Megageth
17-03-2011, 04:32 PM
:gah:
I wrote a chunk of this review and then lost it when my browser crashed. Here is a shortened version.
I am about 20hrs in and lots to do so I may update/change my mind later and add/subtract to this.
Two Worlds 2
Its very similar to Oblivion. If you enjoyed Oblivion then chances are, your taste will carry across to this stupidly titled, redundant title of redundancy.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1712-21-53-00.jpg
Dungeon Kit checklist; big axe - check, torch - check, metal cricket hat - check...
The Shite
The main/save menus are butt ugly. Really. I think the producer's daughter got the job. Much of the game is well designed so why they did such a crap job on the menus is beyond me. It looks like something I would have designed myself before coming, once again, to the conclusion that I should ask someone with talent to do it.
The inventory system and more particularly the equip/unequip hotkeys fail badly. You cannot assign a hotkey to the shield (if there is some hidden combination then it is well hidden). If you want to swap back to a sword + shield combo from, say your bow, then you can hotkey in the sword but must open up the inventory and scroll through your loot for the shield. I say 'scroll' because another flaw is that the equipped inventory is mingled in with items you collect along the way, in random order. I dont know how the items are listed but there is no logic behind it at all and it wastes a lot of time. To avoid the issue with shields I simply used 2 handed weapons. Whomever spent their time developing the Sword and shield fighing skills should feel well miffed, I am sure many players will go the same route to avoid frustration.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1712-48-01-02.jpg
Sifting through the swag.
The AI is very ordinary. Creatures get snagged in the scenery quite often and are easily picked off from a distance. There are lots to kill so thats just a minor glitch in my eyes.
The A-OK
The gameplay for melee weapons is good. The special fight moves are well animated and the finishing move is very satisfying. I started fighting with a lot of heavy left clicking but am now starting to work out the timing of blocks, attacks, specialist moves etc.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1712-49-35-60.jpg
Another day at the office...
The eye candy is decent. Nothing ground breaking but overall, pleasing. There are 3 main islands, 2 of which I have been to so far and they each have their own culture/climate/vegetation/architecture that are largely drawn from the real world. You can hunt for ostriches and beavers. No, no. Thats beavers.
Most kit items are upgradeable and/or customisable. You can dye your leather armour but rather disappointingly the colour choices seem limited to grey, dark grey, green, dark green and pink. Maybe the pallet expands further down the line... Weapons and armour can be broken down to their bare ingredients and used to upgrade other items in what seems to a be a never-ending cycle. I enjoyed the upgrade concept at first but its grown thin of late.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1713-29-06-42.jpg
... followed by a few work stories...
Getting around is well thought out. Aside from Shank's Pony, there are horses, boats and a teleport system. It saves a lot of running around and there is a lot of that because as with most RPG's, essentially you are a delivery boy with a sword.
Whilst the story lines are good and the outcome of many of the quests are filled with pleasingly unpredictable twists, there is a lot of 'Hey go get me a bottle of some stuff from Joe' who then wants you to go get the ingredients from Mary who then wants you to fetch a ring from Mavis who has a basement of strange creatures that she'd like disposed of before she parts with said ring. Oh, now that you have cleared the basement of lesser-fanged swamp bandicoots, Mavis has just remembered that she lent the ring to Agnus.
I guess the final (halfway through kinda final) verdict on the quests is that its a mixed bag. They are generally good but can be long winded. They go on a bit. They... you get the idea.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1713-32-17-86-1.jpg
...and a few drinks with the lads.
There is an alchemical aspect to the game as well. Critters you slay and plants you find along the way will yield various ingredients that you can cook up into various potions. I haven't experimented much beyond some basic poison cures/resistanceses...ses... There are loads of ingredients but your character only has a few attributes that they can affect and therein lies their limitation. I for one like to see RPG's allowing characters to concuct their own poisons for weapons.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1713-08-36-43.jpg
... could be some kind of laxative...
Perhaps one of the most impressive features of the game, and one you will only realise if you play past the irritations, is that this game is vast. The lands are huge and there a ton of sideline quests and caves to busy yourself with. Looking at the map I have only covered about 20% of the landmass after 20+ hrs. There are also a quite a few smaller islands to sail to.
Yes or No? I am still in this game and enjoying it but also continually aware of its obvious failings. Its sad because it could be so much better and smells of a game where the producers threw it onto the shelves before the developers were quite done.
Some more screenshots:
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1712-56-05-31.jpg
Not much in the way of romance.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1712-58-36-29.jpg
The hand of God?
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1713-09-25-66.jpg
Another arbitrary comment, this time about radioactive mushrooms.
The End. For now. Maybe forever. Only time will tell.
