Truly, A Diamond in the Rough.
First, this is a very good rpg. It will be unfairly under-rated by many reviewers because Oblivion came out first. And since everyone wants to compare the two I will follow suit, hopefully you will be surprised.
This is a hardcore rpg, not meant for new comers or casuals. Oblivion appealed to new comers because of its accessibility since if you chose to, you didn't have to do anything other than swing a sword. In Two Worlds the stat system, items, spells and pretty much everything else is much deeper and will be a turn off to those new rpg-ers (thus the early reviews).
The stat system is points based. There are two types of stats, I'll call one vitals (health, strength, dexterity and willpower/mana) and the other magic/skills (schools of magic, lock-picking, combat, archery, and many more). When you level up you get some points to apply to vitals and some points to apply to magic/skills all to your choosing. This way you are not locked into one skill set like Oblivion. By using this system you can truly create a character that you choose more along the lines of some classic rpgs.
There are tons of items to be found (no more empty chests, thanks Oblivion). Non-plot items are randomly generated throughout the game world and no more npc leveling. This means that you could go find the "Super Duper Sword" right at the beginning of the game, which also means that you would have to somehow figure out how to beat the "Super Duper Hard Enemy" that has the sword (no more level 50 wolves with 10,000 HPs, thanks again Oblivion). Another bonus is that all of the items look different, even enchanted items show off their power (gotta love the red glow of fire enchantment).
Magic is great in this game. All of the spells have different animations and look really cool. Fire will burn grass and small plants. And best of all, all of the spells are useful and effective.
The graphics are very nice to look at. The shadows are perfect and the day/night cycle is very nice, actually giving nighttime a very eerie feeling. The lightning is just amazing and will make you jump with the clap of thunder that follows. This game boasts HDR (high dynamic range) lighting, which is the lighting of choice for games these days. Though, I feel it is responsible for a few of the slow downs that this game experiences. It does hop a little while on horseback (Oblivion was much worse), and a few hops here and there while on foot. The game world is huge and full of life. The trees are much different in the low hills and valleys than the ones in the mountains. The groves also look much better and not like a bunch of randomly placed trees.
A few more things for the Oblivion comparison, no load times to enter cities, buildings, houses, etc. The only load times are while teleporting and entering underground areas and they are very short (look down and you will miss it). No more "superman jumps" those ridiculous leaps in Oblivion were so cheesy. Ok, Oblivion has much better voice acting but I give credit to Two Worlds for trying to spice it up ("It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring." - main character during...yep a rain storm and "Looks like my in-laws" - when zombies and ogres come into view). Music isn't bad but I was never a fan of the short repeating track on 50+ hour games anyway, I usually end up playing my own music (I heard someone complain about the start menu music, come on). Your decisions have much more lasting effect, rob or kill someone and the whole village will come after you and will never forget, meaning that if you go back expect the same hostility (you sometimes have an initial chance to pay a fine but if you don't, that's it). Yes some items are slow to render but they both had that. Best of all... No freezing!!
I am very interested in the multiplayer portion of this game but the servers were having issues that made it unplayable. Hopefully I will report on that in the future.
I recommend this game to hardcore rpg fans who aren't afraid to put a little effort into the experience. It is well rounded and much deeper than a previously mentioned title to which it will be compared relentlessly. While it does have some flaws (what game doesn't), I think it shines through those to provide a very enjoyable game experience.