From: Atari Average Rating: Binding: DVD-ROM ESRB Age Rating: Mature Format: DVD-ROM Label: Atari Model: 27655 Release Date: September 16, 2008
Features:
You will need a plan to make accurate decisions and think through combat tactics. Over-reliance on your reflexes is what will get you killed
Uncontested swordsmanship, uncanny night vision, unrivalled knowledge of alchemy, and ability to spark desire in women and trepidation amongst foes
Training, trials and tribulations let you tap into supernatural abilities that have mutated your organism
Non-linear Decisions and Consequences
A vast set of choices, each with it own impact on the fate of the fantasy world. Retracing your steps with different decisions will unlock alternative endings and previously unseen sequences
Product Description: Welcome to a world that knows no mercy - none is received, and none is given. Only physical and mental agility can keep you alive, though they are by no means a guarantor of life. You play the role of Geralt - an already legendary monster-slayer, but this is not a gift and is certainly not given lightly. The Witcher is an immense computer game. Within its realm, you will have to assume the burden of choice. And this burden of choice, as light as it may appear, is the very thing that will both permit you to wield influence over the fate of the world, as well as get you slain prematurely.
Determine how Geralt's character develops and if he is to become a swordsman, an arcane battle mage, an alchemist in skirmishes, or any combination of the three 250 skills and abilities What you see is what you get system - in choosing a character skill, you either have it or you don't Character development is linked with storyline progression. Geralt comes to remember his forgotten past, and therefore his supernatural skills and abilities Numerous real-time combat strikes, hits, thrusts, slashes, and cuts plus the appropriate use of magic, potions and styles of swordplay The control system is for both experienced users and beginners. Use a combination of the mouse and keyboard, or just the mouse
A fun game that eventually crashed too often I truly enjoyed this game until it started crashing continuously, somewhere in the middle of Chapter Two. The latter experience necessarily colors my review. Being unable to finish the game due to buggy software is quite irritating, indeed. Nonetheless, there are many great qualities to this game if it runs well on your system: The adult themes and language, the genuine feeling of uncertainty of good and evil, excellent voice acting and music, the unique combat system, well-developed characters, and a strong story all make The Witcher one of the better role playing games I've played. The game suffers from somewhat lengthy loading times, too much time spent in towns where ambient characters mutter the same inanities over and over, an annoying and odd "white noise" sound effect upon entering and exiting doors (what's wrong with the sound of a door?), and stability issues. The game is a lot of fun, but it's far too buggy in the end.
Awesome game! Well as we all know, the original release had some bad translations which made the dialogue pretty tough to read at times. The Enhanced Edition does not completely fix it, but improves it by about 98%, so it's 99% the way there.
The dialogue and delivery now is at least up to par with where it should be, and actually quite a bit better than several other similar games out there. The characters now move their arms or eyes when they speak, which is good too.
Certain parts of the game run very choppy, regardless of how overkill your system may or may not be, with certain views in the Trade Quarter in Vizima being the worst...
That should about cover the bad... now on to the good!
The game itself is fun. It's a real time combat system and just about everything you should expect from a RPG - crafting, combat, decisions to be made (that affect the future as well!), etc.
The thing that makes the game really stand out however, in my mind anwyay is that the world of the Witcher was really nicely done. And the soundtrack is the best I can recall in any video game to date, which helps the experience.
Great game This game is well worth playing. The story line is great, the graphics are great. The character control isn't the best, but not worth complaining about. I recommend playing on the hard level. This makes the game more interesting because potion making becomes very important. I recommend using a controller, however, you have to download x-padder in order to use a controller. X-padder also works for any other games that are not controller ready. I also recommend reading The Last Wish, this is the book the game is based on.
Not that impressive...and Geralt freaks me out In the Witcher, you play a monster hunter mutated freak named Geralt, who, for the record, is the farthest thing from sexy (He has white hair, weird eyes, and a giant scar) you can imagine. Keep that in mind as you read this review.
First, despite being "Enhanced" the game still had a major bug, at least for me. Even with updated video drivers and a fully patched game, I was unable to see all the dialog options. But never fear, choosing dialog options that can majorly impact the flow of the game is unimportant, right?
