G’DAY EVERYONE !!! In only a few more hours Australias will be CELEBRATING AUSTRALIADAY!! A DAY WE ALL STAND UP BE PROUD THAT WE’RE ALL AUSTRALIAN AND MOST OF ALL THROW SOME LAMB CHOPS ON THE BARBIE – no not a sprimp – thats so 1985 !! Check out and have a laugh at the video below of Australia’s first “Lambassador” and his Plea to the United Nations to make January 26th INTERTNATIONALAUSTRALIADAY !! –
!! COMPETITIONTIME !!
Leave a comment below and let us know what you love most about Australia ? Is it our beautiful beaches, our cute and cuddly Koala Bears ? Our Cricket team ? Our Super HOT Accents ? MasterAbbott .. eerrmm *cough* sorry I thought I’d throw that in. Our beer ? Be as creative as possible. The best comment will win themselves a video game of some sort on one of the following platforms : XBOX, PS3, Nintendo Wii, or PC. (only one entry per person – competition ends 27th Jan – AU )
Happy Australia Day from The Capsule Computers Crew. Think of us tomorrow while were having a BEER – NO NOT FOSTERS !!! – thats the beer we give away because no one here in Australia wants it & throwing a few LAMB Chops on the Barbie !! 😉
Platform: Xbox 360 (reviewed)/Playstation 3/PC Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: Visceral Games Release Date: January 27, 2011 Price: $89.95
For anyone that played the original Dead Space then I’ll assure you right now that everything you loved about this game has been improved and enhanced in Visceral Games latest offering Dead Space 2. If you passed on the first one and are in doubts on this one then let me tell you right now that this game delivers full stop. This sequel is a vast improvement on the first game, switching from the claustrophobic corridors of the USG Ishimura to the large openness of the Sprawl, a highly populated space station orbiting Titan, one of the moons of Saturn where the horror takes place.
Story
Dead Space 2 kicks off three years after the events of the first game. Isaac Clarke mysteriously wakes up in a hospital ward on the highly populated space station The Sprawl, in the mitts of another Necromorphs (‘space zombies’) outbreak. Not only this, Isaac is suffering from his own internal madness in the form of dementia brought on by events that took place from the first game with the alien artifact The Marker, which makes a return in this game with the Necromorph invasion. It’s up to Isaac once again to survive the carnage and piece together how another Marker made its way onto the Sprawl.
The story in Dead Space 2 is more of a personal one in my opinion at least, for starters Isaac is no longer a mute, silent protagonist like in the first game and this time around he has a voice and face to show off. Not only this, players follow Isaac down his crippling dementia and the madness that is in his head still haunted by the death of his girlfriend Nicole on board the Ishimura.
The environment change from a space ship to a space station (especially at the start of the game), allows for more of a ‘human feel’ as players are witnessing the bloody, horrific outbreak of the Necromorph first hand, as opposed to the aftermath of it as seen in the first game’s set up. Although the latter is still seen through audio and text logs scattered around the place which reconstruct the game’s back story, which again adds to the game’s ‘human element’ while at the same time sheds light on the bigger picture between the Church of Unitology and the Government.
Gameplay
Anyone that’s played the original Dead Space will feel right at home here. Strategic dismemberment is back and as satisfying as ever, shooting off a Necromorph’s limbs one by one never gets old. Players can experiment with some new game play features that mixes up combat, added to the arsenal are an assortment of new weapons such as the Javelin Gun, Seeker Rifle and Detonator alongside the favourites the Plasma Cutter, Line Gun and Ripper from the first game. Not only this, players are now able to use a Necromorph’s limb against themselves by uses of the upgraded telekinesis power which turns severed limbs into deadly weapons.
As a survival horror game collecting scattered ammo, credits and valuable power nodes is vital your survival, stock up on health packs and ammo because you never know when there is going to be a “surprise” Necromorph attack in this game. The upgrading system from the first game is back, and is an excellent incentive for exploration as you look for valuable power nodes to upgrade your weapons and suit which is a must if you want to survive. Suits in the game have been improved from the first. Now suits provide specific bonuses such as weapon damage or store discounts depending on what suit is equipped by the player, more than just a cosmetic change. Isaac’s melee attacks have also received an upgrade in this game and now pack more of punch than ever before.
