Customer Reviews

Two Worlds

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(38)

 

 

There are three things I must make clear before I even begin: 1) Yes, we can all admit it: It's flawed. But not as much as you'd think 2) Just because it is an open-world sandbox RPG game, it is not Oblivion.3) It is still pretty damn fun if you are a fan of RPGs, and relatively fun if you're not.

Also, in trying to rate this I tried to see the game's flaws from other peoples' points of view and found that some things that other people really hated I just didn't mind. I am a fan of RPG games among other genres, but if you're not really all that into RPGs, or you're a real stickler for polish or perfection, you can probably subtract a star from my total rating right off the bat, though I did rate the game as fairly as possible based on what I perceived, how much fun it was, and what I thought was important to have in a game, while at the same time trying to just explain the game in general for those interested in trying it.

So now for the review:

Gameplay:

It's open. Very open. Maybe too open because I found myself accidentally wandering in the wrong direction from the very beginning. The game doesn't really guide you, which is good and bad. In that way I'd say this game is way more like Morrowind than Oblivion. Morrowind gave you true true freedom. RPG fans should enjoy this; I do to an extent. However people whose only RPG experience has been Oblivion may find themselves confused. Also, the learning curve is a little steep- another reason casual gamers might say this game sucks. People should get used to playing this game in third person, although a first person view is available, but only when not wielding a weapon; it's more of a "get a closer look" view. However, this really isn't bad.

Overall though, things are more realistic, again deviating from Oblivion's action-RPG style where you can do anything you want in terms of jumping and sidestepping and you still moved the same speed (a little unrealistic). If you jump from a height higher than a few feet you have to take a second to regain your balance, and when you start to move after standing still, it also takes a second to gain some speed. I like this.. it makes you feel like a person rather than a floating camera or figure. A common complaint is the horses. So horses can't turn on a dime like in Oblivion. Well how often does a horse rotate on its center axis in order to turn in real life? In Oblivion I really didn't like how the horses could have a forward walking animation while rotating in place. Oh and they also rear up and neigh before they hit things (horses have feelings too!) and take some time to gain momentum, so I guess people think it's a bad thing that your horse is no longer a personal hovercraft.

I also like how villages feel like villages and cities feel like cities (by the way there are more settlements overall here than you'll find in TES4). In Oblivion even the Imperial City honestly seemed kind of... dead. For such a supposedly bustling city, there really didn't seem like there was a lot going on, even with the Radiant AI (RAI is something I really do wish this game had though!). The people in Two Worlds don't have the cool schedules they did in Oblivion, but there's busier markets, more talking options, more merchants, more people that give quests, way way way more factions, and just plain more people! However the fact that humans are the only race was a little disappointing.

Also, the world feels a little more alive. Unmodded Oblivion's only non-hostile wildlife consisted of deer, and in a few static locations domestic sheep. Now on top of the usual collection of monsters (of which there's a good variety, from ghouls to wyverns to giant spiders to dragons to whatever you can imagine), bandits, and groms (kind of like a cross between an orc and a goblin), you get rabbits, geese, and chickens roaming around as non-hostiles, and many types of wolves and bears as non-mythical animals, and that's just in the forest-like north. Many more creatures await as you venture further south. There's also a lot more to see in the wilderness, as you stumble upon creatures way more often than in Oblivion, though I don't like that they don't respawn. I did like that monsters are always the same toughness, so when I found myself wandering too far south at the beginning of the game I instantly knew I wasn't supposed to be there, and it felt way more realistic. It was also nice because I knew that I wouldn't be fighting the same monsters all the time, and when I did face lower level monsters it would be more realistic.

The skill system is more basic than in Oblivion, but the addition of lots of skills and about as many types of spells as you'd get in Oblivion makes things interesting (the spell effects are actually NICER; no longer is every single magic attack some sort of colored ball or streak of lightning that gets shot at an enemy). Also fire burns stuff, actually affecting the environment. Nice touch. I still don't like some things, like the combat system to an extent, though the addition of various skills does make it more complex than Oblivion's in some ways.

No load times going into and out of cities and houses are nice, but the more frequent outdoor load times aren't. Also, you can't go into every single house (though you can go into most), and can't raid the random barrels and crates you see (though I never even saw the point when half the things you found in Oblivion in these places had prices of 0 or 1. Yarn? Spoon? Blank Paper? Whats the point of being a thief?).