When it comes down to it, how you do the killing is one of the most important parts of a game. The Witcher uses the same engine as NWN2, so the action is relatively similar, except you don't have the same diversity in character development. To keep things interesting, you have to click at the right time to perform special sword combos, but this gets old real fast, and by the way clicking on an enemy while Geralt is attacking will make the old unsexy freak stop attacking, so you have to pay attention or he'll just stand there and take a beating like a mutated human pinata.
The most frustrating thing is Geralt's delay in attacking enemies. Right after a cutscene or after zoning into an enemy lair, it takes Geralt some time to draw his sword and properly target the right bad guy, which makes me very seriously question if the Witcher's special "mutagens" gave him enhanced speed and reflexes or made him a bit lethargic. Of course, because the game is based on the NWN2 engine, your character won't react like a normal action RPG, and honestly, the Witcher IS an action RPG. It isn't always a problem, but I'd like Geralt to be a bit less sluggish when it counts. By the time you select the proper stance and enemy, the six armed men attacking you have already impaled you multiple times. So much for being a super-human, elite fighting force.
Let's take a bit to talk about the "Sex Card" dynamic, a (censored) card Geralt will receive after he "does the dew" with one of the game's female characters. Geralt, let me remind you, is not at all sexy. Not in anything he does. Further, the whole "feature" feels like a cheap trick to get excitable teenage males to play the game. And again, Geralt isn't sexy.
Equally unimpressive, at least in my opinion, is the game's almost-required alchemy dynamic. Picking leaves off plants to get enough ingredients so that my muscly hero can...brew things just isn't my cup of tea. Sure, your home-made brews can give you incredible advantages in a fight, but if I wanted to pick plants I'd trim that weed that has grown to be the same size as my house and now calls himself Marvin.
The game (other than Geralt's scarred face and freaky cat-eyes) is very pretty, so having a machine that can handle the nice environments is definitely a must.
Overall, the game is fun, but doesn't bring anything especially earth-shattering to the table. Is it worth $50? Nope, not at all, but then again I got it for $29.
Oh, one final comment. They can invent mutagens that increase strength and reflexes, but they can't invent hair dye? Some "Just for men" and a pair of shades and a haircut might make Geralt look presentable.
Could Have Been Much Better.... Based on reviews of this game that I read online in conjunction with the many awards it received I purchased the software. I did not experience any bugs, the combat is first rate and the landscape/city graphics are very pleasing. However, I found there to be too much running around. The game is extremely linear and forces players to follow a set path without very much exploring. The setting primarily consists of a city and a swamp with varying degrees of access to parts of those areas based on the storyline. In many instances, the areas are simply rehashed - adding encounters consistent with the story in various places throughout the recycled maps. (i.e. cave is empty, until chapter x, then there's a scripted encounter in the previously empty cave.) There was definitely NOT enough free roaming areas such as long dungeon areas, sewers, terrain. The game has these locations by name but much of the areas with them are blocked, locked, and not extensive enough to become lost or "get-into" the game. If the Witcher combat/animation mechanics had been combined with a REAL NON-LINEAR & character creation style game such as Oblivion-with it's incredible free roaming feel and extensive cave & ruin systems-The Witcher would have been incredible. Also, character development consists of being given bronze, silver, gold points to assign to specific skills in various trees. However, it becomes apparent that each skill will eventually be assigned point(s) whether you want it to or not (aside from the pre-requisites) so the order in which the points are assigned is the only real decision that must be made. You cannot purchase a home - but you can engage in unprotected sexual encounters with practically any female in the game who can breathe. This is usually accomplished by giving gifts or choosing just the right conversation angle, thus reducing women to nothing more than objects available for our hero to bed. I suspect this appeals to 1 demographic of the population, hence awards and kudos from the predominately teen male gaming world. I will admit I did not finish the game as I became extremely bored with the lack of excitement & exploration and aggregeous void of items & creep types. This game may appeal to some - I suggest a demo before shelling out the money (not sure if there is one) OR just buy Oblivion, wait for Diablo III, or DragonAge and instead read a book.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