One thing I must mention is that Dead Space 2 plays out quite linear, whilst there is a degree of limited exploration; in general players are guided down a pre-determined path finishing with a set piece battle. This isn’t a bad thing as the linear experience is great fun but the new location, the large open Space Station the Sprawl seams to suggest an open world hub rather than just down a set path. Regardless, it’s still great filled with very cinematic moments and fantastic boss fights. Of notable mention set piece battles with the new enemy type ‘The Stalker’ feels very reminiscent of the Raptor scenes from the Jurassic Park movies. These new enemies will run, hide and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike, which is normal when your back is turned. Other memorable moments include the creepiest day care centre ever, flying straight down in zero gravity whilst dodging debris and another moment (without too many spoilers) that feels like something straight out of Gears of War 2.
New to Dead Space 2 is its multiplayer putting players in the shoes of either Sprawl Security Officers or Necromorphs in 4v4 objective based game modes. There is a slight story element tied into of Dead Space 2’s multiplayer depending on what map you play. For example in ‘Escape’ Security Officers need to traverse the facility to a set of escape pods to escape the Sprawl and in ‘Solar Array’, the team have been ordered by Tiedemann to fire the Solar Array upon a set coordinate. In all multiplayer games, the goal of the Necromorphs is simply stop the humans achieving their objective. Each team has their own unique powers and upgrades, the humans can unlock better suits and weapons and Necromorphs can unlock more health and improved attacks. Playing solo through the main game and switching to a team based multiplayer is different and fun. It does provide some good moments but honestly they don’t have anything compared to the massive set piece battles as seen in the later parts of the main game.
Graphics & Audio
Hands down this game looks and sounds fantastic. Guns and enemies sound like they should, sheer raw power. The ambient noises of the Sprawl, the underlying bass hum adds to the game’s immersion. The game’s realistic ‘silent void’ space vacuum is one that needs to be heard in person. The score and music is very good, especially the loud screeching upon scare tactics of the Necromorphs. This game is very gory – blood and guts are all on show here. Expect to see limbs being ripped off, exploding heads and a lot of blood, all presented wonderfully by the game’s great looking graphics which have been tweaked and improved whist still retaining the same look and feel that made the first game so memorable, much like the over-the-top deaths of Isaac Clarke in this game.
Overall
Dead Space 2 from start to finish is overall great experience. The Dead Space series likes to thank its fans PS3 players especially, as each copy of the PS3 version includes Dead Space: Extraction remade in HD for the Playstation Move. As well as, players that registered their copy of Dead Space iPad and iPhone will receive exclusive in-game content. Visceral Games has poured a lot of love, care and polish into this game and it really does show. Set piece battles are impressive, challenging and memorable while they last. Shooting Necromorphs never gets old, and thanks to the additional multiplayer it won’t as 4 on 4 battles are sure to eat up the hours.
In an interview with Dengeki Magazine the producer, Yoshinori Kitase, and the director, Motomu Toriyama, of Final Fantasy XIII-2 revealed some more information regarding FFXIII-2. Fans of Final Fantasy may recall the last time that Square Enix made a direct sequel to a Final Fantasy game in the form of Final Fantasy X-2; which was met with some derision due to the overall feel of the game. That will not be the case in FFXIII-2.
Translated by Siliconera, Kitase and Toriyama elaborated further by explaining that Final Fantasy XIII-2 will pick up right where FFXIII ended and will place players in the search for a mysterious invisible world called Bunibelle and the goddess Etro playing major parts in the plot. Also revealed was the fact that some other characters from FFXIII will be returning other than Lightning, but of course there will be unexpected changes to them as well. I’m not entirely sure how much darker they can make the storyline of Final Fantasy XIII considering there were moments of pure loss during the storyline originally, but we shall see.
