@Bane-LoneWolf I also hope this game stays pc exclusive but if you want to play rdr so bad why not get a ps3? they are pretty cheap compared to just a video card plus you would get to play sonys exclusives as well such as demons souls.
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Hands-On - Combat, Monster Forensics, and Side Quests
By
Maxwell McGee, Editor
Geralt of Rivia is called upon to investigate a crime of passion during our hands-on demo of The Witcher 2.
It has been four years since Polish developer CD Projekt Red released The Witcher back in 2007. Inspired by the works of fantasy author Andrzej Sapkowski, this dark, high-fantasy role-playing game followed the stoic Geralt of Rivia, a "witcher" well versed in the study of monsters and other creatures. Set after the events of the first game, The Witcher 2 pits Geralt's martial and magical prowess against a deadly elven spy, Iorveth, as well as the mysterious assassin Kingslayer. The sequel also changes up the combat mechanics and forgoes the rhythmic timing and constant stance switching of the original Witcher in favor of one fluid system. We got the chance to see a few of the changes in motion during a hands-on demo set in one of the game's numerous side quests. Be advised that although this story focuses on a side quest, it may contain minor plot spoilers.
Our journey began in the city of Vergen in front of an old tavern. Nearby, an elf was anxiously looking about, and we could tell just by looking at him that he was eager to tell his tale to anyone who would listen. Seeing his distress, we decided to approach but then passed right on by into the warm glow of the tavern beyond. Inside, we took the opportunity to try out one of The Witcher 2's mini-games in a friendly round of arm wrestling with one of the dwarven patrons. While playing this mini-game, a bar appeared onscreen underneath the characters with a constantly-moving slider. In order to win the match, we had to keep our mouse cursor within the area of the slider long enough for Geralt to pin his opponent's wrist to the table. Having proven our manliness, we were now properly warmed up for the inevitable adventure and stepped outside.
After talking to a few patrons, we made our way out of the pub to begin our mission. Ele'yas, the elf we had met previously, had explained to us that he had uncovered the body of an elf who had died mysteriously. He wasn't sure, but the presence of numerous cuts and gashes on the body suggested a violent end at the hands of some sort of monster. Since Geralt is an expert on monsters, he asked us to seek out the cadaver in a nearby tomb and determine the cause of death. We agreed and headed toward the main gates of Vergen. On our way out, the locals met us with equal parts fear and loathing, suggesting that Geralt's status as a vagabond and troublemaker hasn't changed much since the previous game.
Not long after we ventured past the city's walls, we were ambushed by a troop of well-armed highwaymen; they even had a wizard in tow. But, before they could slice us to pieces, we reached for our secret weapon--The Witcher 2's new radial action menu. This new menu system lets you swap Geralt's weapons, items, and active magic spells on the fly, and it also has the handy property of slowing down time while it's open, even in the middle of battle. We used this new feature to our advantage by equipping a steel sword, Geralt's patented stun traps, and a magical telekinetic spell that flings enemies away.
The bandits quickly encircled us--while their pesky wizard scampered around in the back--and attacked in pairs of two or three. This was a crash course in the merits of blocking and rolling out of the way of stuff as a trio of swords and one scorching fireball bounced Geralt around the battlefield like a pinball. As one of the bulkier assailants raised his weapon for yet another blow, we (finally) responded with a block. This sudden change of tactics from doing nothing to doing something caught the brute off guard and sent him reeling back; thus leaving him vulnerable to a counterattack.
When attacking, the left mouse button controlled our light strikes, while the right mouse button controlled the heavy blows. There wasn't any switching of stances or timing of hits. Instead, it was just raw, uninhibited carnage: fast, loose, and limited only by how quickly we could dish it out. A few heavy body blows left the towering oaf in a heap before his buddies could even react. As they closed in with cries of vengeance, we blasted them right back with a forceful push of magic before tumbling away. After rolling back a safe distance, we lobbed a stun grenade in the crowd's direction. There was a loud crack and a blinding flash of white. When our sight returned, what was once a band of murderers was now a groaning pack of meat awaiting the butcher. Now that our enemies were in a stunned state, each swing triggered a stylish execution scene featuring plenty of swords and sorcery. Not even the wizard escaped our wrath.
