Two Worlds

Two Worlds II... and a Half!

HIGH A huge amount of content for a game that deserved it.

LOW The chuggy combat and large number of fetchquests.

WTF Undead strip clubs. Transgender elves. Saltpetre.

I finally started playing Two Worlds II: Pirates of the Flying Fortress on Xbox 360.As you've probably guessed, it's a DLC add-on to Two Worlds II which released way back in January. I liked the core game quite a bit and this new chunk is basically more of the same. That's not a bad thing at all, but after nearly a year away from the original adventure, it feels like the window of opportunity has passed it by.

Redemption Song

HIGH One of the most surprising and substantial improvements in quality, ever.

LOW The major boss battles can be a little sketchy.

WTF So why is it called "Two Worlds"? I only see one here...

I was really hoping to finish the game and get my review up as close to the launch window as possible, but it's a pretty sizable title any way you slice it, and pursuing even a small number of the sidequests makes it even longer. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not complaining—I've definitely enjoyed all the time spent with it so far, it's just tough to balance playing quickly and playing thoroughly.

If you follow console games at all, it's pretty likely that you've heard of Two Worlds. Released in 2007 for PC and Xbox 360, it was quickly greeted as a colossal failure and one of the poorest pieces of software to hit retail at that time. The reviews were absolutely scathing, and the title quickly became a running joke in the industry—even a bit legendary, really.