The main story's not that great, but honestly I haven't really been doing quests for it yet, even after well over ten hours of gameplay. I haven't played the multiplayer yet, so I can't comment on that.

Graphics:

Not as good as I expected but certainly not BAD! They are definitely next-gen. The draw distances are easily comparable to Oblivion's, and the plant-life (grass, bushes, leaves) is abundant and nicely done. However it's not as bright and shiny as Oblivion is, giving kind of an uglier appearance, save for the water and sandy areas. The towns and villages are beautifully designed but a little plain (not very imaginative). I liked the weather effects better though. The fog looks very very nice, and the rain is cool. One thing I really didn't like are the characters. The models themselves aren't bad per se, but they move unnaturally compared to Oblivion. However, they still look a little more realistic than in Oblivion, though Oblivion's characters look nicer in general. Maybe it's just me but the people in oblivion just had something weird about them.. Also I think the textures in some instances are actually better, as are most of the magic effects. Fires actually burn, and spells are more than just a colored ball or an aura of light around you and your arm. Shadow effects are also quite nice. The first cutscene threw me off guard and to me it seemed like the graphics really sucked, but maybe I was just expecting too much. Still, overall the graphics are very nice, and I don't really get what people are complaining about (other than the mediocre frame rate, which isn't quite THAT bad).

Sound:

The music is nice and very appropriate. The sound effects are equally impressive. The voice acting is not. Actually, I think it's the worst in the beginning, maybe because you're not used to it, maybe because it just is. When you're not in cutscenes and just talking to regular townsfolk, it seems to flow better. However, I gotta be honest, it still kinda sucks. The comments various characters make when not engaged in formal conversation, though, seems normal and is actually okay. This makes me wonder where they went wrong with the conversations.. However, given that this game was written in German first, they did a good job converting that into quasi-medieval English. However, like I said, the music and all the other sound effects are what you'd expect, so it's not really all bad.


Overall Pros and Cons:

Pros:
Fun gameplay, open world, non-linear, extensive living world, non-leveled creatures, tons of quests, tons of places, tons of people, tons of guilds, very nice magic system, very nice magic effects, somewhat destructible environment, appropriate music, more realism in terms of physics, pretty good next-gen graphics, interesting skills aren't just gimmicks.

Cons:
Unpolished in more than a few ways, bad voice acting, no real guide to get you going, menu system takes a while to get used to, the game in general takes a while to get used to, I still miss Oblivion's Radiant AI, simplified level-up attributes, map can be a little annoying, added physical realism can be annoying to some, story is a little hard to get into, not horrible but still doesn't live up to the hype.


Conclusion:

The appeal with Oblivion was that it was fun for anyone. Anybody, even those who never played RPGs before could easily find fun in the game, while hardcore RPGers were still happy with it because of it's depth. However, those hardcore RPGers no doubt found many flaws with Oblivion, including the creature leveling system, the simplification of a lot of things since its predecessor, Morrowind, and many minor annoyances which aren't worth discussing right here. In fact, Two Worlds shares a lot more with Morrowind than Oblivion, except the improved graphics. Why are people even calling this an Oblivion clone? That would be like calling Oblivion a Morrowind clone; I mean they both have 3d graphics, open free-roaming environments, non-linear story progression and gameplay, hundreds of quests... Sound familiar? This gameplay style's been around for a while guys, so stop the unfair pointing of fingers.

When I first picked Two Worlds up, I was disappointed. Very disappointed, mostly because of all of the hype surrounding it. But I didn't give up; I gave the game more time and I realized that even though it's not as polished and not quite as fluid as Oblivion, I still can't put it down. It's a decent game, and it really is fun. Do I just really really like RPGs to the point that I don't see what other people see as wrong? I don't know. It's up to you whether you like the game or not, and if you try it and end up not liking it, then that's perfectly okay.

As you can see, I think there are a lot of cons to stack up against all those pros. I happen to not really care that much about some of them, while others are easy to overcome. It just depends on what bothers you and what you life. So it's not as polished.. does that honestly make it not fun? If you really don't like it, I can't blame you, but you're missing out on a good game.

