MRG
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- Mar 24, 2007
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Greetings all,
I had read a report a few months back, that stated that the reviews given to PC games by popular & larger scaled websites & gaming communities, actually had very little impact on the sales of the game itself. I wonder if this is infact true, because even though the old saying goes that you should "never judge a book by it's cover," I have little doubt that if enough people say a game either sucks or is great, it is bound to play a large role in the ending sales figure. Otherwise no one would bother reviewing games. Afterall, what does one persons opinion matter, over that of countless others?
Does a good or bad review of a game sway YOUR decesion, on wheather or not you will or won't buy a game? I know it has for me from time to time. Anyways, time to move on. I just thought that was interesting.
You have by now no doubt heard me talking about a game called "Two Worlds" which was developed by Reality Pump. Like so many games which came before it, Two Worlds is a game based around a fantasy themed setting. As you wander across it's vast gameworld, you'll come across the standard fantasy themed enemy types like skeletons, evil goblin type creatures, roaming bands of bandits, not to mention the often encounter with feral wolves & other such wilderness creatures. In other words, a typical RPG right?
Well Guess again. The main difference betwen Two Worlds & the other run-of-the-mill RPG's that have been released, is that Two Worlds is actually a whole hell of a lot of fun to play. Sadly when this game was released a couple months back, it was in an unfinished state and so it had more than it's fair share of problems. Everything from poor overall performance to critical in-game skills being broken or not even implimented. It was in this state that the game was officially reviewed by many, if not most of the major online publications. So the low scores it got, were muchly deserved, if not an accurate indication of what Two Worlds had to offer. Since the game was released only a short time ago, 4 patches have so far been released. The newest patch, v1.4, which is over 160mb, was released a little over a week or so ago & it fixes an insane amout of bugs, to the point of almost making Two Worlds an entirely new game. It's the patch that makes Two World amazing. At least from my point of view.
Story & Intro
The story of Two Worlds is a little different than your normal "Save-The-World" that most RPG's use to entice you to go from point A to point B. In Two Worlds, the story hits a little closer to home. Your beloved Sister is kidnapped & you want her back. Unharmed & woe be onto any that stand in your way as you unravel the story of her disappearance. It's at this time that you become aware that there is more going on, than just the disappearance of your sister. However, before you can save your sister, let alone be of any use in what to come, you need to pick a class. Well in Two Worlds, there are no classes. You start out knowing a few basic skills and thats all. As you progress, you have full control over what skills you want to use. Apart from the typical Strength, Dexterity, Constitution & Willpower, each of which play a huge role in what abilities you have, which you can train in and any requirements that are needed. The skills offered in Two Worlds are many. 38 to be exact. Covering the 3 typical RPG classes, such as Fighter/Mage/Rogue. 5 schools of magic are also offered. Each skill has a level requirement, so you can't start off uber powerful. The player level cap is "Way" up there. I'll not say more.
Visuals
Two Worlds sports some pretty spectactular visuals. With realtime shadows, realworld reflections (I was wearing Half-Plate armor & the area around me was reflected on the surface of my armor!) & HDR in the offering to start, you can rest assured that your eyes will marvel at everything that surrounds you. Keep in mind though, that you'll need to be packing some heavy-duty firepower in your PC if you want to see everything maxed out and in it's glory. This game is a system hog. The first time I was standing up on a hill looking down over a lake below, I had to do a double take. I thought I was looking at a photograph. What with the water sparkling in the late afternoon sun and the surrounding trees & hills reflected on the lakes surface, it was an amazing view to say the least. Seeing a bear walk along the waters edge, with it's reflection on the water next to it, only made the visual more realistic. The game offers a wide range of customization options, so if you need to, you can lower some settings to improve in-game performance. You can also at this time download an optimizer to tweak the game even more. Accessing options that are not available in the game options itself. I highly advise you to download it. For those of you that like to play as a spell slinger, you are in for some real eye candy. I normally don't play as a spell caster, but in Two Worlds, I wanted to give it a try to see what it was like. WOW! The visual whiz-bang is top notch. Casting a spell that creates light, such as some healing spells and fire spells at night or inside caves & dungeons are a real pleasure to watch. Pyro-Technic Baby!