After defeating the villains we collected our spoils, which came in the form of a new chest piece and a pair of gauntlets. Equipping these items altered our character's appearance to reflect his new threads. After this encounter, we pushed onward across the shoreline and into the woods beyond. Ahead, we spied a serene glade where a tiny lake had formed. A few stray rays of sunlight slipped in from between the treetop's canopy and gave us pause to admire this beautifully rendered scene. And then, of course, there were more bandits. But not just bandits, there was also a vicious pack of Nekkers: small, blue-skinned creatures that look not unlike satanic children. The two groups were at each other's throats in a flurry of fangs and steel. Not wishing to miss out on all the fun, we popped our shield spell--accessed again through the radial menu--and charged into the fray.
Ultimately, it was the magical shield that did most of the work. Our control of the infamous witcher amounted to mostly swinging the sword wildly and rolling headlong into enemy attacks. This made us a pretty easy target, but when our foes did strike, they received a nasty shock from our electrified shield that, in many cases, incapacitated them on the spot. Leaving yet another pile of corpses in our wake (no wonder folks are scared of Geralt), we finally made it to the rocky, cliffside entrance to the underground tomb our elven employer spoke of earlier. With a little nudge-nudge, wink-wink, one of our CD Projekt Red copilots suggested we switch from our atypical steel sword to our sexy silver sword for the fights ahead. Inside the dusty old tomb, we found all the classic trappings of an underground complex: old bridges, burnt-out torches, and rickety walls that looked just ripe for the smashing. Armed this time with our trusty, wall-smashing fireball spell, we blasted our way into the tomb with little regard for the structural integrity of this ancient resting house.
By
Maxwell McGee, Editor
Maxwell McGee earned a degree in Journalism from the University of Arkansas, and has contributed to The Escapist, GamePro, PC Gamer, and more. His introduction to video games was Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the Sega Genesis, and he has never looked back. He welcomes your feedback through the site, or Twitter.
243 comments
@clst take a look at this link http://www.youtube.com/user/DonMateok1990 now the PC that dude is using has a processor which i believe is pretty mediocore and his graphics card is three generations old still he can play games at a resolution higher than consoles and the recommended specs for most of the games may well be above his system so your comment about running games at only 800x600 with the recommended specs is just useless for practical gamers as the hardware people wants us to buy their each and every product but you got brains and can do some research about any particular game and how it practically runs rather than just believeing someone else word for it my secondary pc has an ancient pentium d 3.2 ghz and 9800gt but it can run most modern games on 1280x720 at around 30 to 50 fps so if witcher 2 is atleast optimised better than gta4 i see no problem with people having the recommended specs not able to run it maxed out at high resoloutions and by the way in my previous comment i was saying that it is good that this game is PC exclusive as once pc games looses their exclusivity they start getting dumbed down the best example is crysis 2 though i liked the game but i was unable to shake off the feeling that it could have been as revelutionary as farcry and Crysis were in its own time had it been a PC Exclusive so i hope that some of the good PC Exclusive games should remain as such.
everytime a developer releases a title on pc platform first and puts tba for consoles that just makes me want to make them a statue.... trash consoles made todays games brain dead monkey friendly... i could beat most games asleep. difficulty settings always make me laugh. i love crysis but... unloading a full clip thru a silly korean shocktroopers vest and he isnt even fazed while you and your mega super duper nano suit can amazingly survive... lets do math armor mode on hard 80 points 1 bullet... so yeah ... armor mode saves you from a single bullet... amazing. and after that i dont recall exact number but chest shots do about 15-30 points of damage... so again even if u dont get shot from a sniper rifle or eat a grenade or a tank shot... you cant survive more then 5 shots. >_> and they call it increasing difficulty... i remember when difficulty made game more challenging not more absurd. since delta just makes you play hide and sneak with head shots and difficulty becomes utterly irrelevant. ANYHOOOOOOO go go witcher 2. big expectations. more then skyrim anyway. bethseda has been going steadily down the drain.
