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The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
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Graphics & Sound:
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings arrives with high expectations, and it seems almost everything from the previous game was pushed to change. The graphics are much more resource-hungry and intensive. If you ran the first game easily, don't count on being able to run the second with the settings simply set low. However if you've got the rig, The Witcher 2 will reward you with gorgeous lighting, texture, and moody atmosphere. The facial expressions and gestures, in particular, got a lot of TLC this time around. There's a lot more subtlety in the eyes and mouths while characters are talking. And people have more believable hand and body movements to match the emotion they're conveying. The initial scenes in the dungeon are a perfect demonstration of everything that's been enhanced here. The guards interrupt their dice game periodically to sadistically, yet casually beat a bound Geralt. The dungeon is dark, with wet gleaming surfaces. Pools of light shine in through windows, and torches give a soft glow to their surroundings. As a side note, Geralt has not been made more handsome. He has a ponytail, and his eyes are much more dramatic, but no, not a touch prettier - just in case you were wondering.
While we're on the subject of graphics, the er, love scenes have been greatly enhanced too. While the scenes are a lot more animated now, they aren't any worse than anything you might find on a movie channel like Showtime or HBO. That being said, this is a Mature rated game, and it earns it.
The sound hasn't been given much of a makeover, but then it didn't need one. The music is still lovely and moody. Taverns are upbeat with jaunty little dancing tunes, while the cities themselves can have a bit more reserved, brooding score. The sound effects still put you right into your setting, with rain, dripping water, and wildlife all around you. The sad thing about The Witcher 2 is the lack of individual control over sound settings. You can't turn up the sound effects and then turn up the voices, for example. It's a shame, because the voice acting can really be muffled and drowned out by everything that's going on.
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Gameplay:
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings follows in its predecessor's dark footsteps. You start your journey in a jail cell, being interrogated by a special forces leader named Vernon Roche about the events that landed you there. You're to be executed for King Foltest's murder, unless your story convinces your jailer otherwise. As Geralt recounts his story, you discover that a war has been started over petty reasons involving Foltest's mistress and illegitimate children, Geralt was protecting the King until the very end until he was framed, and this Roche actually believes him, goes rogue, and frees him. Welcome back to Rivia.
The main feel of the game is still here. Your decisions are never clear cut, the consequences are sometimes difficult to foresee. There's very little that's black and white in Geralt's world, much like the real world. Exploring The Witcher 2 is like exploring every crevice of a big city: you'll find danger, you'll find dirt, you'll find the worst in people, but you'll also find good people trying their best.
Geralt still mixes potions, wields two swords, and uses magic to his advantage here. You don't have to relearn all your spells, here you start with a full arsenal. The concepts from the first Witcher are familiar, but honestly, even having played the first game and being familiar with all the spells, bombs, and tactics isn't much help here since the style of the game has changed quite a bit. You'd expect at least a brief tutorial mode to help you get started, but here you're pretty much tossed into the world - more on that later.
The fistfight side quest in particular has been made a little more interesting and it's also a good example of the way the game has changed. Now it's a Quick Time Event, instead of a click-click-click event, and the action is much more cinematic. Different fighters have different, dirty tactics. One guy will even pull Geralt's ponytail for a quick advantage (though Geralt will turn the tables if you do things right). And good old Geralt seems like he schooled in everything from mixed martial arts to Lucha Libre. Very entertaining.
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Difficulty:
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings would not be nearly so difficult if it had at least the tutorial mode that the first game did. You're thrown into combat with only a tiny tutorial window occasionally giving you a small hint. The tutorial doesn't stop the action either, as Geralt will most likely be eating the sharp end of a sword while you try to read the box. They're not always there for the first occurrence of a triggering action either. For example, you can play dice with a few different opponents, but until you meet the right opponent, you won't trigger the tutorial. Really, this game needs an in-game manual, at least. It truly does suck to have to switch from the game to the pdf manual when you're just trying to find your inventory (there's no generic catch-all menu when you pause the game now).
Learning curve aside, this Witcher is tough. I have no shame in admitting that I turned down the difficulty to Easy. Enemies are quick and will surround you, and you're not given much in the way of crowd control at the beginning of the game. It would have been nice if the beginning battles were at least balanced a bit to favor a beginner Geralt.
The Quick Time Events, even if you choose "Difficult QTE" in the options, aren't that difficult if you are even a halfway decent typist. It's like "Geralt Teaches Typing (but only for your left hand, and he's not touching anything under ASDF)."
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Game Mechanics:
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings really got an overhaul in the game mechanics department. I didn't expect the point and click scheme to stay exactly the same, but I certainly didn't expect this. It used to be that you'd work perfect timing to execute combos, and pausing combat to drink a potion or select a weapon. You could control the flow of combat, and stop yourself before the brink of death to consider your next option. Now, combat has been sped up, and requires a lot more dexterity and a mastery of keyboard shortcuts. You can pause combat to select a spell, or to change a weapon, but even this isn't a complete pause (time is slowed greatly, but it doesn't stand still while you're in this mode). This all wouldn't be too bad if it weren't for the almost nonexistent tutorial mode.
There are also surprises that gradually pop up throughout the game, one of which are the timers that show up during some conversations. If your mouse is hanging around somewhere else on the screen, you might not be ready to read all the responses and swing your mouse around to click the appropriate one. If you're too slow, a dialogue option is chosen for you, again, something a tutorial would have been perfect for.
Many things seem to have been changed to favor speed and moving the player along. Fights are quick, and force the use of shortcuts to excel. You'll need to whip the camera around to keep up with the action. Even the dice game, that was once all point and click, now has you delicately moving the mouse to control the power and angle of your throw.
I don't dislike change, but let's just say the The Witcher 2 takes some getting used to. Even if you're new to the game, it's going to take some trial-and-error to get started. Still, the pace of the game is refreshing, and combat feels more, well, involved. I'd say it feels more dangerous, but heck, it always felt that way. The Witcher 2 brings you back to a bigger, prettier dark world. It doesn't let you sleep for the ride either.
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-Fights with Fire, GameVortex Communications AKA Christin Deville |
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows XP/Vista/7, Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or similar AMD 1 GB RAM for Windows XP, 2 GB RAM for Windows Vista and 7, Nvidia GF 8800 512 VR or ATI Radeon HD 3850 512 MB, 16 GB HDD Space |
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Test System:
Windows XP, 3.20 GigaHertz Intel Pentium 4, 3 GB Ram, GeForce GTX460 768MB, Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS |
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