Weapons, Armor & Items
The first time you visit a merchant & see the selection of wares available to you, it's very clear that a huge amout of time went into the games "items". Everything from the massive amount of weapons & armor available to the ingredients for making potions. It's all there. I don't know the official count, but when I say massive, thats not an overstatement or me trying to be dramatic. There really is an overwhelming selection of weapons and armor. What really caught my eye, was the staggering amount of detail that went into everything. At one time, I counted over 25 different types of weapons for sale. Everything from 1 & 2 handed swords, 1 & 2 handed clubs, axes & hammers, daggers, staffs and a wide selection of ranged weapons. Bows of all sizes. I did not see any crossbows, so I do not know if this game has them or not. I do not think it does. This was just at one random merchants shop too. Next door to him was another merchant that had a selection of armors that went on for days. Each one looking different than the one before it when equiped. I simply cannot convey to you, the amount of detail that goes into the weapons and armor of this game.
Audio
Two Worlds has some fantastic audio. As you explore the wilderness, you'll hear the twittering of birds up in the trees. The highly realistic sound of the wind blowing through the trees reminds me of when I used to live up at Lake Tahoe. The lapping sounds of walking along the shore of the lakes & the general wilderness ambiance is truely amazing. You'll hear animals off in the distance howling & growling, not to mention the sound of other creatures in less than ideal places like Caves & dungeons. You'll hear the drip of water & the crackle of torches & fires. Hearing a skeleton creak & clack along, was a great way to avoid the Great skeletons I encountered underground, whose great swords could seperate me from my life in one hit. The first time I swung at an animal, only to miss him and smack my sword into a nearby tree instead, which resulted in a hearty "Thunk!" was highly satisfying. For me, it's the small details that really catch my eye. Every so often the weather will change, either from Clear & sunny to Rainy with Lightning storms (Lightning actually strikes the ground), to heavy fog, which muffles all noise & makes ranged combat impossible, was simply iceing on the cake for me.
Gameplay
Two Worlds has a massive gameworld. The first time I started the game & looked at my map, I thought the world seemed a little on the small side. Then I saw that it took my character an hour to get a 1/2 inch on my map & I realized that I didn't have the map zoomed out. The first humanoid enemies that I attacked & killed out in the world were these primative goblin type creatures with clubs. After killing the 3 of them, I went to get a snack. When I got back 5 minutes later, I saw that the sun had set and that night covered the world. Then I saw that my character was dead. From moving the camera, I saw what had killed me. A ghost of one of the goblin creatures I had killed, raised from the dead and had killed my character while I was away. They can only come to life at night. The same for almost everything you kill. In a blast of green light they come back to life at dusk & they leave the same way at dawn, if you don't kill them again. However, regular weapons won't harm the dead as you well know. You need a magic weapon to do that. Now i'm not gonna tell you how you get a magic weapon, only that they all come in 4 types. Fire, Cold, Poison, Spirit & Lightning. As you progress you'll come across teleporters scattered across the world. These are your best friends, so make sure you fully explore everywhere you can. Since the game world is as big as it is, you are able to have mounts, such as horses & later on, giant lizards. Not to give too much away, but one of your skills allows you to better control your mount & there is a lot of truth when people say that you can do some insane damage from atop your mount and since they are so fast, you can cover alot of area much faster.
Multiplayer
Cons
One of the biggest problems facing Two Worlds, that I can think of, is the fact that it's such a system hog. It will limit those with older PC's from playing & thus enjoying this game. Also since I don't have my 5.1's currently setup in my office, I have not had a chance to test this game with surround sound. The only other issue I have with the game is the graphical look of "magic enhansed" weapons. A little less glow and a lot more particles would have been nice. Perhaps in a later patch that will be added.
I am sorely tempted to keep talking about this game, but instead i'm going to let you find out all the goodies this game has to offer for yourself. If you enjoyed playing games like Oblivion & Gothic 3, then I highly advise you to pick up a copy of Two Worlds and give it a try. Just remember to make sure that you have a decent PC first, because unless you do, you'll not be able to see just how great this game really is.
