Two Worlds II Multiplayer Preview

GameInformer brings us this two-page preview that outlines how the cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes work in Reality Pump's Two Worlds II. A generous sampling:
You can from a group of any size between two to eight players to play through a seven-chapter co-op quest that, once again, is completely separate from the single-player game new quests, characters, and lands form this healthy addition to the overall Two Worlds II content.

I joined a group of Southpeak and Topware representatives to form a group of six for a quick foray through the first chapter of co-op. My fresh character began at level one, as did a few of my partners, but several level five and six characters joined us as well. As it turned out, this was more than enough manpower to fly through this level, crushing packs of wolves, the occasional stray bear, and some undead monstrosities along the way. The speed with which we destroyed all enemies meant I flew up several levels in the span of minutes.

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The biggest problem with deathmatch in Two Worlds II is that it's not really balanced and, given the wide range of character levels, equipment, skills, and spell choices available, it's probably not even possible to balance in any suitable manner. Because they're generally in more powerful armor, melee classes have a huge advantage over ranged characters.

In the first match I played, my team was made up of two magic-wielding characters and one with a sword, whereas the other team had three melee fighters. Characters move fast enough that kiting isn't a viable strategy, so the only way to succeed as a ranged class is if you have enough melee partners to keep you out of harm's way. Needless to say, we got destroyed. This wasn't helped by the map we were on, a small village setting that didn't provide many good hiding spots or vantage points. The next map I tried, a maze-like sewer, fared a bit better for mages, offering an upper level from which targets can be harassed and numerous passageways to dart down in an effort to escape.