Two Worlds II Previews

If you've been on the lookout for more hands-on previews of Two Worlds II, I have a couple of links just for you.

411mania kicks things off:
You can also combine existing spells to make new spells with new names. For example, combining an ice spell and a number modifier will increase the number of times the ice spell will deal damage. If you add another modifier, the ice spell can do other things, like bounce off the ground or walls and keep dealing damage.

To give you an idea of how intricate AND personal the customization can get, SouthPeak's Aubrey Norris was telling me about a spell she made in Two Worlds II, the name of which I will withhold for now. This spell involves summoning a wind shield, where tornadoes protect the character and attack the enemy. At the same time, the spell also summons debris onto the battlefield. By walking into the debris, it gets caught in the tornado and does additional damage to whoever it hits. When you KILL the enemy, the corpse and it's weapons and armor get swept up in the tornado and also damage whatever else is in the vicinity, ensuring that the tornado will always pack an extra punch and won't die out. Aubrey calls her spell "The Sh1tstorm," and yes, the game WILL let you name it that.

And Review Fix follows close behind:
With all the polishing the developers have done on this game, it's easy to forget about the graphical engine, which has been beefed up as well. With better animations and backgrounds, (Two Worlds II) has more than just a new coat of paint. Walking and running around the towns and environments and watching people look at you and animals interact with you, it's easy to completely be sucked into this beautiful world. In some of the levels shown, the lighting and water effects were simply astounding and go a long way in showing how much work has gone into this title thus far. Because of this, it's easy to say that this is one of the better looking games on the Xbox 360.

After so much polish to the graphics and core gameplay alone, the developers could have easily called it a day and got the game ready for distribution, as that would have been more than enough work for a decent sequel. Knowing that, it's nice to see that the weapon and spell design element of the game has also been rounded out and fleshed out further, giving gamers even more control over the weapons they make and spells they conjure, (Two Worlds II) may end up being the new standard bearer for RPGs on the 360.