Ready to hear some great Rolling Stones music? Then you are in luck because the latest trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops “First Strike” features part of the song Gimme Shelter. But enough about classic rock, the trailer itself shows off bits and pieces of every map that will be released in the First Strike map pack. Unfortunately there isn’t a whole lot of detail given for any map at all, but one thing that is worth taking notice of is the fact that we finally catch our first glimpse of the zombie map Ascension.
Call of Duty: Black Ops “First Strike” will be released next week on February 1200 MSP ($15) and is currently a timed Xbox 360 exclusive. Now if only the clan tags on players guns were as prominent as the map names on the guns shown in the video…
Dead Space 2 may have just hit store shelves today but that doesn’t mean that EA isn’t already announcing some more content for the game. Rather than the already available armor download packs, EA has revealed that they are planning on releasing a full story DLC which will be called Dead Space 2: Severed for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.
This DLC will include two separate chapters from the main storyline of Dead Space 2 and will see the return of Gabe and Lexine who featured in Dead Space: Extraction. Extraction was originally released for the Wii but also is available for all PS3 versions of Dead Space 2. The main character of these two chapters will be Gabe and players will try to get both Lexine and himself off of the Sprawl alive. No news of a release date or how much this DLC will cost at this time.
The summer hit from XBLA is now available for the PCs too, Monday Night Combat was released today on Steam.
Monday Night Combat is a class-based, third-person shooter, but it’s best described as “Team Fortress 2 meets DoTA”, since the game has a huge tower defense style inside his own formula.
Check out some of the game’s features:
Co-op
Blitz mode allow players to defend their Money Ball against armies of robots by themselves or four player co-op over Steam. During various Blitz challenges, players can spend money earned by destroying bots to build defensive turrets around the Moneyball, upgrade one of six unique character classes, or set off robot crushing environment hazards. The Challenges vary from a ten round Exhibition Blitz to endless robot waves of ever increasing difficulty in Super Sudden Death Blitz. Money earned from each Challenge goes into a persistent Lifetime Earnings that allows players to unlock over 370 ProTags, create custom classes, and get ranked on Leaderboards.
Competitive Multiplayer
Crossfire mode pits teams of players against each other over Steam. Each team is supported by an endless stream of robots fighting on their behalf; overwhelming your opponent’s stream, upgrading your Pros, and base defenses will be the key to your success!
Customizable Characters
Each Pro caters to their unique style of play and comes with their own set of upgradeable skills. Customize those skills and abilities even further with a variety of unlockable products in the Custom Class feature.
Persistent Stats
Every game of Monday Night Combat earns the player money that goes towards their Lifetime Earnings. Lifetime Earnings can be spent on unlocking custom classes and buying earned ProTags. How much Lifetime Earnings you have also determines what level you are. Monday Night Combat keeps a large set of persistent statistics for all aspects of gameplay. MNC features over 370 ‘ProTags’ which are customizable tags you can show off to other players and friends.
Dedicated Servers
Host multiple instances of MNC dedicated servers. Full stand alone client coming soon.
Editor support (Coming Soon)
As you can see, the PC version of Monday Night Combat comes with all-new exclusive contents, you can expect dedicated servers, new arenas, game modes, a editor (coming soon), customization, and much more in the following updates, the game is constantly changing with new contents on the PC, and is fully integrated into Steam.
Monday Night Combat on Steam (The game is available for $14.99, but there’s an 4-pack offer too (buy 4, pay 3), where you can get it for about $11)
If you purchase Monday Night Combat before February 1st you’ll receive exclusive Team Fortress 2 Items for Monday Night Combat & Monday Night Combat Items for Team Fortress 2. You can see this, and much more, in the Launch Trailer right below:
Some information about the first Pokémon Black and White Wi-fi event for Europe has been detailed. The event allows you to download the ‘Liberty Pass’, an item granting you access to Liberty Island through Castelia City. Going to Liberty Island then gives you the chance to capture one of the latest additions to the Legendaries, a rare Pokémon called Victini.
