Publisher: SouthPeak Games
Developer: Reality Pump
System: Xbox 360
Genre: RPG
Release date: Available now
Review by: Michele White

All seems peaceful as you leave the sounds of your most recent battle far behind. You and your twin sister quickly make your escape through the rain. You’re safe — until the little twit manages to fall from her horse. She apparently got wounded and failed to mention that little detail. Oh well, time to hoof it and see if there’s a healing potion or an herbalist to be found. That nearby cave looks pretty good, so off you go. The baddies are far behind, and in this weather? No one is likely to follow. Still, the damn girl manages to get herself kidnapped! What’s a good brother and mercenary to do? Find your sister, and strangle her before the bad guys do.

Two Worlds boasts that it’ll give the RPG junkie a new outlet for their addiction that rivals Oblivion. The game is certainly large enough, and initially the story line appears promising enough to bring this about. The world is foreign, and seems to be a mix of the dice- and card-based RPGs of games past, adapted for console play. Just looking at the packaging made me itch to play the game. Then, disappointment struck. Unlike most games of this type, you have one, AND ONLY ONE, option. All characters in offline play are male mercenaries. Okay, I can deal. It’s not like I’ve never played a dude before, and I’ve never been much for the spell-casters anyway, so mercenary it is. The main storyline is straightforward enough — rescue the damsel, so off I go. But wait, where do I go?

The biggest drawback is the map. You can’t read it, and I’m playing on a 52″ screen. I shudder to think of what it looks like on 20 inches or less. The manual…read the manual. It contains interesting information on how to create weapons and potions, how to increase the strength of personal items, how to increase and obtain new skills, but as far as map reading — nothing.

Wander around, experiment with your abilities and figure out how to use your deck of cards. Participate in the numerous and often monotonous fetch quests, and you might get closer to your goal. Revel at the knowledge that you can never die. When hit points reach 0, you’ll be instantly resurrected nearby. Rescue your twin and all will be right with the world. It takes about five hours to become comfortable operating in this unique gaming environment, and while it isn’t a bad way to spend an afternoon, I kept getting the feeling that the designers were in a hurry to reach market and produced something that fell short of even their own expectations. Two Worlds could’ve been so much more than it is.