Two Worlds II - News Roundup

I'll collect some reviews below but, first, some business items.  VG247 reports retail stocks are low:

“We can’t restock them fast enough,” she tweeted. “I’m getting the rundown of all the retailers that sold out of their initial orders. We’re printing more copies asap… wish retail would have ordered more to begin with so we wouldn’t be out of stock, but [it's] not a bad problem to have.”

SouthPeak’s initial reports find the platform selling through the most copies is the Xbox 360 version.

You might have seen this in the comments of yesterday's newsbit on the Royal Edition delay but, if not, you'll be waiting a bit longer.  According to Eurogamer, components for TopWare's Royal Edition were wrecked in transit:

"We just received the container from China with the Collector's Edition and other components and they are wrecked," TopWare managing director James Seaman informed Eurogamer.

"Several components were just a total wreck and unacceptable for us to give out to our fans.

"We are printing some of these in Europe now and the boxes are being air freighted from China.

This also explains the initial delays because this sea-freight arrived far too late to meet the original dates.

On to reviews.  GameSpot looked at the X360 version and awarded a score of 7/10:

If you played the original Two Worlds, you might not be surprised to learn that its sequel does not represent the role-playing genre at its most refined. What may surprise you, however, is that Two Worlds II's clumsy features don't greatly diminish the impact of its big, busy world. Here is an expansive third-person RPG brimming with fearsome monsters to slay, colorful spells to cast, varied quests to perform, and murky swamps to explore. The game lacks the fine points that adorn the greatest role-playing adventures--distinctive characters, a compelling narrative, and beautiful panoramas. But this is an entertaining journey nonetheless, due in no small part to intriguing but accessible systems that allow you to create your own magic spells, concoct potions, and upgrade your favorite weapons and armor. If you've been looking to lose yourself in a fantastical kingdom, and don't mind some clumsy combat, graphical inconsistencies, and nagging interface issues, Two Worlds II is a fine way to escape the rigors of the real world.

...and CNET awarded 3.5/5:

As with its precursor, Two Worlds II takes place in the land of Antaloor, where (once again), your sister is in trouble, and where (once again), the evil wizard Gandohar is up to no good. It's a suitable framework, but the game fails to build on its foundations. Through a series of good-looking flashback sequences, you eventually learn more about Gandohar, but the personal touch is conspicuously absent. The game devotes little time to giving your sister a personality, making her a simple MacGuffin to help put the story in motion, but nothing more. Nor will you meet many memorable characters. While much of the voice acting isn't bad, some of it is lifeless (your own character), ridiculous (a drunken local), or stiff (a student in need). The tomes you collect contain some fascinating tales and tidbits, but much of the dialogue sounds forced and unnatural--like something an author would write, but not something an actual person would say.

Lastly, Gamasutra has a piece called Critical Reception, where they summarise the reviews so far as they note a Metacritic rating of 75.

Thanks to Omega for several of the links in this and other newsbits.