Two Worlds II

The fact that Two Worlds II is a game that you can currently go buy in stores is something I’m still having trouble wrapping my mind around. With the abysmal performance of its predecessor, does Two Worlds II even deserve to exist? But, being that it does in fact exist, the more pressing matter is, does it deserve to be played?

While the short answer to the above question is a simple no, this medieval RPG brings some unique elements to the table.

The events of Two Worlds II take place a few short years after Two Worlds. The protagonist, our nameless customized hero, is being held in captivity by emperor Gandohar. After being rescued by Orcs, our hero is sent on a mission to discover the origins of Gandohar’s power in order to discover his weakness, put and end to his tyranny and rescue the protagonist’s sister. The lethargic plot will most likely fail to keep you interested for the duration of your play-through, but will drown you in standard fantasy clichés at its climax.  Add in the game’s abundance of static uninteresting characters and you won’t be playing Two Worlds II for its story.

Hopefully you aren’t planning on playing Two Worlds II for its combat either. The game boasts a system that, at best, can be described as random button-mashing nonsense. Your abilities are mapped to a hotkey bar located at the bottom-center of the screen. As standard attacks are the most unpredictable, and weak, of the bunch, you’ll spend most of your time in combat waiting for your spells/abilities to recharge. With the ineffectiveness of simple blocks, I spent most of my time using the “block breaker” ability and subsequently running circles around my enemies until it recharged. While this tactic will ensure you have little fun during each of the game’s many combat sequences, when compared to incessantly dying, it’s not the worst of your options.

Two Worlds II won’t have you select a class at its start. One positive aspect, albeit completely unrealistic, of Two Worlds II is that it allows you to play as every class the game has to offer. With the right point distribution, you can truly become a Jack of all trades (but an Ace at none). It should be noted that being “every class” in Two Worlds II means you’ll be able to attack with swords, magic and a bow. It won’t be difficult for you to imagine how the sword and bow system is implemented, though Two Worlds II’s magic system may leave fans of the class taken aback. To cast a magic spell, you’ll need to first create it. This is done by combining two or more spell cards. Carrier Cards determine what type of attack the Effect Cards (fire,earth,air and water) deal. For instance, combining the missile Carrier Card with the fire Effect Card results in the self-explanatory fire missile. Throwing Modifier Cards into the mix will effect the spell in even more ways. It’s a great amount of flexibility Mage fans will certainly love. For those uninterested, it’s simply a complicated system that requires too much thought to worry about.

Two Worlds II’s ambition doesn’t stop with spell casting. The game also boasts a crafting system that allows you to dismantle extra weapons/armor and use the parts to improve your useful ones. You can also attach crystals to weapons/armor to give them boosts in different areas. Dismantling all of your useless items does mean you’ll have little to sell to the many vendors throughout Antaloor. Thankfully, you’ll do more potion creating than buying.

    As you traverse the lands, you’ll consistently run pass different plants that can be picked up and used for Alchemy. The same goes for the remains your vanquished enemies leave behind. Combining these plants and body parts allows you to create potions of many different varieties. It’s nice having an alternative to dropping loads of cash on health potions.

Talking about the many different ideas Two Worlds II brings to the table is really disappointing. While there are some unique things to see, it’s all irrelevant given the game’s unforgivable technical performance. Sure, the environments of Two Worlds II aren’t the best and often overstay their welcome in certain parts, but that’s something I, and probably yourself, could get over if that was the worst of its visual issues. Sadly, those weak environments are constantly plagued by pop-in textures, textures that completely fail to load, extreme character movement issues and a general lack of polish altogether. I found many sections of Two Worlds II to be nearly unplayable due to technical hitches and glitches.

If you’re somehow the kind of person who can overcome game-breaking technical issues, you may want to hear about Two Worlds II’s interesting multiplayer component. The multiplayer sector of Two Worlds II requires you to create another character that you’ll level up and spec out entirely independent from the single-player campaign. To do so, you’ll need to hop into one of the game’s multiplayer modes. Deathmatch pits players against players in a first to 25 kills wins competition. Duel allows two similar opponents to battle head to head. Adventure serves as the game’s co-op, sending you on quests for emperor Gandohar himself. Things get unique in the game’s Village Mode which throws in an RTS element. You’ll be tasked with maintaining the village and caring for its citizens. The final mode, Crystal Capture, has teams attempting to find more Azure Crystals than their opponents. Saying that is multiplayer sector is ambitious is an understatement. But while the general idea may be impressive, it’s still happening in Two Worlds II. The terrible combat and graphical performance certainly carry over.

Two Worlds II was a game I was ready to fall in love with--the underdog RPG full of unique characters, inventive ideas and a fresh daring multiplayer component. Sadly, what I played was an unrefined, unpolished RPG loaded with static characters, boring quests and some of the worst combat I’ve seen in quite some time.