It’s number 000 on the Pokédex and was available to download in Japan on launch day too. The download of Liberty Pass will be available from launch day until 22 April in the UK, so make sure you get your Liberty Pass before then.
Never fear readers from other parts of the world though, as I expect similar type events for other regions to be announced soon, allowing you to obtain this rare Legendary Pokémon.
Only a short while after Virtua Tennis 4 was officiallyconfirmed as being for Wii and Xbox 360, as well as the PS3 as it was initially announced for, it has already been given its debut trailer. This debut trailer is simply a players trailer, meaning it offers little in the way of gameplay. In fact, it offers no gameplay footage whatsoever, so in that sense you would be better off taking a peek at some screens of the game.
However, what is does offer is an insight into the fantastic cast of real-world players making an appearance in Virtua Tennis 4. It’s certainly a star-studded character list with current tennis greats like Nadal, Federer, Murray and Roddick and many others all playing their part in the title. The trailer also gives a nod to the game’s arcade roots through the art-style it is presented in and with the inclusion of ‘Thwack’ and ‘Zap!’ in bubbles after players have made shots.
Platform: Wii (Reviewed) Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Square Enix Genre: Sports/Party Release Date: January 27th (AU), February 7, 2011 (US) Price: $49.99 (US) $99.99 (AU) £34.99 (UK)
If your anything like me, you don’t give a damn about sports in video games, and these casual gamer motion controlled Wii Sport titles are even less appealing. However, you’ll make one exception-Mario sport games. The loveable Nintendo mascot has been playing golf, tennis, soccer, baseball, basketball, Go Karting and even participated in the Olympic and Winter Olympic games-what an athlete! It’s a wonder how he still stays so chubby, or perhaps its from all the mushrooms and flowers he’s eating-what a strange diet ? Nevertheless, surely ‘Mario Sports’ should be a genre by now. Mario Sports mix brings back the 3 on 3 basketball with 3 other sports along side it- Volleyball, Hockey and Dodgeball. But is this game just the b-sides and leftovers of the sport series, or does it hold its own as a stand alone title?
Super Mario-The next Michael Jordan perhaps?
Presentation
Mario Sports Mix is developed by Square Enix rather than Nintendo, (which is why characters from Final Fantasy and Dragon quest appear as unlockables, but we’ll get into that later) but unless you knew it you would never notice. Square Enix must be commended for their successful efforts at reproducing the Nintendo magic of presentation as they have executed it perfectly. Menus are simple and effective and the game is bright and inviting, just how a Mario game should be. On the other hand however, its nothing we havn’t seen before as it does feel quite a bit like you are navigating through another Mario Party or Mario Kart, but hey-if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Players begin by selecting which of the four sports they’d like to play, each with their own menu containing Exhibition and Tournament modes as well as a very clear and well done Tutorial section that works to be quite helpful. The Tournament brackets are very nicely presented, looking like a Mario Party board, with the leader of each sports team walking to each match. For com vs com matches, there is an animated fight between the two with the victor advancing to the next round as the other walks away in shame. Its a small touch, but its a nice one that keeps things more interesting that simple brackets. Before the starting of a tournament, there is a small cutscene with a basic storyline behind it, and upon completion of 3 tournaments in the sport you will see another one as well as collecting trophies and such. They are nothing outstanding, but its nice to see some cut scenes in a Mario game as they are rare, and they are a treat to watch. I won’t spoil anything, but the ending of the Star Cup is pretty awesome! Unfortunately there are no replay options which many find a standard in sports games these days. Memories of epic replays with 360 degree camera angles and slow motion replays from Mario Tennis 64 were awesome, why can’t we have stuff like that here? In general, like most Mario games, the presentation is very well done, simple, to the point, attractive and very effective, even if it isn’t anything too fresh.