My Minimum Recommended Specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 (Overclocked to at least 2.4ghz)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000
2GB DDR-500 or DDR2-667 RAM
nVidia 6800 Ultra or Radeon x1900
Audigy 2 ZS or X-Fi Sound Card
Official Website
http://www.2-worlds.com/
Un-Official Optimizer Control Panel
http://board.zuxxez.com/showthread.php?t=26963&highlight=Control+Panel
Final Score - 4/5 Stars
-MRG
I had read a report a few months back, that stated that the reviews given to PC games by popular & larger scaled websites & gaming communities, actually had very little impact on the sales of the game itself. I wonder if this is infact true, because even though the old saying goes that you should "never judge a book by it's cover," I have little doubt that if enough people say a game either sucks or is great, it is bound to play a large role in the ending sales figure. Otherwise no one would bother reviewing games. Afterall, what does one persons opinion matter, over that of countless others?
Does a good or bad review of a game sway YOUR decesion, on wheather or not you will or won't buy a game? I know it has for me from time to time. Anyways, time to move on. I just thought that was interesting.
You have by now no doubt heard me talking about a game called "Two Worlds" which was developed by Reality Pump. Like so many games which came before it, Two Worlds is a game based around a fantasy themed setting. As you wander across it's vast gameworld, you'll come across the standard fantasy themed enemy types like skeletons, evil goblin type creatures, roaming bands of bandits, not to mention the often encounter with feral wolves & other such wilderness creatures. In other words, a typical RPG right?
Well Guess again. The main difference betwen Two Worlds & the other run-of-the-mill RPG's that have been released, is that Two Worlds is actually a whole hell of a lot of fun to play. Sadly when this game was released a couple months back, it was in an unfinished state and so it had more than it's fair share of problems. Everything from poor overall performance to critical in-game skills being broken or not even implimented. It was in this state that the game was officially reviewed by many, if not most of the major online publications. So the low scores it got, were muchly deserved, if not an accurate indication of what Two Worlds had to offer. Since the game was released only a short time ago, 4 patches have so far been released. The newest patch, v1.4, which is over 160mb, was released a little over a week or so ago & it fixes an insane amout of bugs, to the point of almost making Two Worlds an entirely new game. It's the patch that makes Two World amazing. At least from my point of view.
Story & Intro
The story of Two Worlds is a little different than your normal "Save-The-World" that most RPG's use to entice you to go from point A to point B. In Two Worlds, the story hits a little closer to home. Your beloved Sister is kidnapped & you want her back. Unharmed & woe be onto any that stand in your way as you unravel the story of her disappearance. It's at this time that you become aware that there is more going on, than just the disappearance of your sister. However, before you can save your sister, let alone be of any use in what to come, you need to pick a class. Well in Two Worlds, there are no classes. You start out knowing a few basic skills and thats all. As you progress, you have full control over what skills you want to use. Apart from the typical Strength, Dexterity, Constitution & Willpower, each of which play a huge role in what abilities you have, which you can train in and any requirements that are needed. The skills offered in Two Worlds are many. 38 to be exact. Covering the 3 typical RPG classes, such as Fighter/Mage/Rogue. 5 schools of magic are also offered. Each skill has a level requirement, so you can't start off uber powerful. The player level cap is "Way" up there. I'll not say more.
Visuals
Two Worlds sports some pretty spectactular visuals. With realtime shadows, realworld reflections (I was wearing Half-Plate armor & the area around me was reflected on the surface of my armor!) & HDR in the offering to start, you can rest assured that your eyes will marvel at everything that surrounds you. Keep in mind though, that you'll need to be packing some heavy-duty firepower in your PC if you want to see everything maxed out and in it's glory. This game is a system hog. The first time I was standing up on a hill looking down over a lake below, I had to do a double take. I thought I was looking at a photograph. What with the water sparkling in the late afternoon sun and the surrounding trees & hills reflected on the lakes surface, it was an amazing view to say the least. Seeing a bear walk along the waters edge, with it's reflection on the water next to it, only made the visual more realistic. The game offers a wide range of customization options, so if you need to, you can lower some settings to improve in-game performance. You can also at this time download an optimizer to tweak the game even more. Accessing options that are not available in the game options itself. I highly advise you to download it. For those of you that like to play as a spell slinger, you are in for some real eye candy. I normally don't play as a spell caster, but in Two Worlds, I wanted to give it a try to see what it was like. WOW! The visual whiz-bang is top notch. Casting a spell that creates light, such as some healing spells and fire spells at night or inside caves & dungeons are a real pleasure to watch. Pyro-Technic Baby!
