Two Worlds - Xbox 360 Review

TWO WORLDS

Formats: Xbox 360, PC

Format Reviewed: Xbox 360

Publisher: SouthPeak Interactive

Developer: Reality Pump

Release Date: 9th May 2007

Score: 52%

I'm not much of a psychologist, but if there is one thing I know about the human condition, it's this: anyone can be made to believe anything. All it really takes is confidence, a few false promises and a large dose of hype. This is something that developers Reality Pump must know all too well, having somehow managed to convince the game-playing world that they were preparing to release an epic RPG masterpiece with Two Worlds...

When I saw the first screenshots I was blown away, and so great was my excitement and anticipation that I had already decided that this game was incredible before I'd even played it. Unfortunately, what I got when my frenzied fingers had scratched open the cellophane wrapper and fired up the Big White Box, was nothing short of soul-destroying disappointment. From the largely pointless character creation screen to the strange control system (Y to jump forwards, B to jump backwards – why?) something wasn't sitting right with Two Worlds. But I decided to persevere, give Reality Pump the benefit of the doubt and at least play the first few hours. After all, the game looks beautiful – really, really Kate-Moss-beautiful. But I had to see if it was all just skin-deep, I had to see if this was just style over substance. I so wanted to love this game, to finally find something that could stand beside Oblivion, Diablo and World of Warcraft in my RPG Hall of Fame. Alas, however, it was not meant to be. There are just too many things wrong with Two Worlds. Quite how this game has managed to hit the bestseller lists is beyond me – I can only assume it is down to the aforementioned hype, as well as obvious comparisons to other, better games already on the market.

To call Two Worlds derivative would probably be unfair, but on the surface it is so much like Oblivion that it's shocking. Graphically it's very similar, and to be honest I don't think anyone from Reality Pump could tell you that they tried to veer away from the Elder Scrolls series and keep a straight face while doing so. The whole feel of the game is familiar – but beyond that initial atmosphere, Two Worlds begins to fall distressingly short of its far-superior idol.

On paper it seems quite promising. The story is the usual RPG-lite affair. You play a mercenary bounty hunter with a mean streak, whose frighteningly-sexy-for-a-load-of-pixels sister, Kira, has been kidnapped by a shadowy group of individuals bent on world domination. The ransom? The use of an eldritch artefact that – thanks to some seriously unlucky family heritage – can only be activated by you. Of course, along the way you can abandon your white-knuckle race against Time and Destiny to do some monster-bashing, heirloom-recovering, fetch-and-carry quests for various bone idle NPCs in true RPG style, and return to the main quest to save the world of Antaloor whenever you're ready. The quest-system itself is no different from any other game in this genre; it's a simple question of speaking to a character and going where they tell you to, killing or stealing whatever is there and returning for your reward. The size of the game world is impressive though, with huge rolling hills, glittering lakes and dark forests all wrapped around cities, towns, abandoned towers and derelict mines just waiting for the well-armed explorer that you are.

The problems started for me with the character creation. You can customise your appearance, from body size to eye colour to facial features, but you can't choose a sex; you have to be male for the storyline to work. There is also no Class system in Two Worlds. Development is handled by the garnering of Experience Points – Department of No Surprise holding on Line 1 – rewarded for killing monsters and completing quests. When you earn enough, you raise in level and can distribute skill points across your various talents. Whether your boat is floated by toe-to-toe combat, stealthy skulduggery or flashy spell-slinging, Two Worlds has something for you. The problem is that it has all been done before. Putting points into strength, vitality, dexterity and willpower is so old hat now that it's actually expected in RPGs. There are no surprises anymore. Personally, I prefer a game that lets you choose a class, because otherwise you're able to drift around not really developing a role-playing character, but rather a fairly generic action hero who can do a bit of everything. Especially seeing as the skill points you spend are all completely reversible thanks to Skill-changers, special NPCs who allow you to retrain for a price. What happened to games where decisions are final and you have to play them through a few times to see everything?

The control system in Two Worlds is also a bone of contention for me. I think in an attempt to make the controls intuitive, the developers have succeeded only in making them more complicated than they need to be. As I mentioned before, jumping forwards utilises the Y button, while hopping backwards is accomplished with the B button. I can't understand why this is so, as it just makes things difficult and awkward. Selection of skills is made possible by another staple of the RPG genre: the skill wheel. You can assign skills and weapons to the D-pad and use these "Hotkeys" to switch between powers and equipment mid-fight. But you have to first select the skill (and therefore remember which direction you assigned it to) and then click the left trigger. In the middle of a fight whilst you're bashing the right trigger repeatedly, this adds valuable seconds to an otherwise simple task. In short, hotkeys should be just that – a one-press selection system.

