The Witcher 2 just PWNED Dragon Age and put Bethesda on notice!
I've never been to Poland, but I want to fly over there right now and shake every one of the guys hands at CDProjekt. They've created a nearly flawless epic that every RPG'er worth his/her salt should play. I'm not exagerrating when I say every once in a while we get a new milestone in gaming: Half-Life (1&2), Baldur's Gate, WoW, Oblivion, Crysis (1 NOT 2), and now the Witcher 2.
I've been playing games for 30 some-odd years and love RPG's among others. Dragon Age 2 pissed me off something fierce. I hate that feeling of playing through a game and then noticing that the devs cut corners for $ rather than fully flesh out a world and storyline. Not the case with The Witcher 2
The Witcher 2 is a labor of love. You can see it every aspect of the world: graphics, sound, voice acting, plot, a huge world to explore, non-linear storyline, tough choices to make. I could go on and on. Suffiice it to say, it's incredibly immersive and puts a smile on your face while you play it. For reference, the last game that did that for me was Red Dead Redemption. I feel like CDProjekt took a big risk and basically told themselves that this would be a title that makes or breaks them, and then poured every ounce of soul they collectively had into the game.
I don't know if it's because I was amped for DA2 and it let me down, or because Crysis 2 got console-ized and I felt like an idiot for upgrading my rig, but now I feel like all is right in the PC gaming world after the Witcher 2. You've finally got a game that all your console-playing buddies are going to see and wish they could play. I've got it set to Ultra minus ubersampling and running in 3d. OMG!! CAN YOU SAY PHOTO REALISTIC? Yes, you need a beefy rig, but this is the type of game you'll want to upgrade for. Only the best graphics card(s) will handle everything turned on at 1080p. Make sure you look for an SLI fix to get better FPS. It'll work until we get drivers from Nvidia that aren't beta.
I thought the first Witcher was just OK. Fighting mechanics and the same faces and voices in the NPC's were lame to me. The polish to English translation was also spotty. CDProjekt has upgraded everything in this version. The completely new RED engine really feels like a living world, like the best a living world could be in 2011. Right now it's hard to imagine something topping it.
My only gripes at this point are the combat learning curve and somewhat unintuitive menus. I'm playing on normal and have already had 3 or so fights where I died multple times. The fighting reminds me a bit of a hack-n-slash version of Ninja Gaiden; in that it's hard until you get the timing and feel down. Then you realize it's deep and rewarding and you get excited to try new combos. Make no mistake though, you will die a lot the first time through. The interface/menus are fine it's just not the standard RPG fare we're used to. If I want to equip a sword I go to inventory, but to take a potion I need meditation. Not bad, just different. It's like how in America we say the back of the car is the trunk and in England they say boot. It takes some time to get used to thinking of "boot" as the trunk. But I digress.
Let me just make one thing perfectly clear: Bioware's DA franchise is not fit to mop the floors at CDProjekt right now, and if Skyrim isn't looking and playing this well, push it back Bethesda. It's OK if you do because I'll probably still be playing The Witcher 2 in November.
Graphics 10+
Sound 10
Gameplay 8.5 (I take 1.5 cause it takes a bit to learn the controls and the gamepad feels clunky)
Overall 10
GOTY so far by a long shot
NOTE: Buy the game don't steal it, idiots. This is a company and a franchise you want around for a long time.