Two Worlds "meatier" than Oblivion

Zuxxez big cheese Dirk Hassinger believes Two Worlds is a more complex and in-depth game than main rival Oblivion.

He told Eurogamer in an exclusive interview that despite obvious similarities between the two titles, his has much more going on under the surface, and has improved upon Bethesda's creation in nearly every area.

"Two Worlds may seem to be in the Oblivion template, but the two games are very different once you get beyond the surface," Hassinger told Eurogamer. "Two Worlds offers a more focused, grittier experience and a lot of correlating features are deeper in Two Worlds."

"Our inventory system is smarter, our magic system is much more complex and even the way we handle horses has more depth. Beyond those game mechanics, we have a much more complex society, with many more factions working within it. On top of that, our overarching storyline is a touch darker and more involved. That's not to say that Oblivion is a worse game, just that Two Worlds has more 'meat'."

Two Worlds is a free-roaming and sprawling role-playing game that preaches freedom of choice in your actions. If you wanted to nudge a horse over a cliff-edge rather than save the world, then so be it. But this has also lead to the inevitable comparisons with Bethesda's chart-topping title.

However, Dirk Hassinger has some tricks up his sleeve. Alongside mounted combat and a unique item creation process sits an MMO-style multiplayer mode; Hassinger's icing on the cake.

"The multiplayer mode is going to be really special, both on PC and 360. We're going to implement two distinct modes. One will involve a hub area where players can form teams, chat, trade and set off on instanced mini-quests," said Hassinger.

"The other mode will be a straight PvP arena, although we're overflowing with ideas on how to innovate the competitive side of things. Horse races, complete with an in-game gambling system for observers, are something we've already mentioned, but the rest will have to stay under our hats for now.

"No one's ever tried to bring the free-roaming, single-player RPG together with a fully-featured multiplayer mode before, although that's more pioneering through ambition than through innovation."

Two Worlds is being created by Polish developer Reality Pump. It's already out in Germany, and is expected in the rest of Europe on 3rd August. SouthPeak will be publishing the game here rather than Zuxxez.

We recently had a chance to play the game for ourselves, and found it to be a compelling experience sure to whittle away at our free time. Head over to our first impressions of Two Worlds for more information.

The full interview with Dirk Hassinger will be on Eurogamer later this week.