Also if this helps, my girlfriend REALLY didn't like this game when she first started playing. Now she takes it back and compliments things like automatically being able to compare any weapon or piece of armor you're thinking of picking up or buying to what you currently have equipped, the magic system which she likes way better than Oblivion's, being able to use a health or mana potion instantly and independently, and the fact that it's actually pretty fun once you get used to it. She used to be a naysayer, but the game grew on her, though she certainly still has her complaints about the game. Maybe it will grow on you too.


UPDATE:
After playing for a little longer, I've come up with a few more things to say. For people worried about the whole enemies don't respawn thing, after you kill enemies, when you pass their old location there's a chance a "ghost" enemy will appear in their place. The ghost is a little harder and is immune to normal weapons, as you'd expect. Not bad, although its body disappears and doesn't drop anything. Also, I've seen people compare the graphics to PS2 and original Xbox. Just to compare I ran the game with Oblivion right after another on a 1080p 52" Sony TV. With these settings, Oblivion is still prettier overall, but NOT BY MUCH! The draw distances actually are better in Two Worlds, though there's less pop-up in Oblivion. Other than that, the differences are minimal. Have the people comparing this to PS2 graphics even played this game? Oh yes, the frame rate still SUCKS but if that's your only reason for saying graphics overall suck, then maybe you're too jaded; it really is just a minor annoyance, and unless you look for it, you barely notice it. On top of that, after having conversations and more interactions with NPCs, they do go to sleep and kind of have daily life cycles like Oblivion NPCs did, but definitely not to the same extent. They sleep, they chop wood, they sit down, etc, but they do seem to go into random houses that are definitely not their own. The crime and punishment system is a little more realistic, if you keep running from the guards before they even talk to you they'll get fed up and just attack you. You also have the option of being run out of town, as crimes committed in one town do not have bearing in any other town, which I did and didn't like. Also, although the main story isn't that great, the NPC's have quite a bit to say about what's going on in their land in general, with each city offering many different lines of gossip, and even more questions to ask regarding the gossip. You can ask merchants how their sales are going, and ask questions relating to specific cities, rather than just a single "Rumors" conversation topic. Some of the stuff they say is actually interesting, and some of it is actually humorous, but not all. The voice acting also seems to get better the more people you talk to. However, the dungeons and caves in the game seem small and definitely do not compare to the various "dungeons" (caves, mines, forts, ruins, etc) in Oblivion. That's something they should have improved on. I am still having fun with this game, and would still recommend it to RPG fans, as long as they can see past the few annoyances and lack of polish.

As other reviewers mention, the upstart of this game is infinitely frustrating. XBox 360 users have grown to expect Oblivion-like usability and logic. Unfortunately, the strengths of Two Worlds are completely eclipsed by the poorly written guidebook (the 360 version still has references to spacebars!), the painful UI, and the less-than-stellar voice acting. Once you've played the game for a while and the terrible interface becomes second nature, the joy of the game (that was always percolating below) surfaces.

I'm actually finding this game to be more *fun* than Oblivion. I like that it encourages Morrowind-style exploring. The potion making is compelling and the gear is varied. I love that you can combine like items to make leveled versions. I also like, as some reviewers have mentioned, that the world doesn't level with you. I enjoy returning to areas that were too difficult for me as a new character and handily defeating the enemies with my leveled self.

The fact that you can't initially customize the look of you character quickly matters very little. Once you don a good helm, you'll barely be able to see your face.

Overall, I find the game infinitely satisfying. I love that I haven't been able to find a guide book and that I remain generally confused about many aspects of the game. Those unknowns lead to a lot of satisfying discoveries at every turn.

If you go into this game expecting it to be better than Oblivion, you will most likely be disappointed. when i first started playing Two Worlds i was disappointed myself. im about 10 hours in now and its a completely different story. ill apologize ahead of time for all the Oblivion comparisons, but they're inevitable.

the draw distance in this game might be even better than that of Oblivion, enabling some truly beautiful views. The environments are much more varied than Oblivion's. deserts, standard deciduous forests, open fields, black/dead forest, volcanic areas, bamboo forest, ect . which brings me to my next point: this game is HUGE. The map is %25 larger than Cyrodiil.

when you first start playing the game you'll notice the frame rate stuttering relatively often, but honestly, if you've played Oblivion for any time at all, it shouldnt bother you that much. the game could be much more polished though, which is my only real complaint.

