TopWare posts

The fantasy RPG sequel Two Worlds II, released in parts of Europe in 2010 and finally released in the US earlier this year, has apparently been a success for its publisher Topware with sales of 2.5 million copies worldwide. Now Topware has announced plans to release an expansion pack for the game, Two Worlds II Pirates of the Flying Fortress.

The expansion will feature the player entering a, natch, pirate themed world. It will feature "dozens of new weapons, impact-oriented horse armor, totally new breeds, fresh boss opponents" and more. Look for the expansion pack, which will have new multiplayer maps as well, to be released this September.

While the PC port of the fantasy RPG Two Worlds II has been on sale for the past several weeks via digital download sites, the retail Royal Version of the game has been greatly delayed. Today the game's US co-publisher TopWare announced that limited quanities of the Royal Edition are now available at GameStop.

The $79.99 edition, which has both PC and Mac builds of the game, includes a number of extras including an art book, a Dragon Queen statuette, a deck of playing cards, a mouse pad, a map of the game's land as a poster, five codes for exclusive in-game items, and a bonus DVD with music tracks, trailers for the game and a special trial version of the upcoming game Battle Vs Chess.

Two Worlds II was released via download to US PC owners earlier this month but there's been a bit of a blow up about the reviews for the fantasy RPG sequel. According to the Beefjack web site, it received word from an unnamed UK-based journalist that its 5 (out of 10) review of the game was called out by the game's publisher TopWare as "insulting" and that unless the review was raised up to 7 it would be blacklisted from future TopWare products.

TopWare has responded to the allegations with an unnamed PR rep saying that its beef with the review was not with the score itself but that the journalist said that 5 out of 10 was an "average" score for a game. The rep stated, "The rest of the world on a grading system would consider a 5 a failure and that is our only concern. That the site's review of the game is their opinion, but that their scoring system is, in our opinion, flawed." It flat out denied that the reviewer had been asked to change its score and also denied any blacklisting threats.

Destructoid has picked up the story and the story's comments feature several by TopWare's US marketing head James Seaman. He states, "The actual person from the site in question has actually written me in an email that this is over and that we will all move in a positive direction." He adds, "My team needs to take a step back as the UK has been pretty harsh on our game, but such is life. I will make sure that nothing like this ever happens again, but some of my guys have put their heart and soul into this game and just need to take a step back."

In other comments, Seaman confirmed that a new game in the Two Worlds series is in the works and will be released in 2012. He also states that the retail PC version of the game will ship to stores to the US sometime next month.

The fantasy RPG sequel Two Worlds II has been released in parts of Europe for a while now but it will finally be released in the US soon. The game was originally set for release this week but today its co-publisher Topware announced it will finally be released in the US on February 4.

In the same press release, Topware announced that a limited Royal Edition of the game is now available for pre-order. The PC/Mac Royal Edition is apparently only accessible at Amazon.com where it shows only two copies are avaialble. The $79.99 Royal Edition includes the Reality Pump-developed game along with extras like a Dragon Queen statuette, a behind-the-scenes DVD, a double sided poster with a map of the game's fantasy world, an exclusive art book, playig cards and exclusive in-game weapons and items.

While Two Worlds II has yet to be released here in the US, folks in Europe who have already bought the Reality Pump-developed fantasy RPG can now download files that will add native Mac support for people who purchased the Royal and Premium Edition of the game.

Owners of the game will have to put in the game's serial number and the included bonus code in order to download the Mac game files. The PC version must be in the PC's disk drive during the installation of the Mac files. The Mac retail version goes on sale on January 25 which is also the date that the game is released in the US.

Gallery: Two Worlds II

Publisher Southpeak Games is likely expecting big sales from Two Worlds II, the sequel to the fantasy RPG from developer Reality Pump. Today the company announced a pre-order offer for those folks who want to put down their money for the game early at retailer GameStop before its schedule release in September.

The pre-order offer will include adding a special in-game item, the two-sided sword Luciendar, to the game that will give players an increase in their resistance skills. Pre-orders will also get an extra level to explore, the Labyrinths of Hatmandor, where players will get to go "in search of exquisite treasures."

While it perhaps didn't get a lot of solid critical notices, the fantasy RPG Two Worlds sold well enough for developer Reality Pump to commission a sequel. Today publisher Southpeak Interactive announced plans to release Two Worlds II on September 14 in the US. UK resident will get the game on September 17.

The press release announcing the release date touts the sequel's improved graphical features, using terms like "Real Eye Adaptation, HD Dynamic Motion Capture, and Multi-Source Dynamic Lighting." Of course we are curious as to how the actual gameplay has been changed for the better. We certainly hope that's the case.

It's certainly one of the more interesting game titles we have heard in a while. Battle Vs Chess? Seriously, we didn't know that "Battle" was some kind of noun. Yet that's the name that developer Zuxxez and publisher Topware are giving this mix of turn-based strategy and action.

Due out this May for the PC, Mac and other platforms, the game is supposed to use some kind of authentic chess algorithm as its basis. But as you can see from the screenshot above the game is also looking much different than your normal chess program. The press release announcing the game touts its many different playing environments along with some unnamed special gameplay modes and bonuses. We hope it's as least as fun as that cool Star Wars holographic chess board on board the Millennium Falcon.

Sometimes you just need to sit down, slide a floppy into your A: drive, and enjoy gaming retro style. We know this all too well! That's why we have a list of the best and brightest from days long gone. These are some of our favorite games of all time, and we're sure that you'll love them as much as we do, if not more. Welcome to Boot Disk, and enjoy the retro ride!

The strategy genre has always been a rather convoluted one, especially has time has gone on. Even the sub-genres are complex, with real-time strategy having so many offshots (squad real-time strategy, real-time tactics, business simulations etc) that each is considered their own genre as well. Then there are games like Earth 2150. These games epitomize everything we know about the real-time strategy genre, such as base building and resource management, but then throw a curveball by introducing unit design, multiple planes of warfare, and large-scale campaigns. There's a demo to try out, and you really should give it a play, because it's one of the better RTS games despite its age.

Today is the first day of the classic Advent calendar as people count down the days until December 25. We heard on that day folks give and receive some kind of gifts but that's just a rumor (hehe). Anyway, the upcoming fantasy RPG sequel Two Worlds 2 II has posted up their own version of an Advent calendar on the game's official web site where apparently Christmas is celebrated with a creepy goth-like lady with long legs.

Naturally this is no ordinary calendar. The game's developers at Reality Pump Studios have put in questions to answer about the game every day. Answer the question correctly and you will be entered into a daily drawing for prizes. Answer every question every day and you will be entered into the grand prize drawing where a gaming PC can be yours if you win. Seems fun and educational.