Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Worth playing"

I have waited awhile to finally be able to play The Witcher. The first one was supposed to be ported a few years back, but ultimately got scrapped. What a disappointment that turned out to be. Oh well, time rolls on and there were still great games a plenty to be enjoyed.

All was indeed well, but I still kept hearing how amazing the game was. So, like many others, when the sequel was announced for the Xbox 360 after receiving glowing praise from critics and the PC gaming community alike, I was overwhelmed with excitement that I would finally get to enjoy such a highly vaunted game.

So, enough history. Here we are. The game has been out a few weeks and I just completed it in about 32 hours. What is my initial reaction upon completing the game? Put it this way, I enjoyed some of my time with it. It is very much a good game, but I am not blown away. Why do I word it like this? Because I simply think the game is not what it was hyped up to be at all, and I'll explain why.

To get right to it, I'll list the negatives first and take them on point by point.

-The gameplay

The controls are tank-like and the camera can be a pain in tight situations. This is something I have dealt with in many games, especially of the role playing variety, so I could overlook it for the most part. But the combat itself, despite the swordplay looking nifty, is pure tedium and becomes a slog. Especially when you add the fact that you are supposed to 'meditate' before combat scenarios in order to give yourself a better chance.

This feature from a preparation standpoint sounds like a great idea, but it becomes far too cumbersome to have to do this. All it entails is going into a menu, mixing ingredients for potions, oils, bombs and traps and then equipping needed items for various scenarios. Why is this a big deal? All role playing games require the use of items, right?

Well, that is just it. You can't stop to use the items you need once you are in the battle. You have to take timed potions, and use timed oils before you enter a battle. If you get to the enemies or scenario before you take them, tough luck. Better hope you saved before hand so you can go back. Because you can't stop to 'meditate' and use those oils and potions from the menu now. It is simply far more annoying than it is smart.

- Lack of environments and awkward level design

Sure, the game looks nice, but there are so few areas in the game. What areas there are do have great settings (aside from bland hallway caves that all look the same), but the overall layout at times feels like a mess because of the corridors, blocked paths and invisible walls everywhere.

Twisting, linear, maze-like paths and a horrible, nearly useless map will quickly take you out of your immersion. Instead, you will find yourself running around in circles trying to figure out where the way-point marker is. I don't care how pretty an environment may be, if the level design is bad, then what is the point?

- Ugly gear and bland loot.

Not much to elaborate on. Most of the gear looks like it is made from mismatched patchwork quilts and the loot is mostly useless. You will find too many of the same items, especially ingredients and crafting materials. To make matters worse, you are constantly getting over encumbered and have to drop, sell, store or do what I did and just stop picking stuff up altogether unless it was a RARE better weapon or piece of gear.

- Technical issues

This is minor for me, but is worth mentioning. Even after installing the game, there is still some tearing, pop-in and image issues in general that will arise from time to time. It is still a very pretty game by and large, but this most certainly does affect the image quality.

Now that we have the negatives out of the way, I can fortunately talk about where it delivers. I just wanted to put into perspective some of the issues which I feel many reviewers ignored when they were giving it such glowing reviews.

Make no mistake, it is not a bad game by any stretch. I just don't think it is a fantastic one, and I am just being honest. In short, what carries this game is the story. Politics, corruption, deception... it's all here and will have you wondering who to trust and who to turn your back on. It's a very well told journey to be on and is very much worth your time for these reasons.

-In summary

It almost felt like it is something that I would have rather watched, than played. While the storytelling and choices presented are great and do indeed carry it, the gameplay and other issues brought the experience down to a very average level in terms of it being a game. Because above all else, games are supposed to be fun to play. But fortunately, it is still great for the strong story and choices alone.