I wrote a chunk of this review and then lost it when my browser crashed. Here is a shortened version.
I am about 20hrs in and lots to do so I may update/change my mind later and add/subtract to this.
Two Worlds 2
Its very similar to Oblivion. If you enjoyed Oblivion then chances are, your taste will carry across to this stupidly titled, redundant title of redundancy.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1712-21-53-00.jpg
Dungeon Kit checklist; big axe - check, torch - check, metal cricket hat - check...
The Shite
The main/save menus are butt ugly. Really. I think the producer's daughter got the job. Much of the game is well designed so why they did such a crap job on the menus is beyond me. It looks like something I would have designed myself before coming, once again, to the conclusion that I should ask someone with talent to do it.
The inventory system and more particularly the equip/unequip hotkeys fail badly. You cannot assign a hotkey to the shield (if there is some hidden combination then it is well hidden). If you want to swap back to a sword + shield combo from, say your bow, then you can hotkey in the sword but must open up the inventory and scroll through your loot for the shield. I say 'scroll' because another flaw is that the equipped inventory is mingled in with items you collect along the way, in random order. I dont know how the items are listed but there is no logic behind it at all and it wastes a lot of time. To avoid the issue with shields I simply used 2 handed weapons. Whomever spent their time developing the Sword and shield fighing skills should feel well miffed, I am sure many players will go the same route to avoid frustration.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1712-48-01-02.jpg
Sifting through the swag.
The AI is very ordinary. Creatures get snagged in the scenery quite often and are easily picked off from a distance. There are lots to kill so thats just a minor glitch in my eyes.
The A-OK
The gameplay for melee weapons is good. The special fight moves are well animated and the finishing move is very satisfying. I started fighting with a lot of heavy left clicking but am now starting to work out the timing of blocks, attacks, specialist moves etc.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1712-49-35-60.jpg
Another day at the office...
The eye candy is decent. Nothing ground breaking but overall, pleasing. There are 3 main islands, 2 of which I have been to so far and they each have their own culture/climate/vegetation/architecture that are largely drawn from the real world. You can hunt for ostriches and beavers. No, no. Thats beavers.
Most kit items are upgradeable and/or customisable. You can dye your leather armour but rather disappointingly the colour choices seem limited to grey, dark grey, green, dark green and pink. Maybe the pallet expands further down the line... Weapons and armour can be broken down to their bare ingredients and used to upgrade other items in what seems to a be a never-ending cycle. I enjoyed the upgrade concept at first but its grown thin of late.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1713-29-06-42.jpg
... followed by a few work stories...
Getting around is well thought out. Aside from Shank's Pony, there are horses, boats and a teleport system. It saves a lot of running around and there is a lot of that because as with most RPG's, essentially you are a delivery boy with a sword.
Whilst the story lines are good and the outcome of many of the quests are filled with pleasingly unpredictable twists, there is a lot of 'Hey go get me a bottle of some stuff from Joe' who then wants you to go get the ingredients from Mary who then wants you to fetch a ring from Mavis who has a basement of strange creatures that she'd like disposed of before she parts with said ring. Oh, now that you have cleared the basement of lesser-fanged swamp bandicoots, Mavis has just remembered that she lent the ring to Agnus.
I guess the final (halfway through kinda final) verdict on the quests is that its a mixed bag. They are generally good but can be long winded. They go on a bit. They... you get the idea.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1713-32-17-86-1.jpg
...and a few drinks with the lads.
There is an alchemical aspect to the game as well. Critters you slay and plants you find along the way will yield various ingredients that you can cook up into various potions. I haven't experimented much beyond some basic poison cures/resistanceses...ses... There are loads of ingredients but your character only has a few attributes that they can affect and therein lies their limitation. I for one like to see RPG's allowing characters to concuct their own poisons for weapons.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1713-08-36-43.jpg
... could be some kind of laxative...
Perhaps one of the most impressive features of the game, and one you will only realise if you play past the irritations, is that this game is vast. The lands are huge and there a ton of sideline quests and caves to busy yourself with. Looking at the map I have only covered about 20% of the landmass after 20+ hrs. There are also a quite a few smaller islands to sail to.
Yes or No? I am still in this game and enjoying it but also continually aware of its obvious failings. Its sad because it could be so much better and smells of a game where the producers threw it onto the shelves before the developers were quite done.
Some more screenshots:
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1712-56-05-31.jpg
Not much in the way of romance.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1712-58-36-29.jpg
The hand of God?
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll195/megageth/TwoWorlds22011-03-1713-09-25-66.jpg
Another arbitrary comment, this time about radioactive mushrooms.
The End. For now. Maybe forever. Only time will tell.