The Witcher 2 Preview

The Witcher was one of those games that sort of came out of nowhere to capture the attention of fantasy RPG fans worldwide. This was not only because it told a strong narrative built upon some solid literature, but that it created or improved upon a lot of different mechanics specific to the genre that kind of turned everything in its head that culminated in some pretty impressive gameplay.

The game's atmosphere was also superbly done by developers CD Projekt RED, emulating that strong European fantasy vibe that gamers can't seem to get enough of, built on a great soundtrack of memorable songs and voices, along with unique character and monster designs.

What The Witcher also provided was a giant world for players to explore and take part in dozens and dozens of side quests to keep things interesting, and although the game did suffer from its fair share of bugs and poor implementations, but thanks to the release of an Enhanced Edition (offered as a free download for owners of the original or as a separate purchase for newcomers) that answered the cries of fans everywhere, most of these problems were quickly remedied.

This above all shined the light on a developer that, surprise surprise, actually cared enough about its fans to go back and really try to fix what was broken in a big way, because they knew they had a sleeper hit on their hands not due to the small amount of marketing it had, but thanks to strong word-of-mouth it received. The highly anticipated sequel to that venerable title is only a month away from hitting store shelves, and I had the opportunity of giving the preview build a try, and walked away a little mixed, but overall extremely excited.

Just a note beforehand: I will be going off the assumption that people reading this review have already played the original. If you haven't, Amazon currently has a digital copy of the Enhanced Edition on sale for $9.99, or a boxed copy for $14.99. Or better yet, if you would rather go the DRM-free route, GOG.com will be running a special where you can grab the critically-lauded title for only $4.99 from May 10th up until the game's launch on May 27th. Either way, that's a bargain for a great game.

Geralt of Rivia once again finds himself in a sticky situation, chained up in a dungeon in the basement of the Vizima castle following the events of a siege, accused of a crime he says he didn't commit. He looks to be all torn up as he hangs from a wooden beam that he is chained to, suffering constant abuse by the hands of the guards.

His body is scarred from battle - deep cuts and whip lashings are evident. Soon, a man who was there during the siege arrives to discuss the unknown crime with Geralt. What ensues is a flashback sequence where players can decide whether to play through the experience fully, or only during key events (you're either lazy or n your second play through if you would dare to choose the latter).

Waking up next to the very sexy and very naked sorceress Triss Merigold, Geralt's lover that was introduced in the first game, a soldier crashes the sex party to tell the witcher that the king wishes to see him. As soon as you exit the tent, you are quickly greeted by one he'll of a breathtaking view of the battlefield.

When you are not listening to the soldiers tell tales of raping and pillaging, you can hear the bellowing sounds of ballista launching attacks off in the distance or watch trebuchets being carefully loaded. I was only minutes into the game, and already I was completely captivated by this incredibly impressive world full of surrealistic appeal that in my opinion has no equal. The environment is also far more immersive, allowing players to interact with ladders, jump up and down ledges, hide behind objects while in stealth mode, and much more.

The original Witcher was built on BioWare's Aurora engine, the same one that powered Neverwinter Nights 2 and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, but modified heavily by CD Projekt RED in order to ensure that the world they envisioned for the game would be brought to life.

For the sequel, the engine (otherwise known as the "REDengine") is entirely proprietary, and scales exceptionally well to all kinds of hardware (so long as you own a dual-core or above). The final game will even include an "Ultra" detailed setting. What you are going to experience is in my mind the Crysis of fantasy RPGs. It is that drop-dead gorgeous. Employing the use of the Havok physics engine is also a nice touch.

I soon discovered that the developers have taken liberties in modifying the dialogue system for the sequel. While some conversations play out as normal, a few hectic moments will include timed responses for Geralt to decide upon that can either help or hinder the situation I found myself in. Due to the fact that Geralt is still facing the tribulation of memory loss that plagued him in the original game, it is once again up to the player to rely on the important characters of the story to help them along and figure out just what in the hell is going on.

Time will tell whether the choices you make in the conversation you have will have a real impact on the story as a whole (I didn't go back to try other lines), but so far, I actually appreciated that the game didn't try to shove these decisions down your throat like it was some sort of life-or-death situation.

Shortly after being transported to the front lines and given an onscreen tutorial, what was also evident was that the combat mechanics have been radically altered. Instead of the somewhat polarizing combo-focused sword fighting of the original, attacking is now more about clicking as much as you can. Geralt moves a little like Batman in Arkham Asylum in that he will fly around the area of battle in an acrobatic and graceful display, attacking anything with a red health bar attached to their heads.

Timing may not be as important anymore, but seeing Geralt swing and roll around the field to get to the next chump is still pretty damn entertaining. Aside from the use of magic and alchemy, traps will also come into play for players to utilize (or run into as I did on MANY an occasion).

In the midst of battle, there is also a small, scrolling window at the bottom of the screen that shows you how much damage you are dealing at a particular time, as well as other information including how much XP you netted - think of it like a Dungeon & Dragons roll of stats. This also indicates when Geralt or his foes are hindered by status effects like bleeding or poison.

I would like to note that you are now able to finally lock on to enemies instead of trying to attack in a general direction, saving from a real headache that plagued battles in the original like when trying to ward off minions in a boss fight.

Character Progression is now laid out in a uniquely designed template in a thread formation. You start off by putting "talents" into the top quadrant, Training, which covers the basics of combat and stat enhancements. Once you are done filling that up, players can then branch off towards one of the other quadrants that lets you become either a Swordmaster, an Alchemist, or a Mage (or all three if you’re into being a jack-of-all-trades character).

