The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

I recently heaped praise upon Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning for the accessible and unintrusive player experience it offers. I am about to heap an equal amount of praise upon The Witcher 2 that may seem at odds with my love of how Reckoning was presented. The Witcher 2 is both complex and, at times, punishingly difficult. Its complexities were clearly forged during its birth as a PC title where such things are welcomed with open arms but they may take a console gamer by surprise. The original PC release left even hardened PC gamers disoriented, the up side of this being the wealth of fan made guides and tutorials now present, several of which I put to good use during my time with the game. The developers eventually patched in a full and official tutorial to version 2.0 of the game and thankfully this is present in this ‘Enhanced’ console release.

You should however still be prepared to have your face kicked in several times during the opening few hours of gameplay. Combat can be harshly punishing and inventory management is a daunting task. However, as you edge your way closer to level 10, things will begin to find their place. Unlocking a few combat skills, such as being able to block attacks from the side and extending your dive distance, will make combat much more manageable. You should repeat the following to yourself over and over, ‘I am not playing Assassin’s Creed’, because while the combat may look and feel similar, any attempt to use familiar tactics will lead you on a fast track to the game over screen. Case in point, a blocked attack still damages you, didn’t see that coming did you?

While these complexities are initially frustrating, the game quickly becomes hugely rewarding. There is a sense of achievement in overcoming the challenge that I’ve never found in the likes of Dark Souls. This is likely helped along by the astoundingly well written character driven narrative of The Witcher 2 and the near perfect realisation of its living breathing world that both looks and sounds quite astonishing. While some of the mechanics of interacting with the NPCs that inhabit the world are a little clunky, the interactions themselves are extremely engaging leaving you wanting to complete their side quests purely for the reward of further interaction.

There is little doubt though that the real star here is Geralt, he just might be the most rounded and likeable video game character I’ve encountered, he’s certainly the most bad-ass. I hesitate to use that somewhat moronic phrase but there really is no better description. Having only played a little of the original Witcher I was concerned that I might not connect with Geralt but there has been an obvious effort made to cater for players in that situation and through a series of flashbacks and promotional trailers you will quickly be brought up to speed and ready to begin your hunt for the titular ‘Assassin of Kings’. On the subject of regicidal assassins, you must be sure to watch the pre-title screen intro video in full, not only does it depict a key event from the story but it is absolutely stunning.

What really leaves The Witcher 2 standing apart from most fantasy video games is the maturity of its narrative. The original Witcher title was known for its use of sex and nudity and while these are still present in the sequel they are now less pronounced and much more natural leaving the story to shine through. The nature of Geralt’s quest is serious and somewhat urgent but side quests and exploration are effortlessly woven into achieving his ultimate goal of revenge. As he often says, he is still a Witcher and Witchers make their living hunting monsters so it doesn’t seem at all odd to take on a quest demanding you kill ten of something simply for monetary gain. The question of morality is also tackled in a more mature way, throughout the game you will be given choices that, even though you are well informed about the situation, will not be clearly defined as good or bad. Often it is just a choice that will lead to events playing out in a particular way that could not have been predicted one way or the other. During conversations you will be given choices to charm or intimidate people but in both cases these can be used with the best intentions. There are very few times when the game drops ‘a video game bit’ on you.