Product Details
 | Two Worlds: Epic Edition |
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Product Description
The Epic Saga Continues …300 years after Aziraal has been banished, a brother and sister are drawn into the conflict which has flared up between the Orcs and the free world. Kyra, the hero’s younger sister, suddenly disappears in mysterious circumstances. The hero, a bounty hunter, searches throughout Antaloor for her. His quests take him to the far-off reaches of the continent. Constantly on the alert for a clue as to her whereabouts, he keeps his eyes and ears open during his travels. The mercenary jobs he gets are not just for collecting information – he also receives gold for these tasks and he must have gold to continue his search. However, it’s not always easy to find tasks that pay - he even has to gain a reputation with certain groups before they’ll even think of entrusting a tricky task to him. After many weary months of searching, he finally gets his first clue - a mysterious letter that tells him to make for the mountainous region of the far north. As luck would have it, he has also heard of a possible job in the village of Komorin in Thalmont - and that’s on his route - so it’s the open road for him again. The villagers in Komorin can also count themselves lucky that they’ve actually found a mercenary to help them with their problem - most of the young and capable men have gone to help fight the Orcs in the south. The Thalmont government hasn’t helped much either - officialdom says it can’t spare the time for other problems when they have rebels to deal with... Thus begins the story of Two Worlds - one mercenary arrives alone in Thalmont, a wild mountainous region totally unfamiliar to him. Will he succeed in finding his sister.Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #2954 in Video Games
- Brand: Southpeak
- Model: 50022
- Released on: 2008-08-19
- ESRB Rating: Mature
- Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows XP
- Format: CD-ROM
- Dimensions: .20 pounds
Features
- Journey even deeper into the world of Antaloor with over 90 new quests and eight new multiplayer maps
- Determine the fate of strife-torn land of Antaloor in dynamic, open-ended RPG gameplay
- Endless character customization options include four distinctive classes, a complex alchemy system, and thousands of unique item dropsEndless character customization options include four distinctive classes, a complex alchemy system, and thousands of uniqu
- Build your character’s reputation with intelligent, networked systems of guilds and secret societies to unlock a deep, rich gaming experience
- Wide range of multiplayer options let you to test your character’s might in gripping PvP duels in Arena mode - or solve a series of exhilarating quests as allies
Customer Reviews
A good choice for gamers with a bit of patience
(I have not tried any of the
online play, so this review is essentially for the base game with the
included patches that are otherwise downloadable.)
I am a HUGE
fan of single-player PC action/adventure RPGs, especially the Elder
Scrolls and Gothic titles. Although I have yet to dig into Oblivion's
Shivering Isles expansion, I have since tried to find a few "bargain
bin" games to play in between Lord of the Rings Online sessions. The
Witcher was fantastic, Fable too short and too buggy. I stumbled upon
Two Worlds by accident, but I'm glad I did. As another game coming out
of Europe, it isn't exactly a household name, and it's certainly not the
most original game you'll ever play, but it is quite entertaining . . .
if you can tolerate some of its shortcomings.
For starters, Two
Worlds might not be quite what you'd expect from the box description or
installation process, which is sometimes funny and sometimes
frustrating. During the installation, there is a splash screen with a
busty young woman. If you've played The Witcher or Fable, you might
think that to be a hint of in-game "conquests" to look forward to, but
it's your SISTER. It's also (after 50 hours of gameplay, anyway) the
most revealing display you'll ever see. More on that later. There is a
reference to four character classes, but unlike traditional RPGs where
you pick a class and stick with it, Two Worlds doesn't adhere to strict
character design limitations. For that matter, don't expect much
guidance as to what path you take; after a lot of time spent playing, I
have yet to find any advantage to straying far from the hack-and-slash
route. Magic certainly has its place, and you can of course follow a
more archery-heavy ranger approach, but sooner or later you're going to
find yourself in the thick of a dungeon brawl where a sword and heavy
armor are your best resources. Fans of a rogue/thief/assassin approach
will probably be disappointed, as stealth and backstabbing are not
viable for getting through most encounters.
