Two Worlds II - Technical Coverage @ PCGH
 

PC Games Hardware has a piece on the technical prowess behind Two Worlds II and the advantages of the PC version:
More information.

Looking good. But then again, the first game looked and played well as well. I enjoyed how they managed to mix the gameplay and style of Gothic 3 with Oblivion. All in all. as far as gameplay was concerned, it was far superior than Oblivion or any other over-hyped console port released (as long as you weren't trying to be a master thief of-course).

The only problem was the storyline and characters (ignoring the voice acting which you can get used to very fast). The ending was even bigger fuck-up than sitting through Oblivion's ending battle between the two over-sized Pokemons.

I'm a known Two Worlds critic, so I don't want to get on my hobby horse…but…I found Oblivion much better and I couldn't care less about their fancy engine. More quest and gameplay details, please.

I was much easier on the game … but I agree 100%!

I don't understand why people insist on comparing the two.

Usually engine details get released first since that is what you work on first. What comes next is gameplay, then storyline and finally dialog and quests. That means that they won't mention storyline and quests until later.

Because the developers themselves pushed it as an Oblivion killer? ;)

I'd be interested in seeing any interview where they actually used those words.

I remember frequent comparisons with Oblivion in previews and interviews, but I don't recall if it was the developers or the journalists saying it. Whichever, there was quite a bit of "vs. Oblivion" talk going on, prior to the game's release.

I just checked the box cover. On the back, they quote a number of journalists, and the last quote is, "It's Oblivion on steroids!" - Hardcore Gamer.

There was a Eurogamer interview where theyacknowledge coming from the same template, but that TW is grittier and more focused, and all the systems are deeper. Sorry I can't link from phone …

Well I don't think the devs have anything to do with what a 3rd party reviewer writes. I can understand the obvious comparisons though, Oblivion was all the rage at that time. I just think the two games are different enough that you could enjoy one and not the other.

Oh, I agree, they are quite different. I just wanted to chime in on the "why do people compare these two so often" question. Reviewers did it a lot. And at least the publisher capitalized on it, as you can see with the "Oblivion on steroids!" quote on the back of the box. (More like Oblivion on barbiturates, at least as far as the 360 port went.)

They don't use exactly those words - they use phrases that clearly mean the same thing. How many examples do you want?

"Our inventory system is smarter, our magic system is much more complex and even the way we handle horses has more depth. Beyond those game mechanics, we have a much more complex society, with many more factions working within it. On top of that, our overarching storyline is a touch darker and more involved. That's not to say that Oblivion is a worse game, just that Two Worlds has more 'meat'."

We have a database if you don't believe the developers and publishers themselves encouraged comparisons.

Is that what I said? Perhaps you should read my post again. Anyways, it's not a big deal, Like I said, the games are different enough… :)

Are you REALLY going to pick apart semantics? The implications of my post were clear - that of Oblivion Killer meaning 'better than Oblivion'. The implication of your post seemed pretty clear as well, so if you were literally looking for 'those words' then no, it never happened. You win.

Um….no, I was genuinely curious if they actually used those words. Is that ok with you? I wasn't looking for a "win", especially since the whole thing obviously means a lot more to you.

Lets just hope that TW2 is bigger story, content and above all GAME BALANCE. I stopped playing because I was a wrecking ball with only 1/3rd of the world explored. Maybe I'll go back and throw all my goodies into the river and play naked to make it a challenge.

My reply was bitchier than intended, so apologies for that regardless.

No I really don't care, I - like others in the thread - was just trying to clarify for you where those comparisons came from and why they made sense.

No problem guys, I should have phrased my original post to seem less snarky.