the menu navigation could be better, your inventory management in particular. your equipment is all together, not seperated by type at all. you have potions, weapons, armor, alchemy items, traps, and whatever else all scrambled together. so this aspect of the game feels a little sloppy that could've been very easily solved. the small text bothers me too, but that's in most next gen games these days. we just have to accept it, SDTV owners will always get the short end of the stick. that small text is very easily read on an HD. there should at leased be an option to have the text formatted for SD as well. maybe just an option in the menu somewhere. Dead Rising is still the worst text ive seen in a game. My TV is a 19" SD and Two Sorlds isnt really that hard to read. it is a little annoyance though.

as you level up you get skill points that you can manually apply to whatever skills/attributes you want through your menu. i like The Elder Scrolls system of doing the certain skill to improve it. there was nothing wrong with that, but i get more of a hands on feel being able to manage skills directly from a menu. the system reminds me of the ones in Final Fantasy X and XII. its not on a board or anything, but its a similar concept.

the battle system really isnt much different from oblivion. you take turns exchanging blows with your enemy. the only real difference is in Oblivion you raise your shield and in Two Worlds you dodge attacks.

i never really liked how all your enemies leveled up with you to keep everything balanced in Oblivion. it was an interesting concept but you never really felt like you were becomming more powerful. in Two Worlds you're enemies have set levels, so if you encounter an enemy and you're outmatched, you can go somewhere else and work on the countless side quests or just explore the countryside slaughtering everything in your path, and in no time you'll be strong enough to go back and take whatever is was on with no trouble.

i enjoy the noticeable difference in the look of spells as they become stronger. the difference between a 20 damage fireball and a 70 damage fireball is a very nice thing to see. i cant imagine how cool all the spells and summons will look once you hit lv 100.

people have complained about the storyline and voice acting, but the voice acting was decent. ive heard better and worse. i hear a lot of complains about the story lacking originality and just not being interesting. i dont find the characters or there underlying stories vert captivating like in some games, but i found everything in this area th be at leased decent. all the different factions/countries at war can be kind of confusing. there's a lot of different groups. the main storyline isnt bad though. your sister is kidnapped by an evil group of people who keep their faces covered and its up and its up to you to save her. this has something to do with an old family legend and their knowledge of it. your recovery and delivery of an ancient relic that only your family can hold is the only way to save her but could result in the deaths of everyone else in their world.

all in all, even with its little annoyances, this is a great action RPG, as long as you dont go into it expecting something beyond the bar Bblivion set. if Oblivion had never came out, this game would have been the one to set the next gen RPG bar. period.

This game has gotten an unfairly bad rap from many of the customer reviewers. I've had a lot of fun with it, and it's been a relatively addictive game with very many hours of play. Sure it has several flaws, but overall it's been very enjoyable. I was surprised to see that people had problem with the graphics (which are mostly fine, and sometimes spectacular), the sound (AOK), info displays, and other things I had no problem with. There were two things that frustrated me: (1) the frequent loading stall-outs from the game & system which often occurred at less than ideal moments, and (2) the necessity to shuttle back and forth to merchants to sell loot collected from combat victims. But those flaws are minor compared to the pleasure in exploring the game's vast world and encountering its various creatures and places. I think people are spoiled by near-perfect games such as Resident Evil 4 and Half-Life 2, but those are FPS games, and this is a traditional RPG. If you're an RPG fan and you give this a chance, I bet you'd like it. [One qualifying comment --- I played this game solo against the computer. I did not try the online play aspect.]

Two Worlds plays out with the recent trend of "class abandonment", yet keeps levels, skills and factions. It is a third-person RPG, one that does not involve turns. It's a medieval fantasy-based RPG, and I mean that in the classic sense, because your actions bear some aesthetic value to the world after some time. This is not nearly as interesting as it sounds. I'll list the pros, then the cons.
Pros:
-Intuitive character building. This, for all the blandness of it, is set up somewhat nicely. At first the skill levels are deceptive, but you quickly learn that the circles are just stages of development.

-Culturally savvy. While the dialog isn't technically "old" English at all, it's one of a few attributes of the world that loyally comes across as (European) medieval. Most other fantasy games, gunpowder or not, actually reflect a late medieval / early Renaissance society.