Much has been said
about the use of horses for travel and combat in Two Worlds, mostly
negative. While a horse understandably can't scale a sheer cliff or jump
over a castle wall, there are situations where your horse will abruptly
stop in its tracks or change direction rather than continue where the
path slopes a bit or a small obstacle blocks it. This is also true in
combat, as your steed will charge headlong through a squad of orcs
without hesitation, and then slam on the breaks as you ride past a
single opponent. You might have the best armor in the game, but a couple
of orc arrows or swipes from a dragon will kill your horse quickly. I
also found myself being pursued by guards after my horse apparently
trampled innocent bystanders. This wouldn't be so frustrating if the
horse wasn't so bloody useful. Pathing issues aside, a horse will
greatly reduce travel time, and the damage bonus available when fighting
from the saddle can be quite significant. Carving your way through a
pack of wolves or slaughtering a band of outlaws is very satisfying - if
you don't get hung up halfway through. Different types of horses
(including orc lizard-mounts and armored skeletal horses) have varying
cargo capacity, and are pretty much a must-have for any dungeon
adventurer.
Other interesting features are alchemy and equipment
enhancement. Alchemical ingredients can be found all through the land,
generally fare less scarce than in Gothic. Gems can be found to upgrade
weapon damage, and armor and weapons of the same type can (usually) be
"stacked" numerous times to increase stats. Unfortunately, some of the
gems used in alchemy have misleading stats, because they don't mix to
create potions or enhancements, but rather traps and bombs that may not
be of particular use to you. Even with your strength boosted by potions
and level-ups, carrying capacity is limited, so it's often best to find a
safe storage place (abandoned buildings are great for this) and place a
portable teleport stone there for easy access. It won't take long for
you to accumulate some serious wealth, but some items are best held onto
for future upgrades.
In terms of story, look and feel, Two
Worlds could just as well have the Gothic logo on the front. Seriously,
someone unfamiliar with either game could read the plot synopsis from
the first Gothic game and play Two Worlds all the way through without
realizing they are different games. Orcs are poised to invade human
lands, while rival human factions do battle in forests, mountains and
villages. The orcs' god is imprisoned, necromancers are up to their
usual business, and now an anonymous newcomer has arrived on the scene
to do everyone else's dirty work while pursuing some noble plot. There
are wolves, lizards, dragons and various other critters cluttering up
the Euro-styled landscape, which is liberally stocked with healing
shrines, magical monuments and teleport rings. All the standards are
here.
Unoriginality aside, Two Worlds is fun. There are many,
many quests in the villages and cities, and even in the wilderness, all
in addition to the main storyline. I found myself engaging mostly in
side quests, coming back to the main plot when it looked as though a
particular mission might drastically affect faction standing or travel
options. Although far more of the game world is dedicated to wilderness
and wildlife than to villages, cities and dungeons, there are roads and
trails crossing the landscape, with ruins, bandit camps and houses here
and there. Even with a very modest hardware configuration and
scaled-back visual settings, you can see for incredible distances, often
being able to see a route from your current location to a fortress or
city that appears to be miles away on the map. Caves, tombs and
graveyards are often tucked away off the beaten path, so exploration is
key if you want to see your stats and equipment improve without spending
your hard-earned coin at the town vendors. The various dungeons are
loaded with monsters who carry all sorts of loot, and treasure chests
often contain some of the best spoils. This does require some skill with
the lockpicks, which can be hard to come by early on.
There are
few blatant bugs, although nothing as severe as was found in Gothic 3.
