Two Worlds is a sad rip-off of many recent and more substantial RPGs. Quite pathetic, really…
Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? Obviously this game was geared more for the PC than the XBOX 360. (Hell, even in the instruction booklet you’ll see a random “press spacebar” or “click the left mouse button”. Pretty cheap when you can’t revise the XBOX 360 instructions to actually tell you the correct button to push for particular actions. In the part about magic, it says there’s a section in the back of the manual that has all the spells listed… umm, not unless that part of the instructions disintegrated during shipping.) When you start the game, the menu is quite PC-ish. The character creation feature is severely more limited than they make you think from reading the back of the box. This is what character creation was when it was first introduced… its pre-pre-gen character creation. (And its worse in single-player mode because you’re stuck playing as a male character… sorry all you female gamers… and male gamers who like using females.) No matter how much you adjust the eye width, nose height, arm length, etc, your character still looks butt ugly when you start the game and see them in their first conversations. So, basically, its just a waste of time. Find a full-facial helmet quick, and you might feel a lot better at seeing your character carry on these pointless conversations.
Although the helmet won’t cure the horrid and laughable dialogue… “Pray tell.” Is a horrible dictation of quasi-Olde English language of some import? (Sorry, I just hear that “is that of some import?” ALL the time from your main character and practically everyone else in the game.) Apparently it is… and even though it can be funny at times, its really quite boring. There are lots of characters that you CAN talk to, but you don’t have to talk to ALL of them. People you can talk to have 2 different symbols that appear over them: one is a round symbol with 2 faces, and one is a diamond symbol with 2 faces. The diamond-symboled characters are the ones to talk to… they usually provide quests or are important people towards finishing a quest. Most of the round-symboled characters in a particular area/village/etc will usually say the same thing (if you talk to one of them, you’ve basically spoken with 90% of the area/village/etc). Some have a round symbol with a gold pouch on it… those are merchants, so you’ll want to talk to them every now and then to get better items, weapons, armor/robes, magic cards, etc. Otherwise, keep the chatter down to a minimum if you don’t want to fall asleep by hearing the same mundane gibberish a-zillion times.
Quests vary from straight-forward to “where the hell am I supposed to go now?” The map/journal tab in your options screen doesn’t help matters any, unless you have a huge magnifying glass in front of your TV. Also, the map pointer was created more for a mouse than an analog stick or D-Pad… most of the time you can’t select the microscopic dot you want with the clumsy pointer. The journal interface is frustrating and only partially useful.
In the “intro” to this review, I said this game rips from many of the recent, more popular RPGs and claims its “original”. This game only has one original thing going for it, and that is the weapon/armor/accessory level-up system. If you have 2 of the exact same sword in your inventory… don’t drop it or sell it for peanuts. You can combine it with the other to increase the level and stats of the newly formed weapon. This makes it much better for you in battle with improved stats, and better for your gold pouch when you sell it. This idea is pretty unique, but it hardly makes the game original. Many people have compared it to Oblivion and Morrowind (high praise to some… but not to me… it just means its more horrid garbage that costs $60). I think there are some elements of Fable in there… especially the multiple attack options (magic, melee/weapons, and bows/arrows), real-time combat, and huge world to explore. The only thing is, Fable is infinitely more entertaining to play (and replay) than this… even looks better too, and Fable is an original XBOX game!! (Can’t wait for Fable 2.) I’ve actually started playing Fable over again for the 5th time… I dumped this garbage back off at Blockbuster after only playing it for about 6 hours. (I believe that sufficiently covers the replay value of Two Worlds.)
Gameplay is about as sluggish and horrid as you could possibly imagine. You push the attack button, and then it seems like your character just stands there for a second contemplating whether or not they actually want to attack… then they give in and attack. (Or get attacked while they were just standing there…) Two Worlds tries to give you a “quick menu” for using items/spells/special melee attacks/etc., but again, it would work much easier on a computer… or at least a mouse/keyboard combo. Using the D-Pad in conjunction with some button (while also having to use the analog sticks to move/rotate camera) is just awkward in the heat of battle. And for heaven’s sake, PLEASE don’t get on a horse. If I had a horse that acted like that, it’d be glue in no time. It initially will only move in the 4 cardinal directions… once its running fast and out of control, it’ll conform to [almost] turning like an actual animal… one that is an 18-wheeler. (Wide turns, no matter if you turn left or right.) By the time you get your horse to your destination (after all the fidgeting, stopping because it can’t climb certain hills/backing it up/staring over in another direction, or you ran it into many-a-tree), you could have walked there in the same amount of time.
Overall, Two Worlds is a headache best left on the shelf. Hold out for Mass Effect and Fable 2.