Launching originally as a digital download only title and brought to you by developers with games such as Diablo, Diablo II and Mythos on their CV’s Torchlight has since gone on to find its way on to store shelves as a boxed product following its success. Further success is also expected within the coming weeks as a Mac version of the game has just been released to tie in with Steam’s support for Mac.

Torchlight is currently on sale on Steam for the bargain price of £7.49, a 50% saving.

Like any rational and intelligent person, I decided to form my own opinion rather than listening to the beliefs of someone who likely never played it beyond the first couple of hours, and so began my love affair with Antaloor. I can’t possibly deny that the game had its flaws, mainly because of how it had been ported from a PC release over to XBox 360 without any additional consideration given to the inventory system, but if you can look beyond the flaws and the poor voice acting (although I personally found all the Pseudo-Olde-English very entertaining), as one would do with any game, what you’re left with is a wonderful journey to a fantastic land featuring all manner of landscapes and creatures to pull you away from mundanity… if only for a hundred or so hours.

Imagine, then, my disappointment when the much anticipated “Temptation” DLC was put on hold indefinitely, and a release date seemed to edge further and further away with each passing moment. The reason for this delay eventually became clear, in that Reality Pump had taken “The Temptation” far beyond their original vision and it had now evolved into a fully fledged sequel. As expected, with so much negativity surrounding the original game, the cynics and haters are already out in force for Two Worlds II… but will it live up to the expecations of those of us who enjoyed Two Worlds or simply reinforce the hatred of those that didn’t? While other RPGs in recent years have failed to impress on the consoles due to over compressed textures, reduced polygons and a badly ported inventory system, the much talked about “GRACE” engine created by Reality Pump specifically for Two Worlds II allows game visuals to have a level playing field over PC, XBox 360, Playstation 3 and Mac. As well as the technological advances, with a storyline written by two acclaimed authors and a strong attention to detail with the voice acting, Two Worlds II is sure to have even the most sceptical of reviewers wondering what lies ahead.

Two Worlds 2 not only sees the return of weapon stacking feature from the original game, but the intoduction of the CRAFT system where you can deconstruct existing weaponry and armour, and create your own unique designs using pieces of existing items

We asked Joerg Schindler from Zuxxez what Two Worlds II had in store for those of us who enjoyed the original outing, and whether or not we’d expect to see the stacked weaponry from Two Worlds which allowed the player to combine similar weapons in order to boost the magical properties and damage points… “Of course we transferred all successful features from part one into Two Worlds II, and even expand them! For example the stacked weaponry. We implemented a CRAFT system which allows the player to destroy his weapons and upgrade other weapons with this material. It is much more balanced than the former stacking system. Two handed combat will also be available with totally new moves!”.

Set five years on from where Two Worlds left off, our hero is left weakened and will be starting from a blank canvas. While this may be a disappointment to those who have carried on their Mass Effect character to Mass Effect 2, it does mean that the player has the thrill of choosing a new path for their character and isn’t starting the game with a high level character. Our story continues with our hero imprisoned within the dungeons of Gandohar’s stronghold as a group of Orcs attempt to rescue him to help overthrow Gandohar before he can use the power within Kyra to overthrow and decimate Antaloor. Under the power of the Dragon Queen, the Orcs are now allied with the humans in a joint force to protect the world they know from Gandohar’s clutches.

In order to bring a new element to the Two Worlds universe, the Two Worlds II map covers an area of around 60 square km, almost four times the size of Oblivion’s 16 square km map, including areas of water which can be navigated by utilising the new sailing feature. The ability to travel the world on horseback has returned but, this time around, the game utilises the same motion capture technology that Ubisoft used for Assassin’s Creed for added realism and motion capture technology was also used in the combat system by using Polish and German Olympic sword fighters to establish realistic fighting movements. Another recent introduction is the ability to reverse engineer enchanted amulets to add other magical elements so a typical Necromancer spell can be re-engineered to also include a fireball attribute to further enhance the spellcasting.

As with the previous release, Two Worlds II offers a multiplayer experience including an RTS style build mode where you have the ability to create an entire village from scratch, manage all resources, and recruit other players from your friends list to fight alongside you. You also have the ability to create your own PvP weapons to help defend your village and the residents from attacking enemies. The multiplayer modes will introduce battle scenarios which require a certain number of players to defeat the oncoming attacks and, should you choose not to defend your village, the population will decrement and your ability to produce resources will be hindered.

Royal Edition

Premium Edition

At the moment, the actual release date of Two Worlds II is still speculative, cited as being sometime between June and September 2010. What we do know, thanks to Joerg Schindler, is what we can expect from the European releases. “We will release three versions in the European Market, including some special editions! The showpiece of the Two Worlds II triumvirate is the Royal Bundle. It has a 25cm tall, beautifully worked model of the Dragon Queen in the box. You’ll also get a 64 page art book, a bonus DVD, a 55 card game, three exclusive in-game items plus an exclusive quest, a mousemat (PC version) and the game itself, PLUS a user manual and double sided poster with a map of the world of Antaloor! The second special edition jewel is the Premium Edition, including the the Dragon mega pin (1.6in x 1.6in) in the box including a genuine Swarovski crystal in its beautifully handcrafted finish. This version also has the 55 card game, a soundtrack CD, an exclusive in-game item and the game itself, including a user manual and the double sided poster size map of Antaloor. Last, but definitely not least, gamer purists can buy the Standard Edition of “Two Worlds II”, including the user manual and the double sided poster map of Antaloor.”

At this stage all we can do is wait but, if the screenshots and previews are anything to go by, Two Worlds II will be worth waiting for.