Thankfully, you only have to rely on individual points instead of the use of bronze, silver, and gold medals, which not only streamlines the process but makes it far more intuitive in that you aren't bogged by different choices - it's all straightforward. You can also see your current Attributes on a separate screen in order to figure out what you should be focusing on to build your character, such as your armor or vitality.

When it comes to the soundtrack, the game begins and runs its course with music that is already moving at a beautifully-moving full crescendo, once again showing the sheer talent that composers Pawel Blaszczak and Adam Skorupa bring to the table. This duo does a great job supplementing the story with a grandeur of sweeping and powerful scores. Most of the key voice actors that were in the original (save for Triss's VA) also make their much-appreciative return in the sequel.

These wizards of their craft do an excellent job at bringing their characters and the world as a whole to life - even the hookers sound amazing. However, something I did notice is that whoever did the voice directing for Witcher 2 must have felt that Doug Cockle's original Geralt was too dry or even dull, for the dude lost most of the bass in his voice. I remember having to actually turn down my subwoofer because that alone shook my floor. It reminded me of Vin Diesel - all he has to do is say one line and you know you don't want to fuck with that guy. Of course, the change is starting to grow on me, and I appreciate the fact that he still carries that loner attitude with him wherever he goes.

From the 15 hours I spent playing Witcher 2 (since this was a preview build and only included the Prologue and first chapter of the game), I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the story is as strong as ever, and thankfully much better paced this time around as well.

Even the Journal, once a place where you would get minute details of Where and What to do, now reads out literally like an autobiography weaving a tale of Geralt on his adventures, whether that includes fighting off a violent troll that lives under a bridge and threatens to kill anyone who doesn't pay the toll, to the unfortunate circumstance of him waking up on a beach with his equipment stolen after a night of heavy drinking.

Now unfortunately, this can also end up having completely opposite the intended effect. Although it is a cool feature, not having the ability to know the exact necessary details for some quests can lead to some head-scratching, along with plenty of moments where the game just up and leaves you to your own device. Whether it is telling you to find this person or discover this item or anything of that nature, a lot of the time it will simply not tell you where you actually need to go.

I do not really know if this is indicative of the final release, but sometimes I (and I am sure others as well) simply want to be told exactly where we need to be, even if it is a small circumference of the general vicinity so that we can just take care of this quest and move on to the next one; or if anything, having a method to "cheat" to find out wouldn't hurt either.

This is not in itself that big of a deal, but warrants the need to bring it up because it did become bothersome in my adventure. On the other hand, players will also appreciate the fact that the game will definitely include dozens (hundreds?) of hours of content to enjoy on this solid adventure. There are even some quests where a couple NPCs want you to return back to them -in a couple years- and tell them how things went. Damn!

Performance-wise, the game will definitely launch with a lot more refinement than the original. From what I played, load times were almost nonexistent with a lot of areas, with many of them being taken care of in the midst of traveling. The ones that do still exist only last maybe a second or two like when you are walking into an inn or a shop.

Even meditating (which can now be done anywhere inside a safe area) doesn't take a loading screen, but rather flows through time live on the spot where you get to watch the world moving quickly around you. This attention to detail and always being able to keep tabs on the situation and the world around you shows just how strong a game Witcher 2 truly is and just how amazing the developers at CD Projekt RED are.

Not to be too gushy, but this certainly shows a real giant leap for the genre when you can have incredible visuals such as this which bears no monumental weight to the mechanics that have been so fine-tuned that it's hard to find anything to really dislike about this game. Despite the fact that some of the mechanics of the game can be a little confusing, like how in some caves there is a sort of invisible wall that keeps enemies at bay beyond a certain point, and despite a few bugs, lip-synching issues, and crashes to the desktop, the game ran very smoothly for me even on a midrange machine.

The User Interface also looks far more impressive in this new adventure, with everything given a great new look and a much better layout. Instead of a dark pallor that ran through the world and its menu system, the game now settles on more of a yellow-ish pallet. Players are now able to equip gauntlets, trousers, boots, trophies, and even start with 5 pockets to carry items around in instead of 1 like with the original.

The inventory screen shows item value in Orens to decide whether to keep an item to sell or drop it when making room, which is important considering the fact that Items now also carry weight with them, only allowing you to carry so much before you are overburdened. The upside to this is that you are now able to carry weapons and armor instead of only those you have equipped.

I would also like to note that I was able to import a saved game from The Witcher as it gave me the opportunity to do so, but I have yet to really see any different in the story or gameplay because of this option. The developers have mentioned that although the events in the beginning of the game are the same for everyone, some decisions that you made in the first game will be reflected upon in the sequel, but nothing that wasn't going to happen anyway based on your choices in the sequel. Although it is not that big of a deal, I would have loved to be able to use the same equipment or keep the money I had. However, due to the fact that this game is such a radical departure from the previous title, it was in a way inevitable.

The Witcher 2 certainly looks to be hitting all the right notes and settings itself up to exceed fans' expectations of what a fantasy game is capable of delivering in terms of production value and sheer spectacle of gameplay when it comes out next month. I implore anyone who is even remotely interested in the genre to give it a try, because for all intents and purposes, this looks to be an early contender for our Game of the Year.

For those of you looking to preorder, be sure to check out the news post we made about the preorder goodies that will vary by retailer, especially if you are looking for a copy of the soundtrack like I will be.