WITCHER 2 = AWESOME
Witcher 2 was the only PC only game that I really regret I couldn’t play. Sure the CD Projekt RED hinted on the possibility of making the console version but it was nothing concrete. I could only listen to my friends as they praise the game. Now that the game is finally out on XBOX 360 I can tell that my friend weren’t just teasing me. In short, the game is a great RPG from a talented team that all polish gamers can be proud of. But what’s so great about it? First of all:
STORY
This is the most important aspect of the RPG game and Witcher 2 delivers on that front. The game puts you in shoes of a professional monster hunter/long haired badass named Geralt, involved in a political intrigue involving a mystery king slayer. At the start of the game Witcher 2 is assisting the king Foltest in his attempt to free his bastard children held by the rebels. During the attack the king slayer manages to kill the king and escape. Geralt is present during the assassination and fails to stop it, in turn he’s being deemed an assassin and arrested. During the course of the game Geralt must track the mysterious Assassin of Kings and clear his name.
The premise while not especially complicated is told in such a interesting and mature way that it really grabs you from the start. It was a long time since the story in a video game really pulled me in such as this one. The dynamic between Geralt and the king slayer is what kept me interested to the very end. I wanted to know who the Assassin of Kings is and what is the reason for all the assassination. On top of main story there is also a large number of sub-quests. Those can be a simple bounty missions (destroy monsters nests) as well as a short, self contained stories, most of which player can resolve in a number of ways. That brings us to choices, another element that Witcher 2 nails. Most of the time when the game gives a player a choice, the player decision really matters. In case of the main quest some decision can totally alter world around you What is more, those are not simple black and white choices. They all grey and they really make the player to follow his intuition or even his moral code rather then thinking “ok, I want be bad so I choose B”.
All of those things would make Witcher 2 special even if the rest of the game was bad, fortunately it isn’t, and that’s thanks to great…
COMBAT
Let’s get one thing out of the way first, if you are a fan or an old-school point-click-and wait for the attack animation to play out combat, you may not like the combat in this game. The tactical part of the combat like equipping an appropriate weapon, drinking potions that enhance resistances and using a appropriate skill at the appropriate time is a big part of the combat system and really contributes to your success. But at the same time dodging, attacking from behind and quickly switching between different spells (signs) is equally important. One wrong move and your back at your last save point. This is especially true on difficulty levels Normal and above. Frankly speaking, the game is hard but fair. When I died it was never because I had not leveled up enough or because of some cheap AI tricks, it was always because I did something stupid or not dodged in time. That makes each victory feel very satisfying.
Geralt has wide area of moves, skills and spells at his disposal and you really must make the most of his arsenal to win. The basic weapon is of course the sword, steel sword is used while fighting with human enemies and silver sword is for fighting monsters. You can use one sword at the time and he can preform heavy and light attacks. By mixing heavy and light attacks player can execute combos. You can also block or parry the incoming attacks, and after unlocking appropriate skill execute counterattacks and even deflect arrows with using the sword. You also have 5 spells (signs) at your disposal, they are all unlocked from the start and learning to use them is essential to success in combat. There are also throwing knives, bombs, secondary weapons like axes and many other options that allow players to play the game how they want it. Leveling up system also contributes to creating your own play style as you will not able to unlock all the skills during the course of one play through.
Unfortunately combat, while great is not without some technical problems. The camera in Witcher 2 can sometimes behave in some unpredictable ways, especially in tight spaces and that can cost your life in a combat. Fortunately indoor combat is rare in Witcher 2. I also found that switching between targets in target lock mode was to slow and to imprecise to keep up with the action. Target lock was most useful during boss fights or when throwing daggers and bombs.
GRAPHICS
While other element of the game we’re transferred from the PC version uncompromised, the graphics had to be toned down in the Xbox version. I must admit I hadn’t seen the PC version in person but after comparing screenshots and gameplay clips I can say that the difference is noticeable. PC version sets the new standard for graphics in game while Xbox version is just a good looking console game. It’s not ugly by any means but it’s also not on par with the best looking Xbox 360 games. Yet you have to give the credit to CD Projekt RED, porting such a complex and beautifully looking game to Xbox is not an easy task, especially since this is their first console game.
While you can certainly spot some blurred texture here and there, encounter clipping issues or pixelated shadows, overall the game looks great. What is more important it runs smoothly and that is crucial since the combat is so action oriented.
SOUND
I played the English language version, even though I heard opinions that it was worse than Polish version (I’m from Poland) I really enjoyed the voice acting, and it never felt out of place like I was expecting it might. Unfortunately developers were not able to avoid the voice-over repetition and that include the minor NPCs as well as main characters that sometimes follow you during main quests.
I have to admit that music apart from some tracks used in cinematic was not very noticeable. It was just there and fitted the setting of the game very nicely. On the other hand the environment sound design was superb, for example the sounds of the forest from Chapter 1 was perfect and really made me feel like I was there. The combat sound effects were also very good. All the slashing, bashing and thrusting sounded appropriately powerful.
WITCHER 2 = AWESOME
The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings Enhanced Edition is a great port of a great game. During my playthrough I never once felt that I was playing some inferior console port made to squeeze some more money form a one year old game. CD Projekt RED put in a solid effort into creating this title and it shows. It grabbed me with it’s interesting story and deep satisfying combat. This game made me feel bad for liking Dragon Age 2…