@firzok = i know i m pc game as consoles game but now only pc gamer. it's hard to tell if a game go on console it got dump we haven't the same share of power on each machine , they do what they can. i m not compare pc and console they have both their game they have both good game. i m say what i m sure i livve in europe ( i m french ) they say now that they begin a console version after they release the pc version because they are at first pc developer as you can see with the recommend config ( quite the hell of one ( not fot me i have i7 990 ati 6970 aand 16 go of ram and all the rest..) the recommend config for the witcher if you guy don't see it it's MINIMAL: ----- OS: Win XP / Vista / Win 7 ----- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or AMD Athlon x2 2.5 GHz ----- Memory: 1 GB for XP / 2 GB for Vista, W7 ----- Graphics: Nvidia GF 8800, 512 MB VRAM or AMD HD 3850, 512 MB VRAM ----- Hard Drive: 8GB for game and 8GB bonus content RECOMMENDED: ----- OS: Win XP / Vista / Win 7 ----- Processor: Intel or AMD quad-core ----- Memory: 3 GB for XP / 4 GB for Vista, W7 ----- Graphics: Nvidia GTX 260, 1024 MB VRAM or AMD HD 4850, 1024 MB VRAM ----- Hard Drive: 8GB for game and 8GB bonus content it's gamer config and one developer say with the recomend one you go with only 800*600 .only future can tell but i say witcher 2 wil be the best rpg of the year with skyrim
Great game, PC exclusive thou... So console gamers going to wait for some time. DA 2 sucks, Skyrim? We'll see...
@clsbis we do not any pc exclusive games getting dumbed down for the consoles so i truly hope that this game remains pc exclusive. Look at what has been done to Crysis in the sequel.
Bane-LoneWolf = it's will on console in one year but before they finsh the pc version and polish it
Great...another top tier RPG for me to dump countless hours into. Will be fun and can't wait for this one
i wish this game never gets released on consoles... we pc players are screwed enough by games like dead red redemption and countless others, its about time they get the hammer... PC GAMES FTW
the previews are looking good, but i do hope they havn't oversimplified the combat. I would hate to see cdprojekt making the same mistakes as bioware made in dragon age 2 by oversimplifying things.
CD Projekt will bring us a marvelous game. This is my way to thank them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFngmmine5k (includes 3 best finishers shown so far)
http://www.rpgfrance.com/actu-8430-une-nouvelle-video-gameplay-pour-the-witcher re this video is trhe same you most look in hd after i think as me you say i can't wait it's the video where all the image of the article come and more gameplay enjoy dear fan
http://www.rpgfrance.com/actu-8430-une-nouvelle-video-gameplay-pour-the-witcher watch the video and said as me whao :) xd
the witcher 2 is an adult only game and i hope it will be in the top games this year and the collectors edition is sweet although i did preorder the limited edition which costs as much as da 2 (normal game) which i did preorder, hell if witcher 2 is better than the first it will fight with bethesda's most anticipated game tes 5 , if diablo 3 comes out it will be heaven for rpg gamers and it will be a real fight in the rpg best game of the year section no jrpgs has a chance even to enter the top 10 because another good news dungeon siege 3 is coming to town(and it looks sweet) and wow it doesn't stop here mass effect 3 comes (will shepard survive and kill the machines or reapers did you made the best choices, we will see), even demon's forge looks promising, (altough me is a hybrid and demons forge is more of an action adventure game with awesome co-op), even fable 3 will come which i personally don't care but maybe others do...sooooo rpg fans this year is dedicated to us and the pc versions are sweeet (the witcher and tes 5 look amazing on pc because the trailers were on pc)...hold on to your pants and wait because this year is sweet PS two worlds 2 was an ok game but no chance for it although it was released last year in europe and it had good chance to be nominated last year
and i think 2011 rpg will be vs skyrim and witcher 2 if diablo don't come these year because diablo is diablo
i say just this if you begin to compare dragon age 2 to witcher for the story it's like you compare harry potter to lord of the ring they are both heroic fantasy but the second one take more long be more polish and it's more adult
@ Anti-Skub Its been awhile since Ive seen Isabella in DAO but I just dont remember her being that top heavy. Maybe Im mistaken. Ill take a look at it again though since Im playing through DAO with a mage this time. I agree with you on all points of combat regarding DA2. Including not complaining about the mage. That was a step in the right direction. Regarding THE game to get this year. Again, perhaps I misspoke. I dont necessarily mean the Witcher 2 is the game to get for the year (though it could be.) Im SOOO looking forward to Skyrim and yes, ME3 and Deus Ex. I loved ME1 and 2 and Oblivion was...well, Oblivion. And from what Ive read Skyrim sounds simply amazing. I lost a lot of faith in Obsidian because of FONV. It was nothing more than a large expansion for FO3. Most of the additions could be dwnlded as mods a lot cheaper than buying NV. It seemed to me a 2 year rush job (if that makes any sense). But the games that are coming out in the next few months im hedging my bet with the Witcher 2. Not just because of the game itself but I do believe in supporting the devs. As Mihaihornet pointed out; the game you get is the best game they have. No dlc. And whats more; no DRM. You gotta support a company that puts out such high quality games and obviously thinks of the players before they think of the money theyre going to make. Or at the least, figures theyre going to make more money by supporting their target audience.
