The Witcher 1 was a difficult game to like for a lot of people, it divided players between those who loved its ambitious take on player choice and unusual fantasy setting to those who couldn’t get past the seemingly endless fetch quests and sometimes crippling bugs (pre-enhanced edition). I sat somewhere in the middle, I wanted to love the game but I could only ever really just like it. Witcher 1 did do some impressive things, most significantly when it game to player choice and how it changed the shape of the game; seemingly minor and half considered early decisions would come back to haunt you much later in the game. What I really enjoyed most however was the world. It was an ugly, xenophobic and politically charged fantasy setting rooted in an uncomfortable realism.

The Witcher 2 promised a lot and CD Projekt had the opportunity of creating a game like this with a rare level of creative freedom and budget. The Witcher 2 tells the story of monster hunter for hire Geralt of Rivia, he’s a Witcher; part of an elite, genetically mutated race built specifically for combat. Geralt is a dark character of which most of the people around him fear but also respect. As a player you have a small degree of control over just how dark or misogynous you would like Geralt to be but overall he is a good character, an anti-hero with a heart. He also has amnesia but thankfully it is used as a decent plot device rather than a plot excuse.

The game opens with Geralt assisting King Foltest of Timeria who is caught up in a battle with a prominent family. The start of the game throws you into this conflict with little explanation of what is happening, it’s instantly apparent that there are many layers to the political intrigue of this world. The world is very feudal with important bloodlines, corruption and foul play infecting every level of the society. The prologue lasts a couple of hours and is told in a clever flashback format, at first I had no idea what was happening but I feel that is almost intentional, the player is free to pick the order of their own re-telling of this initial story and if it weren’t for the criminally hard combat this would have been a stunning introduction to the game.

The combat is a subject of much debate between gamers, much like how the plot is initially baffling so too is the combat. CD Projekt clearly like Demons Souls but also have a strong love of Assassins Creed. This is the best way I can describe it, the swords connect against flesh and armour with the same violence and flamboyancy as found in Assassins Creed but also multiple enemies will simultaneously attack and flank, one or two hits are enough to kill the player and character position and timing are as vital here as it is in Demons Souls. The two philosophies can sometimes contradict each other, mostly due to long animations from Geralts graceful swipes sometimes locking your ability to control. I grew to like the combat a lot and it is miles better than in the first game but it could have been handled better during the prologue. It’s worth noting that it plays a lot better on a Xbox 360 controller.

The best thing I can say about the combat system is that it stands hand in hand with the magic system, magic essentially protects the player and isolates individuals from groups of enemies. It can be sometimes too tempting to use the shield spell all the time but doing so would deny some of the better moves at Geralts disposal. Some spells set traps on the ground while others can incinerate whole groups of foes if upgraded.

With this being an RPG there is quite a substantial skill-tree that allows for a diverse enough to make no two Geralts be alike. Don’t expect to be able to upgrade every skill-tree ‘node’ in one play through though. Interestingly skills can be mutated to add extra attributes like vitality or strength to them, mutagens are collected from powerful creates you slay during your quest. Alchemy is there to use if wanted but it’s certainly not needed like it was in the first game. The same goes for crafting, while I created some pretty beefy swords, they were soon dwarfed by swords I found out in the various tombs and mines of the second chapter.

The game is essentially broken into 4 distinct parts, there is the very linear trial by fire prologue followed by two deceptively enormous open world environments during chapters 1 and 2. These chapters are full of main story quests, side quests and secret secret tombs to raid. Impressively they’re is a fair amount of variety in the quests, i never felt like I was doing the same thing twice. There is also one final area that seemed to conclude the game far too early. I put about 40 hours into the game overall but I still feel like I could have used another one or two massive chapters. It’s a compliment to the developers that I just wanted more of the game but it’s also a shame that I’m not likely to explore any more of this incredible world for a long while.

Boy, what a world, I’ve never felt so connected with a game world as I did with this game. The environments are something to behold, everywhere you look you can see something epic, something massive and something beautiful. The textures are ultra crisp while the light reflects off surfaces. Every inch is worth exploring for pure eye candy alone, a fantastic synergy of art and technology. This is one of those games that makes me want to say that it looks as good as the concept art supporting it.

It’s a shame about the bugs, which I’m sure will be fixed swiftly in regular updates. I encountered a lot of them but thankfully nothing which stopped me from progressing. The bugs ranged from funny and incidental like an old man telling a ghost story while asleep in bed instead of round the campfire, to annoying like inaccurate map waypoints.

Much has been said about the inhabitants of the various settlements you find yourself in, people have a daily routine which includes waking up, going to work, eating and sleeping. There’s an impressive amount of chatter between the characters which you are welcome to overhear, the dialog is often entertaining providing it’s the first time you hear it. The characters have a tendency to strike up the same conversations with each other every time you walk by them.

I’ve been very careful to avoid spoilers in this review and have been talking mainly about the base mechanics of the game. Rest in mind that there is an incredible story filled witch exciting, varied and unexpected sequences to discover. There are a few mechanical flaws which I’ve mentioned above but there’s also a couple of flaws to the narrative in general. Often the game will lower itself to out of place immature comedy, immersion breaking Lord of the Rings references and irrelevantly gratuitous sex scenes, regardless these moments are not enough to lower the overall quality of the games brilliant narrative.

Ultimately this is the best RPG I’ve played since Mass Effect 2, in many ways it’s very similar and in other ways it is much more ambitious, for example the emphasis on player choice is extreme for a game with this much production value, the setting of an entire chapter can change depending on some early decisions. The Witcher 2 is the natural progression and evolution of the first game, it’s not quite as large but it is twice as detailed, I recommend this game to anyone who likes a good story and a bit of action. Don’t be put off by the difficult prologue, it gets easier so don’t be tempted to knock the difficulty down.

This game could have been a 9, it’s difficult to score; it’s an instant cult classic with a beautiful game world like no other but it falls apart. The final chapter is unfinished, the story looses its focus during Chapter 2 and it assumes far too much from the player from the outset. For that, I don’t think this game is for everyone – it requires a fair amount of patience and it’s not particularly rewarding by the end of the game. As much as I love it, these faults are serious and I hope that the developers collaborate with a large QA/Testing team to iron out the kinks for the sequel or upcoming DLC.

[8]

About the author

Michael Manning

Michael is a sound designer and composer working in the games industry. His portfolio can be found at www.manningaudio.com