Cons:
-They should have skipped the voice-acting. yet again we have an RPG saddled with it, which often doesn't match lips, and occasionally doesn't match text. It has all the compelling values of a high school play.
-The box boasts seamless transitions; not only is this false, but the game's graphic stability stalls frequently in combat. Very frequently. Multiplayer as yet is mostly a crapshoot, with bows.
-Mounted combat (sigh) is awkward and somewhat wasteful. If they'd fix the frame rate it'd be less so. To their credit, cavalry really was meant for completely separate engagement.
-The single mode allows a race-gender combination of? Male human.
-The story is flat, and I truly do mean worse than a lot of RPGs. In fact, most MMORPGs have more compelling stories going on.
-Your character deciding the fate of the world is really a PC way of saying eventually you snap and would do anything to stop the voice-acting.
-You don't build your own spells. You collect magic cards. You know- the grand tradition of Cheetoh-encrusted neckbeards for the last twelve years or so. Once you get a few summons (and boosters, yawn), you needn't bother with aggressive spells.
-Bows. They auto-aim, have no depleting ammo, and if one focuses in them they needn't do much else.

I'd redirect a curious shopper to The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Game of the Year edition (some expansion content, same price tag as Two-Worlds). Two Worlds only features (crippling) multiplayer, and mounted 'combat'. I also think it's incredibly poor form on the publisher's part to box this game with all its performance problems, then promise some patch a month and a half after release. One can turn down the HDR intensity, which brings it up to subpar.

Rent if you must, but this title (as shipped) isn't worth anything near its price tag.

I'm late to the game with Two Worlds, but I was so disappointed with Dragon Age: Origins that I found myself looking anywhere for a real RPG that is both playable and actually fun. I took a chance on Two Worlds despite the poor reviews, and I am extremely happy that I did.

For the longest time while playing, I couldn't figure out what the game reminded me of. And then it hit me: Gothic/Gothic 2. Two Worlds is extremely similar to both games, in everything from the way your character moves, to the equipment, to the magic items and spells, to the layout of the world itself. This is a very good thing, as anyone who has played Gothic or Gothic 2 will tell you. Some specifics:

Difficulty. The game is indeed quite difficult. Just like Gothic/Gothic 2, you can't simply run off into the woods and hope to survive. You have to slowly work your way up by first picking off weaker creatures near the main roads, and build up both your levels and your equipment to survive the bigger encounters. I recommend starting on "Easy" which is at least the equivalent to "Normal" in most games. But one key consideration is missing from most other reviews: dying is not really a punishment in this game. If (and when) you die, you simple reincarnate at a nearby health shrine. You don't lose experience, stats, or even any gold. Moreover, you reincarnate at the nearest health shrine even if you haven't found it yet -- I've accidentally teleported onto the other side of a mountain range by dying and coming back at an undiscovered health shrine. So the difficulty is not nearly as frustrating as it sounds because you can, if you have to, just die a lot to whittle down a tough monster. Or lure them close to a mana or health shrine that will constantly power you up as you get hurt. And when you eventually have that awesome platemail or greatsword and can start 1-shoting monsters that have been killing you for hours, the gratification level is HUGE.

Graphics. The graphics are a little dated, but not nearly as bad as people say. Some of the atmospheric effects, particularly fog, are very cool, and there are lots of pretty looking rivers and streams and sunsets to keep up the eyecandy level. I'm running on 1080p HD and the graphics are as least as good as Dragon Age: Origins -- despite being 2+ years older.

Gameplay. This one of the places the game really shines. There are lots of different ways to play this game. You can be a warrior with a huge axe, an archer, a mage (with many different sub-types like Earth mage or Water mage to specialize in), an assassin, a hunter, a booby trap specialist, or some combination therein. Combat is actually a lot of fun, and there's even a backstep/dodge button that works quickly and lets you avoid big hits from other monsters. My preferred playstyle is to set a few explosive traps, pepper foes with arrows so they charge into those traps, and then smash them with a halberd or greatsword. But you can also summon hell knights, cast lightning storms, trap foes in magical tentacles, or do almost anything else you want.