@Vargre That is only the melee combat though, and I plan to play a mage Hawk and I really cannot fault the new mage combat, the flippy ninja staff attacks followed by the haidoken staff-in-the-ground firebolts are just epic. As are the new spell animations. As for The Witcher 2 being THE game to spend money on this year (at least for RPG fans) I'm not sure I agree, what with the Elder Scrolls V Skyrim announced for Q4 along with a horde of other potentially interesting titles assuming you're not a fantasy facist Mass Effect 3 Diablo 3 Dungion Siege 3 (being developed by Obsidian/Black Isle of Fallout/Kotor/NWN fame) The Old Republic Deus Ex 3 The Last Guardian...my god The Last Guardian looks so good, watching clips of it makes me well up And that's just RPGs...it's going to be a rather strong year for games.
@Vargre Well Isabella has almost the exact same reaction to your character in DAO. In fact you don't even help her, you play at cards, talk for a bit then she offers sex. Morrigan also almost immediately starts making sexual advances towards a male PC. So I'm not sure I follow with DA2 being less mature I do however think that the combat animations feel like they are lacking something. The DAO animations certainly weren't as fluid or complex but they had a satisfying feeling of weight that DA2 seems to have missed somehow. The ponderous Sword and Shield finishing move on humanoids where you stuck the target with your sword and then push him off again with your shield had a really nice heavy feeling, giving you're character a kind of slow, unstoppable juggernaut feel Similarly dual weilding rogues had that move where they stuck on dagger in the targets shoulder and then wound up and chopped off the head with their other blade. Again, it leant the combat a nice feeling of weight and pace as though the character was trudging through endless bodies with a tired,almost bored attitude that was quite cool. DA2 by comparison is frenetic, none of the moves seem to have any weight behind them. It all seems slightly comic booky and less real. (I hate people who talk about realism in fantasy/scifi titles but it's the only word that fits). The DA2 animations are just lacking that certain something that made the DAO combat look both gruelling and effortlessly cool at the same time.
The witcher is on sale from gamersgate this week for $8. Not a bad deal, if you havent checked it out now is a good time.
@Vargre And we will get a lot of value for the money. The basic edition is in fact the premium edition containing a lot of extras. DRM not included :). All this for $50. Compare it to $60 for DA 2 basic edition which also includes a nasty DRM. CD Projekt guys are simply amazing. I hope for them that TW 2 will be one of the best selling games ever (or at least for 2011). :) PS I would have paid $60 for DA2 if not for the online activation/checks. But I still hope they will remove this in a patch.
@ganesh69...... yeah the graphics are awesome... new PC's have over FIVE years on current gen consoles... FIVE YEARS. I find it more amazing that consoles can stay relevant for even three years considering people constantly are updating their PC's to make even the slightest difference. ... and of coarse when a company releases screen shots, they are from a PC with the highest possible specs...... the average joe isn't gonna be spending over 6K on a gaming PC.... I'm really curious to see a side by side comparison between the PC version and the console build.... if the difference isn't unbelievable extreme with a five year jump on the hardware end, then that "true power" your talking about is more of a bump then anything else.
