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The Witcher starts with a very impressive and lengthy CGI introduction - up to Blizzard standards. But importantly it’s not merely eye candy - it sets the scene for some of the things that make The Witcher such a unique game. Atmosphere, action, style, moral greyness, consequences and even a touch of humour are all present and so far it looks like they remain so throughout the rest of the game.
You play Geralt of Rivia, one of a number of people called ‘Witchers’. Witchers are legendary monster slayers, but their unique powers, and perhaps some of their inadequacies, cause them to be feared by even their own people. This sense of isolation and distrust is very well portrayed through the many interactions in the game, and understanding facets such as this are quite important in justifying events that happen or have the possibility of happening with Geralt.
But first, some lighter things. Graphically The Witcher looks like a cross between NWN 2 and Gothic 3. The artwork and quality of textures is amazing - excellent lighting adds to the atmosphere, and high quality character models enhance things further. While the engine may not be as technically capable as NWN 2, it looks better, more of the time. There’s very good use of shaders too - the drunk effect is very goodAlso of particular note are the character animations, which depict fantastically fluid and realistic motions for a wide variety of situations. The world is large and wide open/continuous after the prologue.
The graphical splendour does not come at a cost to performance either - the game runs very smoothly at maximum settings, including AA and AF, displaying on 1680x1050 on my system. Early reports suggest even lower spec systems are running this game just fine as well.
Sound is equally capable - the musical score is far superior to most other RPGs (with the possible exception of Gothic 3), and is presented with a high fidelity. Sound effects are likewise of very high quality. The voice acting may have been a cause of concern, with both translations and quality of actors in doubt… but these can be laid to rest - it’s of a much better quality again than most other RPGs and while some fragments may be a little be awkward they don’t affect enjoyment in the slightest so far.
You can control Geralt in a number of ways - a high isometric view, a low isometric view, and an over the shoulder (OTS) view. The OTS view seems to have the best framerate of the lot for me, which is interesting as it’s also the view which allows you to see the most of the game world. Movement in this mode is made with the WASD keys and mouselook. At the moment I’m usually using the low isometric view, which is a slightly zoomed out third person perspective, allowing either WASD or mouse clicks for movement.
Combat in The Witcher is pretty unique. Each click of the mouse on an opponent causes Geralt to swing, however he then takes some time to finish the swing - clicking again before he’s finished interrupts the swing, while clicking just at the end of it causes him to chain together swings in a combo. There are lots of indicators as to the right moment to click, and in practise it works really well. Combat is involving, very satisfying, yet not a click fest. There are also different styles which can switched between at any time - strong attacks, fast attacks and group attacks. So you might be set upon by a group of bad guys; start of in the group mode which damages several people at once but for less damage, then when only one is left switch to another mode depending on whether your opponent is light and nimble or heavy and slow.
Different skills can be unlocked as you level to allow you to add more combos or chances to knockdown or stun an opponent etc. Clicking on a stunned opponent allows Geralt to perform more deadly attacks and sometimes ‘finishing moves’. You get all the fun of more dedicated fighting games, but without any annoying co-ordination demands. It’s hard to say more other than ‘it really works!’
One thing that has been missing from RPGs of late, especially from Europe, is a general level of polish and balance. The Witcher quashes such concerns - overall polish is fantastic, the balance also appears spot on. I have had one crash to desktop so far, but already there is a patch due on day of official release which should improve things. The only area I think could use a little more work is the save system, which while being your standard PC affair of unlimited user saves, plus quicksave and autosaves, has currently no means of naming save games, and they are dated by real world date and time. This means it’s almost impossible to keep track of things if you’re running parallel games.
Now a little about the story/setting. The game has a much lower fantasy setting than your average American RPG - the medieval world is very well represented, warts and all. A lot of different social situations can be encountered, from poverty to racism. Combine this with Geralt’s own background/situation and you might be a bit surprised by some of the options you are presented with - or are not presented with at all. Players expecting saccharin sweet romances or the ability to project cushy developed-world morality into their choices might be very disappointed. Some of the decisions are hard too - much has been talked about the choices you get to make, and in many situations there is no ‘right’ answer. There will be consequences whichever way you choose. This means you have to stop using decisions to try and ‘win’ and just make them based on the situation as it presents itself. That may look a bit daunting on paper, but you are always well informed as the characterisation and voice acting clearly portrays emotion, allowing you to asses somewhat possible demeanours and motivations. These, together with race, location, background and exact circumstances help give you things to make an informed choice based on how you are playing Geralt. I’ve yet to see many consequences as a result of big decisions, more play time is needed to see how much effect they have on the game world.
It’s not all dark stuff though - there are plenty of moments of humour which caused me to snigger. There are also mini-games such as a version of Yahtzee, pub brawling and drinking competitions.
So far I’m really enjoying this game and finding it hard to put down once I start a session. It ticks several boxes from enjoyment of action to great story telling, characterisation and a fantastic world setting.
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Originally Posted by TiG
