The Witcher

**This review is based on the Enhanced Edition and will not touch on the bugs and localization issues that plagued the initial release as they have been fixed for the most part**

CD Projekt's The Witcher is a welcome novelty for RPG fans trying to wean off years of the Forgotten Realms franchise. Its world is an adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski's cult classic Witcher fantasy novels, and the result is an excellent tribute to the source material. It draws on the bestiary in the books (most notably the striga), and even mirrors the series' take on morality as an issue that isn't easily polarised. This sets the tone for an incredibly deep gaming experience that is very well written and surprisingly mature.

The protagonist is Geralt, a legendary witcher (medieval Polish monster slayer for hire) who in addition to having to nurse a bout of amnesia, has to fend off marauding sorcerors (the Salamandra) from invading his guild's castle. The aftermath of this is a quest to recover stolen artifacts and to save the world from impending doom. As you journey through Temeria, hunting a great manner of beasts for coin to further you in your quest, it becomes apparent that perhaps the most heinous creature in the game is man at his worst. This is driven home by the stellar NPCs (a misogynistic priest, a seemingly valiant guard who turns out to be a rapist, a repeatedly-victimised witch who delves into voodoo to further her own goals, etc), and you'll find yourself wondering whether these humans are really worth your help. The elves and dwarves aren't spared this taint, as the nonhuman alliance starts to take a decidedly terrorist route to further their goals of self-determination during the middle of the game. All these gray areas therefore make the nature of Geralt's moral quagmires very much like the ones you'd face in life. Furthermore, these decisions will culminate in the finale (from what you tell a child in the game, to whether you torched that village of hicks) and have a very real impact on your gameplay.

All this maturity would have little to count for if the gameplay wasn't compelling, and it certainly is. Geralt can choose to invest talent points in swordplay, signs (spells), and his abilities in the steel (anti-human) and silver (anti-monster) fighting styles. The playing style varies dramatically if you choose a mystic or combat-oriented talent tree, warranting a second playthrough. The swordplay is gracefully done (the developers hired actual fencers for its combat motion capturing), and combos are done by timing your left mouse clicks to on-screen prompts. You can also choose to use sign spells with the right click. While this may sound gimmicky, it actually works and results in combat that is more involved in your average CRPG. Another interesting addition is the ability to brew your own potions and bombs. This is a nice touch, and you'll find yourself relying on tthem to gain buffs and powers towards the tail-end of the experience.

The art direction is in the same vein as the dystopian novels. The skies are gloomy, people live in squalor and ramshackle huts, fiends plague the streets, and even your protagonist is a depressing, reticent albino. The graphics are quite well done, and I'm quite surprised this was based on Neverwinter Nights' Aurora engine. The sound effects are done well; the singing of your blade as you rack up the combo hits is especially satisfying, and the way your enemies cry out as your blade cuts through gives the impression that you're dishing out some major hurt. The music has a habit of tensing it up during key moments, but it's a given for a game drawing from a horror fantasy novel. The voice acting and dialogue is a bit hit-and-miss; it was definitely disconcerting to carefully investigate a crime and go through some well-written dialogue, only to walk down the street and hear a fat guy graciously inform me that he "fucked a she-elf once". It was also weird to have Geralt speak curtly throughout the game, and later hear him exclaim "Abso-fucking-lutely".

The one area that makes The Witcher fall short of being truly great is how it immaturely handles sexual relationships. Considering how artfully the rest of the game was handled, it was extremely disappointing how bringing a princess a slab of meat suddenly led to me getting horizontal with her. This tastelessness is further compounded by awarding you a nude card of the woman you just slept with. So no, there isn't any witty romancing of coquettish, mild-mannered dames in this game.

The Enhanced Edition features brand new content that seems very rushed and doesn't do much to extend the replay value of the game. The two extra campaigns are brisk and feature no voice acting, so I felt a bit short-changed there.

Despite this, The Witcher is a well made CRPG that sucks you in and will impress you with its gritty take on medieval RPGs. If you wanted the action of the Diablo games to be married with the complexity and dialogue of the BioWare and Black Isle games, then this is for you. The decisions to be made in this game will leave you stumped as you try to make out the lesser evil in each of the scenarios, and you'll love parrying and pirouetting around mobs of foes as you lunge and kickflip them to death. The way it handles sex is almost funny, but it's such a small part of the game that it's easy to forgive.