@Scotterius -> I agree with you that games should be available on all platforms. They should also be done well on all platforms but it is more important for PCs. They will lose gamer support if they can not provide the highest quality product at a reasonable price. PC gamers that I know tend to have alot more money invested in their gaming machines than any other platform. I also believe the whole gaming experience is far better on a PC. Developers need the income generated by other platforms along with PCs to keep them in business. We need to keep them profitable or they end up being bought out which usually spells disaster for gamers. They are hurt financially because they have a higher cost overhead than the big companies and are liable to disappear. I think that companies like CD Projekt Red have to produce more games and take more risks to get themselves established and still there is no guarantee. They may have some games that fail to make cost in order to come out with a high quality game like The Witcher. They need the support of all PC gamers and support from other platforms for their games because then they still have a chance of breaking even and producing their next good game. The other outcome is they get eaten up by the majors who would rather produce for only one platform as it is far more profitable. They can then dictate to the gamers what they get because people will change platforms if forced to in order to play even inferior games.
@Ironbar I think you missed my point. Quality games on any one exclusive platform is harmful for the continuation for the franchise. If Xbox fans dont get Witcher 2, they wont be excited for Witcher 3. Publishers green light projects based on such perceived demand. Even worse, an alienated audience will demand franchises they are familar with...which in this case would exclude the Witcher and include those game you dont like...like my examples. Simply put: It is to your benefit for games you like to be ported and ported well to platforms you do not like.
@Yoda101280...Actually, regarding DA2...I liked the combat too. But there were a lot of things about it I didnt like. It seemed more...juvenile. As if Bioware was catering to a much "younger" crowd than before. The erm...endowments on Isabella was to the point of ridiculous. The ending of the demo, with the promise of sex seemed as if it was thought up by some marketing head to get kids to buy it. It just felt shabby and cheap to me. Thing is, I liked DAO enough to buy DA2 regardless of all that, and I just hope that Im wrong in my initial assumption. But with all the games being released in the near future, the Witcher looks, to me at least, to be THE game to spend money on.
It surely looks great so far. Can you believe that The Witcher 2 will be released absolutely DRM free? Kudos to CD Projekt.
@Scotterius - Let them have Final Fantasy, I hate anything that looks like anime, and that has Japanese-style all over it. Elder Scrolls? I've outgrown it.
ireadeverypart ofcdproject red forumi thinkit's best for you to stay informasFOR EVERYONE WHO WANT TO KNOW a bit much about it here a present :) say thank you because here is all the answer of your questions:) http://tw2.thewitcher.com/forum/index.php?topic=28407.0
@Ironbar I think its really disappointing that the game is not on consoles. While the original Witcher was hardly a detailed role-playing game, it did have great atmosphere and a story line with ambiguous morality. If titles like this are not on consoles, console gamers will clamor for more Oblivion and Final Fantasy titles out of sheer innocence. While it may amuse you to see them in such a state, their demand dooms you as well.
the witcher just another awesome game like demon souls i shall wait for it and the dark souls game
I really can't wait for this game to arrive. But I do hope that the combat is not overly hack and slash. I kinda liked the stance changes and timing of the first game. I have faith in CDProjekt RED and that they will deliver in all aspects of the game. After dissapointing demo of DA2, The Witcher 2 is the most anticipated game of the year for me.
eh, what was wrong with DA2 demo? I like the combat changes, more fast paced, more visceral. I enjoyed the first dragon age but the melee combat especially felt very slow and bland to me. Even the low level melee in the demo for DA2 was much more enjoyable to me. I will agree though they made it a bit more "video gamey" and less "real" compared to the first but I actually like that. I don't like my combat to be too "arcadish" but it needs to be speedy and fun for me to enjoy it, all the extra blood and dismemberment is also welcome. :)
After playing the Dragon Age 2 demo the Witcher now remains my sole beacon of hope for PC RPGs.
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| Platform | GameSpot | Metacritic / User Score |
|---|---|---|
Game Info
- Release Date: Apr 17, 2012 (US)
- ESRB: MTitles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older.
- Release Date: May 17, 2011 (US)
- ESRB: MTitles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older.
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The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (Enhanced Edition)
- Publisher(s): Atari
- Developer(s): CD Projekt Red Studio
- Genre: Role-Playing
- Release:
- ESRB: M
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