large. More importantly, they offer the same open-ended gameplay of the single player game, allowing you to explore freely and take on whatever missions you choose. You'll still get all the fun of building up your character, but you'll just need to accept that the badass you powered up in the solo game will never see any co-op action.
To really enjoy the multi-player, you'll need to have some friends committed to regular play, since finding a decent game with strangers can be a bit difficult. If you have reliable buddies, the online portion isn't "broken," as some have declared. It's just a different approach, and in many ways it makes more sense than just dumping more players into the solo game. As long as you understand what you're getting and you have willing friends, it's a great feature.
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