Weapons, Armor & Items
The first time you visit a merchant & see the selection of wares available to you, it's very clear that a huge amout of time went into the games "items". Everything from the massive amount of weapons & armor available to the ingredients for making potions. It's all there. I don't know the official count, but when I say massive, thats not an overstatement or me trying to be dramatic. There really is an overwhelming selection of weapons and armor. What really caught my eye, was the staggering amount of detail that went into everything. At one time, I counted over 25 different types of weapons for sale. Everything from 1 & 2 handed swords, 1 & 2 handed clubs, axes & hammers, daggers, staffs and a wide selection of ranged weapons. Bows of all sizes. I did not see any crossbows, so I do not know if this game has them or not. I do not think it does. This was just at one random merchants shop too. Next door to him was another merchant that had a selection of armors that went on for days. Each one looking different than the one before it when equiped. I simply cannot convey to you, the amount of detail that goes into the weapons and armor of this game.
Audio
Two Worlds has some fantastic audio. As you explore the wilderness, you'll hear the twittering of birds up in the trees. The highly realistic sound of the wind blowing through the trees reminds me of when I used to live up at Lake Tahoe. The lapping sounds of walking along the shore of the lakes & the general wilderness ambiance is truely amazing. You'll hear animals off in the distance howling & growling, not to mention the sound of other creatures in less than ideal places like Caves & dungeons. You'll hear the drip of water & the crackle of torches & fires. Hearing a skeleton creak & clack along, was a great way to avoid the Great skeletons I encountered underground, whose great swords could seperate me from my life in one hit. The first time I swung at an animal, only to miss him and smack my sword into a nearby tree instead, which resulted in a hearty "Thunk!" was highly satisfying. For me, it's the small details that really catch my eye. Every so often the weather will change, either from Clear & sunny to Rainy with Lightning storms (Lightning actually strikes the ground), to heavy fog, which muffles all noise & makes ranged combat impossible, was simply iceing on the cake for me.
Gameplay
Two Worlds has a massive gameworld. The first time I started the game & looked at my map, I thought the world seemed a little on the small side. Then I saw that it took my character an hour to get a 1/2 inch on my map & I realized that I didn't have the map zoomed out. The first humanoid enemies that I attacked & killed out in the world were these primative goblin type creatures with clubs. After killing the 3 of them, I went to get a snack. When I got back 5 minutes later, I saw that the sun had set and that night covered the world. Then I saw that my character was dead. From moving the camera, I saw what had killed me. A ghost of one of the goblin creatures I had killed, raised from the dead and had killed my character while I was away. They can only come to life at night. The same for almost everything you kill. In a blast of green light they come back to life at dusk & they leave the same way at dawn, if you don't kill them again. However, regular weapons won't harm the dead as you well know. You need a magic weapon to do that. Now i'm not gonna tell you how you get a magic weapon, only that they all come in 4 types. Fire, Cold, Poison, Spirit & Lightning. As you progress you'll come across teleporters scattered across the world. These are your best friends, so make sure you fully explore everywhere you can. Since the game world is as big as it is, you are able to have mounts, such as horses & later on, giant lizards. Not to give too much away, but one of your skills allows you to better control your mount & there is a lot of truth when people say that you can do some insane damage from atop your mount and since they are so fast, you can cover alot of area much faster.
Multiplayer
Cons
One of the biggest problems facing Two Worlds, that I can think of, is the fact that it's such a system hog. It will limit those with older PC's from playing & thus enjoying this game. Also since I don't have my 5.1's currently setup in my office, I have not had a chance to test this game with surround sound. The only other issue I have with the game is the graphical look of "magic enhansed" weapons. A little less glow and a lot more particles would have been nice. Perhaps in a later patch that will be added.
I am sorely tempted to keep talking about this game, but instead i'm going to let you find out all the goodies this game has to offer for yourself. If you enjoyed playing games like Oblivion & Gothic 3, then I highly advise you to pick up a copy of Two Worlds and give it a try. Just remember to make sure that you have a decent PC first, because unless you do, you'll not be able to see just how great this game really is.
My Minimum Recommended Specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 (Overclocked to at least 2.4ghz)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000
2GB DDR-500 or DDR2-667 RAM
nVidia 6800 Ultra or Radeon x1900
Audigy 2 ZS or X-Fi Sound Card
Official Website
http://www.2-worlds.com/
Un-Official Optimizer Control Panel
http://board.zuxxez.com/showthread.php?t=26963&highlight=Control+Panel
Final Score - 4/5 Stars
-MRG
