Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Almost, but not quite"

Gameplay: 2W2 has a good amount of weapons, armors, and spells. There is a relatively simple, yet realistic customization method. I found myself always on the lookout for new items in the shops and at the merchants scaterred throughout. Combat is smooth and involves a variety of skills, but it can get boring quickly, especially the minor enemies. The quests are scaterred and disjointed and often seem like a pain rather than an adventure (unlike Oblivion.) The main character and NPC's are dull and boring. Whereas Oblvion made ach and every character a part of the story through their names and unique personalities, everyone in 2W2 seems to be the exact same to the point where someone will mention a name and I have no idea who that person is. 7/10

Visuals: Although I thought the landscape was one of the bet I've seen in a game, with moving grass and realistic trees, the characters certainly aren't. The NPCs seem like faceless robots skulking around rather than real people. This put a damper on the realism of the game. The enemies aren't much better, although I did like the cut scenes and the sneak dagger attacks. By far and away, the worst part of the game for me was the inventory screen. Certain fonts are red, other fonts are white (on a clear background.) The result is a horrible mixture of not being able to see certain stats for weapons or how much of an item you have. There are also very limited customization features for the main character, I didn't like how there were only 10 haircuts, 8 of which had pony tails (like comic book guy from the Simpsons.) 6/10


Story: The story is predictable, unimaginative and poorly executed. It reminded me of the mess that was Sacred 2, although I suspect that this is because both are European developers. Nevertheless, sometimes taking a safe route is the best way to go. You can't beat a classic, and this story looks like it "borrowed" a lot from the Lord Of the Rings series...which is never a bad thing. 7/10

Sound: The sound is pretty standard, where the music goes with the scenery and the situation. I found the musical scores very fitting for the style of town that I was in. There was also a nice mix of city and country noises as the situaion demanded which added to the realism of the game. This included minstrels playing music on the streets and merchants shouting out trying to attract customers. The voice acting was a pure miss thought. 8/10

Extras: Horse racing, town building, house owning, arena fighting, armor painting, dice rolling, sneak attacking...all done exceptionally well. 9/10

Overall: It lacks the story of Final Fantasy, or the fluid gameplay of Oblivion, but it is what it is. A safe, enjoyable RPG that is certainly worth buying. It certainly has its flaws, but that shouldnlt keep anyone from enjoying this one.