Two Worlds II - Review Roundup

Dhruin

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Here's a small collection of early Two Worlds II reviews as the game hits NA. Scores are a little mixed - definitely not as high as some of the earlier European reviews - but not bad, either.
Joystiq has an article structured like an interview, with a score of 3/5. I found it hard to read but here's a snip:
"Now, don't get me wrong, I have my failings, my combat chief among them. Attacks almost always feel underpowered, hit detection seems almost random, there's no sense of weight behind attacks ... and that's just melee. Magic has its own problems, like how you're supposed to be able to use area-clearing spells when you get surrounded -- yet enemies attack so quickly you can almost never finish casting them."

"That sounds ... bad."
"You think that sounds bad, I haven't even gotten to my stunningly unintuitive UI. Get this: When you look at equipment statistics, things like 'Attack' and "Defense" are represented by inscrutable symbols that I never explain, not even in the instruction booklet! Luckily, I have an option to change those symbols to text buried in my Settings menu."

"So why have the symbols in the first place?"

"I'd ... I'd rather not talk about it. What I can talk about is my almost endearing level of graphical weirdness, everything from levels very obviously loading around you as you stand frozen in place to a running animation that looks like a bad improv student instructed by his teacher to embody a constipated duck. Oh, and your scalp spends a lot of the cutscenes popping up through your hair texture and making it look like you have a tonsure."
GameZone, with a score of 7/10 for the X360:
Two Worlds II has a nice variety of baddies to slay, but the combat is less than stellar. You can play as a warrior, archer, mage, or assassin. There is little strategy outside of spamming your main attack, which always takes a split-second to execute. I often noticed that my attacks went straight through my enemies instead of registering as hits. Whether this is a glitch or the result of invisible ‘dice rolls’ and stats is difficult to say. I wanted to leave The Elder Scrolls out of this, but the series still has one of the most engaging systems of skill-progression; the more you use a skill, the better it gets. Two Worlds II is far more traditional and allows you to distribute skill points at each level. It works, just as it has for years, but it isn’t nearly as immersive.
A short article at GameInformer, with a score of 7.75/10:
Like its 2007 predecessor, this sequel has significant problems. Though it features a new and improved game engine, slowdown occurs frequently, especially when you or enemies start slinging spells that put the in-game physics to work. The core story is generic, and the sloppy writing sometimes fails to explain what's going on or why characters are acting a certain way. Unlike the original, though, Two Worlds II is playable, with an improved user experience that shows how Polish developer Reality Pump has grown.
GameFocus.ca is quite enthusiastic, with a score of 8.5/10, although my impression was they weren't that far into the game:

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12px">
But you know what? Ultimately, I didn’t really care. Despite its flaws, the depth of package and the improvements made over the previous game took center stage for me, making it easy to accept the things that weren’t so good, or even overlook them altogether. Right from the very beginning with the initial character customization options (which by my count numbered around 40 distinct features that could be adjusted), you knew that this was not the Two Worlds you remember. Not by a long shot. The features I covered for the purpose of this review just skim the surface. As players journey though Antaloor, they’ll also find multiple trade guilds, tons of dungeons to discover and explore, plenty of treasures to reap, and much, much more.

I have little doubt that players will lose themselves for at least 40-60 hours in the solo side of Two Worlds II. But just in case that’s not enough, Reality Pump has five multiplayer options at your disposal. From the Crystal Capture mode to the PvP and Dual modes to even a full-on seven chapter cooperative Adventure mode and the simulation heavy Village mode, there’s plenty of places to satiate your online desires. If you can pull yourself ...More information.
 
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"I wanted to leave The Elder Scrolls out of this, but the series still has one of the most engaging systems of skill-progression; the more you use a skill, the better it gets."

Oh, yeah, there's a feature that I remember fondly, pfft.
 
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