Luigi always looked up to his older brother, even from the strangest places…
Gameplay
The gameplay of Mario Sports Mix is very varied depending on which sport you play. Most games have very similar controls, but each has a little twist to them. In general your mostly shaking the wiimote to preform various action such as taking a shot at a goal or defending against a shot and hitting a to pass. What really separates each sport from a typical sports game however is the ability to use items throughout a match. When players walk on a panel with a question mark they will get either get a coin or a random item. Items can be used to damage opponents or some how gain a temporal upper hand and coins add extra points to your score, except in dodgeball which add extra power to your attacks. Items arn’t as varied or numerous as they are in Mario Kart which is a shame, but the ones that are there do their job well. A stand out of the game is the special meter, with it building as you play. Upon filling the meter players can preform a special ability which is unique to each character. These moves are especially fun to do can can dramatically turn a game around. Basketball is easily the best of the bunch, as it never gets old and is always a blast to play. However, a few of the other sports arn’t as fun, and it sometimes feels like the basketball section of the game just carries the others-mostly hockey and volleyball. Volleyball is still alot of fun, it just unfortunately feels very repetitive after about 20 minuets as there isn’t really much to do in it. It still is fun, just in short bursts rather than playing it constantly. Hockey is a little to frantic, while the controls are nice the camera is cruel, as it doesn’t even follow the puck (or coin in this games case). Players will constantly be asking “where is my character?” and with everything flying around so quickly it can easily overwhelm you, but if the camera would simply just follow the puck/coin, it would surely be alot more enjoyable. Thankfully, dodgeball is also alot of fun, and a close contender against basketball. Action is swift, chaotic and fun, and the ability to get a team member back in after they have been ‘outed’ really helps to keep players on edge. Ontop of all this there is a party mode with four mini games each based respectively on each sport. sadly, most of these arn’t very great but still are forth checking out, and feel like rejected Mario Party mini games. If there were more variety of mini games to choose from it’d be more forgiving, but only four which dont even come close to competing with the game itself isn’t much of a reason to play.
Oh didn’t you hear? Not only is Yoshi a dinosaur with a giant tongue who can drive go karts and play sports, but he is also a Super Sayian!
Characters are split into four categories: Speedy, All-Rounder, Powerful and Technical, and they are all done evenly so its a fair mix. While there is a variety of characters to choose from, the selection of characters isn’t as wide as many other Mario Sport games. There is, however, four unlockable Square Enix characters which is a nice surprise, and you can play as your Mii from the get go which is always fun to do. The only problem through, is that you have to unlock each character four times-once for each sport, which can be highly frustrating. Stages are a bright highlight of the game, and really save the game for the most part from feeling too repetitive in some really creative ways. Most but not all courts appear in multiple sports, which can lead to some very interesting transfers. For example in DK Dock for volleyball each half of the court will sway horizontally making landing the ball in the court harder, while in basketball a similar twist will occur with the hoops often swaying away from players making slam dunking difficult. Daisy Garden is another fine example, with players shooting the ball in basketball into Petey Piranha’s mouth instead of a hoop when his mouth is open, while in dodgeball players can feed the ball to him and he may spit it out an opponent. Most courts have interesting twists about them that make them stand out, freshening the game in creative little ways that make the simple gameplay feel less repetitive and more fun. Oddly the better stages need to be unlocked, and you begin with some of the games later stages, so you are encouraged to keep playing to unlock levels. It feels very rewarding and really adds to the multiplayer aspect of the game, and since you can enter tournaments as multiplayer, it really makes things fun. On the other hand though, it would’ve been nice to have some of the more complex stages available at first, as it would grab the player into the game more.
Koopa Troopa Beach is a simple yet fun court to play on, with green shells constantly washing up on shore to be used as weapons.
