Letho .. You bastard

User Rating: 9 | The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings PC
The Witcher 2 reminds me of... Ehm... Apparently I cannot think if any game or movie this incredible interactive piece of software reminds me of because it is unique, gorgeous and satisfying. This game has some unique set pieces that are unmatched, more reason why it will be contender for RPG of the year. I have not played a game in 5 months since my PC went dead and this was the only game I could think about once my PC was up and running.

After an assassin failed at killing King Foltest from the ending of the first game, he entrusted his protection to the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, a well-known and feared mutated monster slayer with a knack for making bad decisions. This game is full of decisions that will lead you to several paths. There are 2 major paths or allies you can follow depending on the decision you made at the end of chapter 1

Geralt let his guard down for one second and the King is slain by another witcher who is basically an assassin of Kings because he killed other kings. The castle guards immediately rush in and they see Geralt leaning over Foltest's body. This scene does not look good for anybody no matter how hard you try to convince the guards. The real game begins when you break out of jail, joining your sorcerer friends Triss Merigold and Vernon Roche to a city called Flotsam. There are twist and turns as you navigate Flotsam and its surroundings solving quest after quest.

Gameplay is just the same as the first game in 2007 in which you only have 2 swords: a steel and silver swords which are used for Humans and monsters respectively. The combat system is better and very fast. With any typical RPG, you get to level up and spend skill points. Spending skill points is simple and if you try to choose everything, you might not be able to complete a particular skill like combat but choosing skills from magic can also help in combat. Alchemy and potion drinking is essential if you are playing at a higher difficulty which is easy to make. The best potions are the ones that enhance your combat abilities or skills in my opinion. At some points, the game can be very difficult even on normal settings. You cannot take potions on the fly but only if you meditate for a split second. This sometimes is a problem because you might forget to take a potion before going into combat only to realise that you are outmatched by a foe.

The Witcher 2 graphics and sound are fantastic. For a direct X 9 game, if they told me it was Dx 11, I would have believed them but FRAPS does not lie and this game looks gorgeous on an HD screen. Some graphics settings will have to be turned down in order to keep at least an average of 40fps if you are running a system that has a core i5 2300 Sandybridge and a 2 year old HD5850. Surprisingly the HD 5850 is good enough for even ultra settings but with UberSampling disabled. Character lip-syncing is spot on and mature in content. When combat kicks in, you can hear every single slice or tabbing.

There are some memorable characters in the game that stand out like Letho, Triss, Vernon and so on and so although there is a lack of deep character development going on here. I wish The Witcher was a true open world game because it can be linear at certain points but it is still worth playing. I could not think of a better game to sink my teeth after my hiatus for 5 months. This is a must play for any RPG fans out there.