Two Worlds isn't quite a hit from out of nowhere, but it is compared to many other recent best selling titles. The game's developer, Reality Pump, hadn't even released a game on a console before this one and was probably best known for Earth 2160, an RTS title. Combine that with relatively unknown publisher SouthPeak Games and the game's success seems curious.

Still, there are factors that worked in favor of Two Worlds. Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion really whet people's appetites for open-ended RPGs on the 360, and with most fans having likely finished every quest in that game by now, there's been little to fill that void. Serendipitous timing should never be over looked – that and positive word of mouth may have carried the game to unexpected heights.

Enough gold for Two Worlds
According to the ELSPA, Two Worlds has spent a whole month in the U.K.'s top 10 chart for the Xbox 360. This has made it SouthPeak Games' biggest hit to date on the next-generation console, and has left them scrambling to get more copies on shelves.

"Two Worlds has taken the Xbox 360 world by storm," said Melanie Mroz, Executive Vice President, SouthPeak Games. "To say we're ecstatic with how the title has performed in the U.K. is an absolute understatement. Its success is down to a combination of factors - right time, right format, right publisher - but most importantly it's a cracking game which has sated the desire of Xbox 360's avid role-players. This is just the start of our plans for Two Worlds - we'll be announcing more good news shortly."

Two Worlds has also been a moderate hit here in the U.S. according to the NPD. Along with appearing on the top 10 PC game chart, the game was also the third best Xbox 360 title for the month of August, behind only Madden 08 and BioShock. Two Worlds sold over 100,000 copies total and was the fourteenth best selling title for the August period.

Hey, I've heard it's like Oblivion...
Two Worlds is, before anything else, an RPG of the classic PC gaming mold. The primary byproduct of this is non-linear gameplay wherein players can choose to pursue the main quest of finding the lost tomb of the Orc god Aziraal and rescuing your kidnapped sister or just exploring the game world. This open-world style RPG is not unlike The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and no doubt benefited from the comparison.

Another similarity can be found in the game's character development system. Two Worlds has a very open system, allowing players to increase their vital stats like Strength and Willpower and gain skills like Berserking, Lockpicking and Precise Aiming to make a hulking warrior, a powerful mage or something in between. Similar to Oblivion, there are no limits to what players can potentially learn.

A poor man's Oblivion?

These constant references to Oblivion are both beneficial and damning. On the one hand, they obviously help in that they are an easy comparison to a hit title which probably drew in many 360 owners who were hungry for another game with the scope of Elder Scrolls IV (especially given the dearth of RPGs on the system). On the other hand, the critical consensus seems to be that Two Worlds is significantly inferior to Oblivion, with the 360 version averaging under 50% on GameRankings.com and the PC version only managing a 65%.

"While the first half-hour of Two Worlds doesn't make a great first impression, the experience gets exponentially better over time," said Eli Shayotovich in GameDaily's review of Two Worlds. "It won't make you forget Oblivion, but that's not its purpose. What this very ambitious and solid RPG does is create an epic adventure that provides hours of entrainment, and any game you can say that about is worth its weight in gold."

Riding a dark horse
Sure, Two Worlds can be compared (in most cases unfavorably) to Oblivion, but there's one feature it has that Elder Scrolls IV does not: online play. The PC version has a mode to play the game cooperatively with other players and an arena mode to fight one-on-one. Unfortunately, the multiplayer mode is crippled on Xbox 360, which is unfortunate, since players would no doubt jump at the ability to play through the full game co-op with others via Xbox Live.

Maybe the most interesting part of Two Worlds' success was the ad campaign, or lack thereof. That isn't to say that SouthPeak didn't try to create a stir, but the game just wasn't as high profile as compared to Madden, BioShock, Metroid Prime 3 or practically anything else in the NPD top 20 for August. Two Worlds is a true testament to the power of word of mouth and how positive buzz can overcome a low retail profile.

Ultimately, the success of the game is a very good sign for Polish developer Reality Pump. Their first foray into consoles was something of a shaky one (the 360 version of Two Worlds is buggier with fewer features than the PC version) but ultimately successful. Maybe a sequel could address some of the lingering issues of Two Worlds, and who knows, perhaps Two Worlds 2 will rival Oblivion in quality.