One of the biggest downfalls of this title however is it’s difficulty level. It is most likely one of the most easiest games I’ve ever played in my life, and sadly Im not over exaggerating by much. On the easy difficulty level, you can score a few points, put down the controller and not play the rest of the game in some sports and still have a chance of winning at times. On this difficulty level the game feels like a chore like your just doing task after task for next to no reason. Sadly, normal isn’t much of a step up. On hard things get alot more fun, and after you’ve learnt the controls well, I recommend playing on this difficulty level as the game is alot more fun this way. There is also an expert difficulty to choose as well, but you really do have to be an expert to compete on that level, so the difficulty levels variety does feel a little bit unblanced. However the game’s AI is not the focus of the game-the multiplayer is. This game was manufactured with four friends sitting around a couch playing together. On single player, there will be times where the game feels like it sucks, but when its player vs player, all hell breaks loose. Everyone will be laughing and yelling and having a great time-that same experience you get when playing other classic Nintendo party games like Mario Kart and Super Smash Brothers. The multiplayer is outrageously fun with teamwork being very helpful. Multiplayer really makes the game for the most part and is a delight to play. There is also a really good multiplayer for this title which is seldom in a wii game, and is definitely worth checking out.
‘Out-ed’ players in dodgeball can still attack players. If they successfully hit someone, they get back in the game!
Graphics and Audio
The graphics are bright colourful and full of charm, just as a Mario game should be and are beautiful by all standards. On the other hand though, it’s doesn’t look like the developers have made any attempt at improving the graphics from previous titles-it looks just like every other Mario game. This isn’t a bad thing however as Nintendo fans will know that the franchise’s cute and simple graphical design always looks great-just don’t expect anything new or different in this game. The stages though are very detailed and even more wonderful looking, a very impressive view. The soundtrack isn’t as memorable as most of Mario’s gaming moments, but it does have a couple of stand out tracks. They do set the mood well, but don’t expect to be singing along all the time.
Basketball is easily the highlight of Mario Sports Mix for one simple reason: It’s pretty damn fun to play!
Conclusion
Mario Sports Mix has alot of features which could’ve easily been expanded upon, which is a shame because if it was just a little bit deeper it could’ve made the game so much more fun. However all the faults of the game are very minor ones, and the pros definitely outweigh the cons. If your the type of player who is into realistic sport games or playing games alone, I do not recommend this title. But if you love party games and playing with friends and family, this title is definitely worth a buy, or at least a rent. Don’t get it twisted though-this is an awesome multiplayer party game. In fact, if it was on PS3 or Xbox 360 it’d easily be one of the best of the genre for the console and a must buy. However, Mario has a reputation to live up too when it comes to multiplayers, parties and sports and this one just doesn’t live up to the extremly high, almost unfair standards the loveable plumber has set for himself. Hopefully Mario Sports Mix is just the beginning of a new franchise as this title has shown so much potential, it just needs to fix up a few things. It is still a very good multiplayer game, especially during Dodgeball and Basketball that will surely entertain you and your mates for a while, and will easily provide a few good laughs, which is what all video games should be aiming for: a bloody good time!
Game on!
PROS
It’s a him! Mario!
Easy, simple, pick up and play gameplay with a well done tutorial
Great presentation
Awesome multiplayer
Decent online multiplayer
Cool items
Special moves
Epic stages/courts
Play as your Mii!
Unlockable Square Enix characters
CONS
Unbalanced difficulty
Some sports arn’t as great as others
Disappointing party mode/mini games
No replay options
Can feel repetitive at times
Soundtrack is good, but not as classic as a Mario game should be.
Unlocking characters four times each for each sport can be a chore.
Two Worlds II Publisher: SouthPeak Games Developers: Topware Interactive, Reality Pump Platforms: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, PC Release Date: January 25, 2011 Price: $59.99 (360, PS3) $49.99 (PC) US, $99.99 (360, PS3) $79.99 (PC) AUS
Overview:
The name Two Worlds can bring many different thoughts to the mind of the gaming community. Many of these thoughts are quite negative as unfortunately the first Two Worlds game was very poorly received. One thing was clear though when it was released however, there were the makings of a great game inside of Two Worlds. Now three years have passed and Two Worlds II has been released worldwide, will it shake off the stigma of the first Two Worlds?
Story:
It has been five years since the ending of Two Worlds and plenty of things have went wrong in the world of Two Worlds. First the main enemy Gandohar has succeeded in his conquest of Antaloor. He is now the Emperor of Antaloor and has captured both the main character and his sister Kira. Also Gandohar has used his new found power to wipe out nearly every member of the Orc race.