This becomes even more annoying if you take the path of magic, since you have to select each spell via two button-presses every time you want to cast it. In a fight, switching between offensive spells and healing magic will see the slow-fingered dead in seconds. Melee combat, though, has a few interesting sidelines for the discerning mentalist, with tricks and moves available in exchange for skill points that – for example – enable you to blind your opponent by kicking up dust or thwack them on the top of their he head and stun them. Once the melee system is mastered, it can be quite fun to wade into several enemies at once and tear seven shades out of them in a matter of minutes. There are also various traps available, such as spikey leg-mashers and assorted movement-hindering/skin-shredding contraptions for the aspiring cowards out there who like to give themselves an advantage over an opponent from the get-go.

To be fair, the developers have managed to be almost original with a few interesting innovations. The first is the magic system. Spells are found on cards, categorized by five different schools: Fire, Earth, Air, Water and Necromancy. These cards are acquired from various vendors, quest-givers and vanquished foes around the world and are placed in your Spell Amulet, along with other cards known as boosters, which add various effects to the chosen spell, such as increased damage or reduced mana costs. Playing around with combinations can yield some powerful results for those who invest the time and effort. It certainly does add an angle to the game to anyone who fancies himself as the next Harry Potter. Another innovation enables the combining of two similar items of equipment to create a more powerful version. Each piece of equipment has a class level and each time two items of the same type are combined, they create an item one level higher, with increased stats for the wielder/wearer. Yes, it's similar to things that have been done before in RPGs and action games, but it is a nice touch and an interesting way to free up inventory space while progressing your character. Along with various gems and stones that add damage to weapons and defences to armour, customisation of your character's gear can become quite a comprehensive affair in Two Worlds.

As found in Oblivion, there is also an Alchemy option, which allows you to mix ingredients and potions into special elixirs with a plethora of effects. Ingredients are found everywhere, from the organs of vanquished foes to the flora of Antaloor and can be mixed in seconds to create some unusual, often life-saving cocktails. But rather than feel like anything new, this feels like a complete steal of Oblivion's alchemy system. I know I keep comparing the two games, but I can't help it. You won't be able to either. Two Worlds apes Bethesda's game in so many ways that you just can't ignore it. If it did anything better than Oblivion then perhaps it would be forgivable – but it doesn't. It's the underdog in every way. Even elements of RPG legends like Blizzard's Diablo can be found in Two Worlds.

The one thing that Reality Pump did get right is the musical soundtrack. The scoring in Two Worlds is pretty fantastic, with hypnotic, haunting melodies and pounding heroism-inspiring orchestral pieces setting the mood perfectly. There are even several original songs on the soundtrack that add a real depth to the feel of the game. The same cannot be said for the voice acting, however; in places it can only be described as woeful. Between classic lines like "So you thought you could escape me?" and a butch American accent using Shakespearian terms such as "narry", "forsooth" and "prithee", the vocal aspect of Two Worlds grinds the nerves like a cheese-grater on your pink parts.

This game was so well-hyped, the wheels of Reality Pump's PR-machine churning so hard for months leading up to its release, that I was waiting to be knocked for six and really wowed by Two Worlds. Unfortunately that just didn't come to pass. A flawed physics engine that makes for hovering corpses, half-your-body-in-a-wall collision issues and a terrible, terrible horse-riding dynamic compounded the other disappointments into something close to actual rage when I played this game. People who create games that plagiarise classics the way Two Worlds does with so many RPG greats should be forced by law to either create a mind-blowing homage or fall off of something high onto something sharp repeatedly until they see the error of their ways.

Two Worlds is not the worst game on the Xbox 360. But it is the worst RPG available for Microsoft's console. How this game was made, in all honesty, is something of a mystery to me. It brings almost nothing new to a genre that, frankly, is waiting for something incredible to happen, and offers players little other than frustration, disappointment and headaches from the constant and antagonising Pigeon-Shakespeare. If you want an action RPG to provide you with excitement and adventure and hours and hours of life-stealing gameplay, then your choice is still limited on the Xbox 360, but there are other options available to you. I would advise you to explore those other options before you exchange any money for this. Perhaps I am being unfair, but no one would have looked so kindly on Saints Row if it hadn't done the GTA series justice and brought something new to the genre, along with its blatant imitations. When compared to other RPGs on the market today, Two Worlds is a game that simply did not need to be made. Two Worlds? I have two words: Avoid. This. See what I did there?

Mick Fraser