Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Masterpiece"

Character is the defining trait of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. From the ever serious Geralt to the Scoiatael leader Iorveth, to the Captain of the Blue Stripes, Vernon Roche, to the beautiful and mysterious Triss Merigold, from kings and freedom fighters, royalty and peasants, creatures both fantastic and grotesque, to the politics and intrigue that await, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings has character, and character is the defining feature of this excellent, story-based game.

The tale picks up months after The Witchers ending, though gamers who havent played the first game certainly should, the barrier of entry isnt that high for Assassins of Kings. You will see the effects of decisions carry over from the first game in some ways that will make the experience more enjoyable, but those that have never had the pleasure shouldnt worry. Assassins of Kings takes you through new areas with a new adventure that is unlike anything else gaming has to offer.

Geralt of Rivia is one of the most serious protagonists in gaming. His smiles are rare, his voice is deep, his eyes are piercing and the hideous scars that cover his body are numerous. Under normal circumstances this would make for a silly protagonist that no one would actually care for, but CD Projekt Red have figured out the recipe for successfully having an overly serious lead character: Make the game around him so good that even the player takes everything seriously.

The game is based around decisions that make deep impacts on the world at large, shaping the story as you play and going in wildly different directions. But the story is based just as much on the characters at play. They each serve a purpose to the story, and no matter who you side with and what allegiances you make, the other characters still remain as prominent figures, making for an unforgettable tale with a lead character that is both hero and anti-hero at the same time.

There are no good or bad decisions. There are no silly colors or symbols to dictate what each choice will do. There are simply choices to be made. There is never a bad decision. Choices in Assassins of Kings are not relegated to some stupid point system for your character to level up; they simply exist as they would in the real world. And the choices you make can lead to a shockingly different story each time you play. Will you play a story where you liberate the oppressed non-human races? Or will you play a story about clearing your name and rekindling a lost love? Or will you play a story about saving a kingdom in ruin? That brilliant replayability, pioneered by the choices presented to the player is its greatest success.

And tying everything together is the atmosphere and mood of the world Geralt lives in. At times beautiful, at times magical, at times dark and corrupt, Assassins of Kings is a mature game and it earns it through more than violence and sex, it does so through the world. The people you encounter are filthy, disgusting, horny (and sometimes ashamed to admit it), greedy, sexist and racist. The people of the Northern Kingdoms resemble people of our time in more ways than one, and while that may sound cynical and at times spiteful, its true. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings paints an image of the world through a fantasy game, and much like any person trying to get by in a cruel world, Geralt relies on his wits, judgment, natural beauty of the world and some very close friends to help him get by.

The games visuals are gorgeous. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is easily the most detailed game since Crysis was released in 2007, and it easily trumps that game. But the beauty of Assassins of Kings is more than just the power of the Red Engine that powers it all, its brought to life by the games presentation and held up by the foundation of one of the most impressive game engines ever created. I fell in love with the forests of Flotsam. The Elder Scrolls, The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Age, Final Fantasy, no game has ever made me so immersed in a forest that I wanted to stay there and just walk through it, exploring the little nooks and crannies at my leisure. The attention to detail is remarkable and the technology that powers it helps to make for a believable, magical and fantastic world.

The sound design is top-notch as well. From a subtle and beautiful soundtrack to the sounds of monsters as they rush to battle you, as steel clashes in sword duels and castles fall during sieges, wars that are fought between specters on the battlefield and the sound of a blade cutting flesh are all amazingly done. But the real star here is the voice work. This is a story-based game after all, and the voice acting is top notch. In fact, its the best I have ever heard in a game, which is all the more amazing considering its Polish roots.

At this point I realize that Ive described everything except for how the game plays. That was intentional, because The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is more about the world built around the game than it is about the gameplay. That isnt to say that the gameplay is bad. On the contrary, prepare for one of the best playing games ever made.

Combat in Assassins of Kings is intense. Battles are hard fought and require a lot of skill, on the fly thinking and quite a bit of precision and timing. While I do miss the more tactical combat of the original, which was really one of the best thought-out battle systems around, Assassins of Kings goes for real-time combat and it works splendidly. It is challenging, brutal and rewarding. You need to know when to block, when to parry, when to attack, when to use your magic signs and so on. Death doesnt mean its the end. Jump in again and take on your attackers by setting up traps, using the proper potions before combat, the right oils for your blade and so on. While I havent played either of the Souls games, I think its a safe assumption to say that the combat in From Softwares RPGs helped inspire the switch to a real-time combat system in Assassins of Kings. It is worth mentioning that Assassins of Kings does allow for the difficulty to be changed at any point in time, so if the game is too hard you can drop the difficulty and vice versa.

The games environments are contained, so dont expect an open-world game. Still, it pays to explore the areas as there are numerous secrets worth discovering in this game. Sidequests are extremely fun and are perfectly integrated into the game world. If not for the little symbol next to main story quests in your journal most people would have no clue that they were playing a side quest.

There are a few flaws, but theyre nitpicky at best. The first is the challenging combat. By games end it feels extremely rewarding. But those first few hours are rough and gamers not looking to be brutally punished may opt to play on the easier difficulty level just to see the game advance rather than figure out the intricacies of combat. Challenging combat is by no means a fault though when the difficulty can be changed on the fly, but dont expect a cakewalk on Normal. Better tutorials and a gentler difficulty curve could have helped the game quite a bit, but after a while players will learn the ins and outs of combat. But the biggest issue I had was with the weight limit imposed on the inventory. This normally would not be an issue, except crafting and alchemy play a major role in the game and those ingredients take up space. Potions need to be brewed to help with combat and exploration while better weapons need proper crafting materials, all of which can weigh Geralt down considerably.

The integration with GoG however makes up for the minor issues with the game. Anyone who buys Assassins of Kings automatically receives a digital back-up should anything happen to their disc. And this digital back-up can be used as many times as you wish, absolutely DRM-free. The Enhanced Edition content is also available at no extra charge to consumers through GoG, adding hours of new content to an already fully-featured game.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings has so much to offer, from different areas and questlines that are accessible only by replaying the game to the many secrets that await players. Its a game that should be played at a leisurely pace so that you never skip over anything. It is everything that the best sequels are made of: the story continues and tells a new stand-alone tale that ends marvelously. It improves on almost everything the first game did and crafts an unbelievable world that you will want to return to again and again. Bravo CD Projekt, bravo.