It turns out that the only reason that you are still alive is that your life force is being used to keep your sister Kira alive. Kira, the magical vessel of the god Aziraal, is under the complete control of Gandohar, whom uses her ability to tap the god’s powers to rule his kingdom. But the survivors of the Orcish genocide are not ready to sit by and let Gandohar rule unopposed. A small band of orcish survivors break into the castle and free your character, escaping to a far off island outside of Gandohar’s evil reach.
So begins your journey to save Kira from Gandohar. Spanning across many hours of play time the story may not be the most intriguing at first, but it slowly develops to an interesting tale. Prior knowledge of the Two Worlds story is not required as most of the backstory is elaborated upon within the first hour of gameplay. While this is the main storyline of the game there is so much variety within the side quests that they are definitely worth exploring as well. There are separate guild quest lines to follow as well which span many different side quests and hours of enjoy ability. It is worth mentioning that the side quests themselves can sometimes be very intriguing and are worth taking notice of, even for those who usually like to stick to the main storyline.
Graphics:
Two Worlds II sports amazing graphic prowess as far as the environment around the player goes. There are many games that can claim that their graphics are good but it takes delivery to actually pull off an amazing looking environment. One of the best moments in Two Worlds II that I experienced graphically wise was exploring a beach during the night time and looking out over the ocean to see not only the waves lit by the moonlight, but the moonlight itself reflecting off the water and creating a bridge of light leading off into the horizon.
Your torch or enchanted weaponry flickers light off of the area around you and running across the fields through fields of flowers or even in the darkest caves you will be amazed at the environment. Unfortunately however for all of the care that was obviously given to the environment, character animations and designs are quite lacking.
Unfortunately the characters themselves are not very impressive to look at and the way that the characters move around is very strange. One of the most noticeably awkward moments of character movement is when you have your character sprinting around for example. Although the armor does look very intricate and the ability to change the color of some equipment is a nice touch, the character wearing the armor will leave most players wishing they were better handled. Another noticeable error in character animation is the fact that enemies will often not respond to fighting actions well, there are times that players will be in the midst of battle against enemies who seem to constantly block their strikes, but make no actual motion for stopping the onslaught of attacks.
Audio:
The music that you will hear through most of your time playing through Two Worlds II is created by Borislav Slavov, otherwise known as Glorian, and it is obvious from the start of the game that this veteran composer has brought his A game when it comes to music. The music fits perfectly with the environment that the player is placed in and the whole world itself. There is of course your standard medieval RPG type music but that only helps to make the game all the much better.
The same cannot be said for the voice work however. The voice work is not the best that you will hear and there are many times that the characters in the game sound either completely emotionless or like they do not know what emotion they are meant to be feeling at the time they are talking. This is even worse considering the fact that NPCs in town often repeat the same words often and may I say that if you are spending a lot of time near a handful of vendors, mute your TV or else you will hear the same voice clips of the vendors acting as if they were actors in a commercial. There are times that the dialogue and voice work was laughably bad, and one time the game itself actually took a jab at itself which begs the question. Is the voice work as bad as it is to make a joke? Possibly yes, but regardless of that fact it is quite bad.
Gameplay:
Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat. Two Worlds II is a massive game. The world itself is quite massive and with plenty of different sidequests the game can easily eat up over 50+ hours of game time without seeing the end of the story. To put the size of the map into perspective there are a number of different ways to get around. There is your standard walking of course, and you also are able to ride a horse around. There is also a teleport system which allows the player to warp from anywhere outside to any previously found teleporter on the world map. Keep in mind however that your horse does not teleport with you, nor are you able to call it from long distances.
Also worth taking note is the fact that there is a boat system as well. This system allows players to use a boat to navigate the open seas. This boat mechanic is worth mentioning considering the fact that it actually requires players to use wind currents to steer their boat rather than simply be able to drive it as they like. While this may mean that taking your boat is obviously harder and more complicated, the real to life implementation is something that amazed me. Plus with the previously mentioned environmental graphics it is worth at least one ride around an island.
