Two Worlds (Xbox 360, 2007)

First off, again, this game is not Oblivion. If you want an Oblivion game, buy the new packs that came out for the game (Shivering Isle or the Game of the Year version.)

With that said, I agree with other reviews:
Good:
1) Once used to the game play, it is addicting. I lost quite a bit of sleep the first few days I had it. Had to step away from it and get back to reality.

2) Customizing the character - you can make adjustments to the character, just takes time to figure it out (trial and error)

3) You do not need a strategy guide to play it, most items I was able to figure out quickly to enjoy the game.

4) Realistic environment. Hearing real bird sounds in the background, bats above you in caves, etc.

5) The fighting "Mob" scenes: There is nothing better than hacking your way through a crowd of skeletons with a large club. Seeing some of the bodies flying through the air when you make contact is pretty fun!

Bad

1) The font - when loading there are hints, I could not read them on my 42" HDTV. The inventory menu - forget about trying to read the qua of any particular item, it is nearly impossible.

2) The fighting:
a) When fighting multiple enemies at the same time, most of the time, they attack 1 at a time. There are "mob" scenes as mentioned in above.
b) Fighting a tough character: There is one battle against a thief. After the sequence starts, if you are not fully equipped for the battle (w/ decent equipment), one swing of his Orc sword will kill you. You regenerate and fight again. After a few licks I was able to get in prior to being killed (again), I realized the character keeps the damage you inflicted prior to being killed. Basically, I killed him by being relentless instead of being the better fighter (I died 10 times prior to killing him - did not seen appropriate...)

The Ugly:
1) Nothing like having the character constantly complain about the rain including the wonderful ditty "Rain Rain Go Away". If it was coming from a child, that would be fine. However, coming from a mercenary with blood stains on his battle armor - did not seem right.

2) Dialogue- "Nay, I pray that is not the case, prithee" WTF? It was different the first 5 minutes, it got old quickly.

Overall, the expansive nature of the game (not as wide open as Oblivion) and the general game play made it a fun game. I would not pay $60 for it (I rented mine through a local store with a free coupon - that way I have no expense on a game I do not like.) I will buy it eventually, but used and under $30 is more reasonable.

My first impressions of this game were less than satisfying. The graphics aren't quite to par with the standard set forth in most recent 360 games, and the dialog is a touch poorly.

If you lack the ability to tolerate these things you are really missing a great game.

As RPG's go, this one is extremely open-ended. The world, and the detail of it are almost mind-numbing in it's intensity. The world has a very seeming of being alive. There are no enemy respawns, and if you kill somebody or something, that corpse will be there, for seemingly the eternity of the game. The enormity and complexity of the game environment, coupled with the almost zero loading times, more than makes up for the graphical lack of the game. I honestly doubt the xbox could handle the games engine, and produce the graphical quality that most people expect today.

The character development, leveling, item creation, alchemy, and spell systems are probably the most original, creative, and inventive systems I've seen in an rpg in a long time. There are no classes, no predetermination of character. You are whatever you want to develop. You can be a rogue/thief, an assassin, a fighter, a mage of 1 to 5 different schools, or any combination of all of them, depending on how much time and effort you are willing to invest in developing your character.

The item creation is overtly simple, and abundantly satisfying. With the investment of time, you can have your own custom designed weapons and armor. And the more you do, the more benefit you get. My character has dropped dragons at half there level with only the benefits of his equipment, alchemy, and a little practice with the games dodge skills.

The possibilities of the alchemy engine in the game is endless. You can make potions to do anything from heal your HP, MP; remove poison; or as far as permanently increasing your characters skills, stats, max HP, defensive abilities, or make spell gems to add exponential amounts of damage to your weapons. (I have a sword that does standard 71-108. plus the 1017 lightening that I added to it.)

In conclusion, the game's inventiveness and originality more than make up for its flaws. It has an enriching story, in spite of the poor acting and dialog, and just impresses me all around. The only real flaw I've noticed is the lack of guidance that is given to you. There's no li'l pop-up helper screen, and most of the games good features are hidden just by the players ability to figure them out. Was almost 12 hours into it before I discovered the item creation, and really figured out the alchemy, and now feel a little disappointed at the possibilities I've missed by the loot that I skipped, but as I stated early the bodies don't disappear, so all is just a matter of going back and getting.