Loot. There are tons and tons of items in this game. You can customize your character with everything from rings (4 of them!) to armor to boots, to even an assassin knife you use only in backstabbing, or perhaps magic robes and a wizard's staff. Items have a wide range of powers, but you can improve an item by combining it with an identical item. This has many subtle effects, like letting you make mediocre equipment really powerful if it is common and you find it a lot, or letting you use something that looks awesome by ranking it up so it's better than the more powerful -- but uglier -- base item. For example, I found a suit of white mirrored half-platemail that looks fantastic, but is a bit weaker than some other heavy plate. By combining multiple sets of the white platemail, I both look good and have great armor protection. Like Gothic 2, there are also tons of alchemy items you can find out in the woods, like mushrooms, flowers, gemstones, and the like. Some have permanent effects, so you can quickly learn to make potions that give you permanent boosts to all your stats, or even your resistances or physical armor. This is another great way to toughen up early in the game.

Plot. The storyline is also entirely adequate. The voice acting in most (but not all!) places is a little amateurish, but you can skip right through it with the press of a button. The world map is gigantic and filled with villages, towns, castles, necromancer towers, crypts, graveyards, and everything else you'd want in a fantasy world. There are tons of side quests, and you will always have something else to do.

Foes. Another great thing about this game is the huge range of enemies. You will face all the standard enemies from skeletons to zombies to wolves, but how about death knights, wyverns, dragons, giant scorpions, and even huge preying mantises? Or perhaps a cave full of enraged dwarves, or huge half-demon half-snake monsters? Enormous flesh, stone, or wood golems? Huge orc encampments? The possibilities are nearly endless, and there are always treasure chests and loot to be found. Your enemies don't scale much as you level so you can go back and punish them later, but some of their inventory does scale so it is always worth checking to see what they carried.

There is a lot more that can be said about this game (both archery and booby trap setting deserve their own entries) but some things should be experienced directly. In my opinion as a long-time gamer, this game has been unfairly maligned and should be given another close look. If you have ever played Gothic or Gothic 2, you will find this game very similar -- and a heck of a lot of fun. I highly recommend it, and am looking forward to the sequel.

Of course, often a game that may speak to one player, might not speak to another player. I believe that this game gets so many bad reviews because people expect it to be amazing from the start while it takes a little while to understand the game and see it's beauty. Many people are spoiled by the Oblivion, where you are told step by step where to go and what to do, whereas in this game, you have to use your head once in a while.

GAMEPLAY
For me, the game had a lot of fun (I never re-play game more than once but with the Two Worlds I replayed it twice). Unlike Oblivion, where missions seemed monotone, in Two Worlds missions seemed diverse and engaging. Sure, if you follow only the main quests, the game might feel a bit blunt. However, the game has a lot of side missions - all you have to do is to find a person with a purple diamond shape in front of him and talk to him for him or her to ask you to do something for them. Then you either bring something for them, kill the foes that disrupt their lives, or help them negotiate the way out of the problems. You can also join different factions and get the missions from them. Even though you are not guided through each quest step-by-step, with the use of the map, they are easy to follow and complete.

ENVIRONMENT
Speaking of the map - it is darkened and, if you go anywhere, your path is being lightened, which makes it very easy to see if you've been to the area already or how to get out of where you just came from. Unlike Oblivion, the world is twice as vast and, trust me, you will need a horse (they are free and everywhere). If you like to explore and discover things, this game is for you. If you wander around enough, you might find the most magnificent locations and caves to explore. Unlike Oblivion, the environments in Two Worlds seem very realistic. Not just the graphics but the feel of nature makes you feel that you are in the real world.

THINGS TO DO
Game gives you a lot to do. You get paid in both money and experience, so you can build your character and your stash. I had a lot of fun selling my loot to the vendors and then looking for the right items to buy to make my weapon and weapons merge-upgrades possible. Unlike Oblivion, you can stash your stuff in any container you want and everything would stay there forever. You can have a lot of fun with alchemy - unlike Oblivion, you may create potions that are useful and permanent (ingredients can be purchased or collected - like certain grasses, for example). You can buy or earn magic spells and use them as well (my favorite one is re-animation spell, which allows you to bring dead or killed characters back to life - helps with you conscience, you know).

COMBAT
The combat system is simplistic but fun; and learning the "jump back" technique early on helps you fight even the most horrible giants like trolls and dragons without them hurting you. The game does not accommodate your level - you have to choose which enemy you fight when you are level 1 and which enemy to leave for later until you are level 10 and have a better weapon.