Stability has been quite good - I've only had one crash in over 50 hours
of play. The main problem is that corners were cut here and there. The
dialog is atrocious, and the characters' mouths don't even move in a lot
of the cut scenes. The character models look quite good in third-person
mode, but not so good close-up during the cut scenes. Remember when I
mentioned the woman during the initial installation? This far into the
game, she's the only female who isn't wrapped up head-to-toe in some
overzealous attempt at modesty. This isn't a game that needs to rely on
T&A to make it interesting, but in a world where male characters are
encased in staggering suits of armor, the females are extremely
uninspired. What's worse is that almost none of the female denizens will
talk to you, which is something right out of the original Gothic. Your
sister? She communicates you mostly as a ghostly greyish apparition via
cut scenes. I wasn't expecting The Witcher's level of
Let me clear the air right
off. I do not own this edition of the game. I own the first PC edition.
The only difference between the two is the addition of a few more
multiplayer maps and options and the improvements in the 1.7 patch which
can be downloaded for free if you own the previous version. For that
reason, I will not be discussing the mutiplayer beyond what I have
experienced in the original.
This game got a pretty bad rap when
it first came out for PC and 360 in August of '07. It was buggy, rough,
and very prone to crashing. The multiplayer was an empty wasteland due
to the poor connection issues and aimless gameplay.
Fast forward
to a year later. Is Two Worlds any good? Well, it's not a bad game. It's
a surprisingly fun (but mindless) romp through thick euro-fantasy
tropes and hack & slash gameplay.
Your character wakes up
after being attacked and having his sister kidnapped by ne'er-do-wells.
You gird yourself in a gravelly voice and oversized armor and head out
to chop your way through the countryside. That's about it for the story.
It suffers from the normal complaints in the European low fantasy
genre, namely that the VO work is stilted and hammy and the plotline
makes little sense. But you didn't really pick this game up for the
stirring script did you?
The game shines in the implementation of
a completely open world similar to Oblivion with simplistic action RPG
combat. As you level up in your quest to rescue your sister and defeat
the overdramatic Evil Force, you'll ramble over the landscape and
trounce enemies using either magic or weaponry and your upgradeable
skills.
The skill system isn't quite as advanced as the one in
Oblivion, but it's deeper than many other action RPGs. You'll definitely
not be able to max out all the skills in a playthrough, so you'll have
to allocate points wisely with each level.
The loot is widely
varied and very cool. You can upgrade your weapons and armor by imbuing
them with gems that add various effects. In a very innovative move, you
may keep adding the same type of gem to a previously upgraded item, so
you can keep improving the stats on a low level piece of kit beyond the
point at which you normally would trash it. You can also "meld" the same
type of item to improve the base stats if you pick up a repeat of
something you already have. This is something I wish more loot heavy
games would do.
It appears SouthPeak wisely took the picture of
the protaganist astride the warhorse off the front of the game. Mounted
travel and combat was a feature marketed in the prerelease of the game,
which turned out to have all the attraction and practicality of building
your own Model T Ford. Stay away from the horseback riding. You'll save
yourself a lot of stress.
The bugs have been ironed out for the
most part. there are still a few quest glitches and random graphical
bugs, but there's nothing too upsetting at this point. I haven't crashed
yet since upgrading to the latest patch.
If you play this game
as a simple action RPG rather than some kind of epic roleplaying story,
you'll have a blast.
One time you should
ignore professional reviews
This is actually a good game,
in spite of the hate thrown at it by professional reviewers (though I
would buy the DRM free, 64bit friendly version from Gog.com). True it
doesn't do much new, but it does what it does well. What most people
seem to hate are the dated graphics and bad voice acting. The story is
actually pretty good. Most people react to the fact that this is an
Oblivion inspired game, but once you get past that, the game is more of a
blend of Oblivion and Titan's Quest. It lacks the depth of Oblivion's
mechanics in most areas, while improving on the basics in others. There
aren't nearly as many skills and the "limitless character creation"
options are pretty limited, but the game play is good and the developers
have improved on some of Oblivion's ideas. Basically, if you like
Oblivion, you should give it a try.
Pros:
Realistic city
layouts; big cities feel big
Your horse isn't stupid and won't run
off cliffs
Mounted combat
Lots of quests, most of which aren't
totally boring
Cons:
Bad voice acting
Not the best graphics
Very
limited character creation options
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