And an ode to the size of the game. Almost 20 hours clocked just exploring the world, and I haven't even put a scratch into the map.

I want to first say that I purchased this title based mainly on the reviews that were given before the release. Just before my purchase arrived, I took another glance at the reviews just to get a little more excited and was very disappointed to find that all of the 8/10 and 9/10 had dropped drastically and were now replaced with 1/10 and 2/10. After a long day of reading them all I came to the conclusion that you are either going to love this game or hate it. I received my game and popped it in with the highest expectations imaginable. After the initial story is given, it is time to take control of your character. I felt the graphics were sub-par for a 2007 release of an XBOX 360 game. I was a HUGE fan of Oblivion and had read a few reports that this game was "Oblivion on steroids"; well that statement is absurd. The graphics are choppy, character control is sloppy, and the fighting looks like a third-person fighter of the Sega Genesis era. The inventory system leaves a LOT to be desired as well. It is very cumbersome I did give this game the benefit of the doubt though because some friends told me to wait about 10 hours into the game before I really cast judgment. After 26 hours of game play and finishing the game, I was still waiting for it to "get better". It obviously is not a 1/10 or 2/10 but this game is a FAR cry from being anything more than 5 out of 10, TOPS! It does have some fun parts but this genre is better left to the professionals at Bethesda Softworks. Twin Peaks missed a few key ingredients to making this any serious competition for any other game of this genre. The single biggest standout problem for me was the terrible in game conversation. The characters looked like paper mache when you were involved in a conversation, the voices were laughable and the plot was rather dry and boring. If you have a spare 26 hours to blow on nothing better as I do, then by all means, give it a shot, otherwise save yourself that pain.

This game is like putting Diablo and Obilivion and Assains Creed together, it takes awhile to build your character, but once you do you will find yourself galloping across the country side killing everything from bandits to wolfs to bears and more. this game is well put together and you will find yourself playing for hours and only thinking it was a few minutes. The weapons that you can get from fights can be matched with like weapons to creat stronger more powerful weapons. bad part is it can only be embued with one gemyour choice so if you don't like what it does you can't take it back. This game will depend on how you live your charactor each game plays out differently. take your time and enjoy the game. don't rush in and kill everything as you may need them later. general rul of thumb if they attack you kill them if not try to talk to them they have info that can be very useful (most of the time, but not always). making potions can be trickey so start off slow and work your way up is the easiest way to go. it takes at least two of the same items to make something. some hurt you others hurt others. put 10 small life potions get a super potion that really packs a puch for your health. same with mana. the pot will only hold ten of anything so experiment and see what you get. this game does have an end but I really don't want it to end as the scenery is beautiful for a game and the fights are fun. Dirty fight tactics are cool to (throw a little dirt in your enemies eys pull down their shied makes for a good fight. I give this game a 8 to 9 out of 10. there is NO SUCH thing as a TEN but I think this is close. I bought it and I am glad I did as I have had hours and hours and hours of fun with this game and my charactor is very very tough now and having fun kicking butt. Enjoy

I purchased this game after seeing several screenshots and reading that it was supposed to be, "Oblivion on Steroids." Two Worlds is Oblivion dying of a massive heroin overdose, and I mean that in the worst possible way.

I did thouroghly complete the game, and got 950/1000 gamerscore points, because in spite of all of the flaws, there were aspects of the game that I really liked, it had great potential. The flaws were numerous ranging from a cumbersome user-interface to an unbelievably aggravating quest system, with multiple colored dots appearing on your HUD and no quick way to distinguish which one you were supposed to be traveling to, and when I would try to read the quest in the pause menu, it was smashed into less than a third of my screen, with a portion of it being cut off of my square 27-inch TV. I have one of the most generic TV's ever made, and not only does the game not display correctly, I could find no way to adjust the display.

The magic aspect was also a huge letdown. The game claims you can customize your own spells, but this means that you can add one of five or six power-up cards to the limited number of spells the game has. Creatures you summon have animation flaws and are physically unable to attack enemies.

I could go and on with flaws that annoyed me, but I'm done with this game. I'm merely trying to warn you of what a mistake it is to purchase this game. If you're reading this and haven't played Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, then that's one you should really be checking out.

I will give Two Worlds one thing, it had really good lightning...so...If you have a fetish for occasional video game lightning strikes and are willing to overlook a shoddy, rushed product, I suppose this is the game for you.