WEAPONS
Both weapons and armor are very diverse and you can make yourself look like whatever you want. Certain enemies are better to fight with particular weapons - experimentation makes it fun choosing whether to use a club, a sword, the double swords, or a spear and which magic to embellish it with. More of all, many weapons and pieces of armor have extra abilities that can improve your strength, combat, or protection.

AFTERTHOUGHT
Give the game a chance. I'll admit, in the beginning I accidentally wandered into a wrong dangerous area, got frustrated, and wanted to quit playing the game. But, later, I could not stop playing it and, I am sure, you won't be able as well. Plus, with a price it is today, how can you go wrong?

Enjoy

I picked this up for under $20 from Amazon, so please bear that in mind while reading this review. The rating would be different if I'd paid $50 for Two Worlds.

First, these designers have definitely tried to steal from Oblivion. If you've played Oblivion, you're going to recognize a whole lot of the elements in this game, from the landscape and scenery to brewing potions. That's not necessarily a bad thing, because Oblivion was such a good game. This isn't up to Oblivion's standards, but if you're looking for another world to wander around in, this one has some of the same trappings. It's not as polished, but for $20 it is 'good enough'.

Character customization at the start of the game is not impressive. You're a bounty hunter/mercenary type, but if you want to be female you're out of luck. You use sliders to determine your hair style, eye color, all the standards, but it's nothing to get excited about. Think Tiger Woods 08 and dumbed down a bit.

You don't have a set class, but rather a pool of skills that you can assign points to. Some require training, some are available from the start. As you complete more and more quests, you get more points to assign, pretty much like every other role playing game out there.

I've had a few problems w/this game locking up my Xbox (twice), so I had to remember to save often. There are also some glitches with the frame rate, especially around bright areas it seems. This is annoying, but with the game installed on the hard drive it isn't terrible and happens rarely enough that you get used to it.

Now the good stuff. I love being able to have an axe in both hands! One weapon in each hand slicing and dicing is great fun. There are several mounts in the game to ride on, but some people apparently have a hard time controlling them. I didn't find this difficult, but I also didn't spend too much time on the horse or other mounts.

The landscape and world are fairly well designed, but they're not as pretty (or downright breathtaking) as Oblivion.

The voice acting is so cheesy that it is hilarious. You could rip on it for being so bad, but when my character is whining about rain and using words like "forsooth" and "prithee," it just makes me laugh.

Yes, you're going to get mad if your game freezes and you haven't saved. You're not going to like this if you're expecting Oblivion-quality graphics and gameplay. But if you're buying it for $20 and expecting something "Sort of Like Oblivion But Not As Amazing," I think you'll be getting your money's worth.

Do not judge this game by the first few hours that you play. If you do, you will get frustrated with what many people are saying:

- Riding a horse is about impossible (it doesn't get much easier).
- The quest/map interface is VERY confusing and takes awhile to master.
- Unless you have a big TV, it is very difficult to see where you're going.
- There is no compass, so the direction you are going in can sometimes be difficult to tell.
- The dialog and voice acting is horrible...no doubt about it.

Having played the game for about nine hours and having reached level 29, there are quite a few things about the game that I really like:

- I love the variety of weaponry and armor and your ability to customize it with gems. It's a cool concept they took from Diablo II.
- I like the fact that weapons have three damage types and they are effective and different creatures.
- The magic system, once you get used to it, is actually quite cool.
- The map is huge! (it may almost be too big)
- When you die, you don't lose any XP or items. You simply re-spawn to the nearest regeneration point. That is great for really difficult quests.

I realize that compared to some of the reviews you'll read on here, I rated the game pretty high. Look, if you get over the bad acting and the clunky interface and learn how it works, you'll enjoy the game a lot. I find it to be addicting to the same level of Oblivion. I will say, however, that Oblivion is a much better all-around game.

Give the game some time...you will like it.

I reserved this game about two weeks ago, and picked it up first thing this morning. After about 3 hours of playing, I must say that I am HIGHLY disappointed. The graphics are beautiful when you are still, but when you begin to run, the backgrounds are choppy and jagged. As if the framerate didn't slow enough during single player mode, during multiplayer the game is nearly unplayable. The game has a very raw, unfinished feel to it, and isn't near of the same quality as Oblivion. I would HIGHLY recommend renting this game before making a decision to drop $60 on it. I sure wish that I would have.