Two Worlds II is at its very heart a 3rd person RPG and this element translates surprisingly well into the combat mechanic which is unique enough itself. Players fight in real time against opponents and can approach battle in a number of different ways. You can play as a sword wielding powerhouse that can tear through enemies, a master of spells that controls the elements of nature, an arrow slinging bow user, a stealthy assassin who makes use of various traps, or a number of different combinations between all of these.
The reason for the ability to combine different fighting strategies is the fact that Two Worlds II gives players the chance to assemble three different equipment sets. Meaning that players can assemble equipment for each class, feel that the enemies are growing to close for comfort when you are shooting at them? One press of the D-pad can switch your gear to dual swords, axes, maces, or even a two-handed monstrosity to tear into enemies. The ability to switch on the fly is extremely satisfying and is a welcome feature.
But where exactly will you be getting all of your different weapons? That is where Two Worlds II weapon crafting system comes into play. You may not be able to create new weapons from scratch but you are able to break down any gear that you come across into its rudimentary parts. Meaning a shield can be taken apart to pieces of wood, metal, and leather. These parts are then used to upgrade your weaponry as long as you have your metallurgy skill high enough.
Along the same lines as weapon crafting, the alchemy system is very simple to use. Players will come across many different alchemic ingredients on the field and from different enemies. These ingredients can then be combined with a single press of the Y button on both items. There are countless different combinations that you can use, and a higher alchemic skill will allow players to create potions with more effects. Also players can save these combinations into your inventory, allowing for easy creation at the tap of the Y button again. Unfortunately these recipes do not stack on each other and players may soon find their alchemy inventory full of recipes that they no longer need, or have the ingredients for.
Magic is perhaps one of the most unique aspects of Two Worlds II, as players have the ability to create any spell combination at their leisure. These spells all feature different targets, elements, and even modifiers to change their effect. There are countless spell combinations and it will be a challenge to find the most creative spell that players can create considering the amount of options they have at their disposal.
There are a couple of minigames within Two Worlds II that also play a part to gathering all the different items you may need for said alchemy, metallurgy, and spell slinging. These are lockpicking and pickpocketing. Lockpicking is actually very well done; players must press RT at the right moment to trip the tumblers on the lock. These can be difficult but are perhaps the most interactive lock picking experience I’ve seen in quite some time. The same cannot be said for pickpocketing however. To successfully pickpocket a target the player must press RT at the opening in three different spinning snakes. Unfortunately this mode is very luck based and there are times that the players hand will be able to pass right through all of the snakes’ heads to steal an object, if they are lucky.
If there is any negative to the actual gameplay it is the fact that there is a very steep difficulty curve at the beginning of the game. There is absolutely zero notifications whether or not an enemy will be stronger than your character until you are dead on the floor. There are a number of different enemies that you will encounter that can rip your character apart at low levels, but are able to be discovered early on in the game. Quests are also similar to this in regards of difficulty. There is no notification of the difficulty of quests and players may venture a long distance only to find that their objective is something that clearly overshadows them in power.
Multiplayer:
Surprisingly even with such an extravagant single player mode; Two Worlds II comes with a well fleshed out multiplayer mode as well. First of all players will be able to make a character from scratch, they can pick their gender, their race, and all of the different customizations the main story didn’t have. Also they can make a number of different characters considering all characters are unique from one another in regards to level and equipment.
Multiplayer will then branch off into your standard competitive modes; such as deathmatch and duels of the like. But there is also an extensive co-op campaign that will allow players to join with 7 others to experience the entirely separate campaign. This campaign features many different areas and is quite entertaining considering the fact that players are able to experience grand battles with other combatants lending them a hand.
Overall:
Two Worlds II rises from the ashes of Two Worlds I and provides not only an amazing gameplay experience, but a lengthy one as well. There is just so much to be had in the game that players can easily find themselves performing countless side quests without even venturing near the main storyline. The areas that you will be able to explore and witness are breathtaking to see, and if you can forgive the poor voice work and the lackluster character motions there is an amazing RPG to be had.
