The Witcher 2 is one of the most compelling rpg experiences in recent memories and is a great achievement in gaming.
Packaging:
The standard enhanced edition of the game is on two discs. The package also include a quest handbook, game manual, map and the original soundtrack in physical CD disc. If you were to snag the Dark Edition with some extra dough then you also get a lovely 200+ page art book, chained wolf medallion, stickers and making DVD all in a slick elegant cardboard box.
The Witcher 2 place you in the shoes of Geralt of Rivia, a witcher that is out to cleanse his name after being framed for the assassination of the King Foltest. The story of The Witcher is based on a series of books written by Andrzej Sapkowski. To briefly describe a witcher, they are monster hunters, mutants that have supernatural abilities. The game place you in the middle of battle almost straight from the beginning and you start getting some action right away. The Witcher 2 Assassins of King tells a dark tale that is for the mature audience involving real life situations politically and realistically.
Although Geralt swings his swords like crazy, this game is far from being a simple hack and slash. You will get ripped apart by even some of the weakest foes in the game if you go berserk like a drunk guy at a bar. The combat mechanics in The Witcher 2 require planning and strategizing sometimes even before battle. The first thing you should notice when you go into battle is that you have two different swords. The steel sword is for human enemies while the silver sword is for the ugly monsters. The difficulty of this game can be very unforgiving if one is impatient.
Geralt got to utilize all of the tools in his arsenal if you want to finish this game. One of the most important tool for battle is potions. You can built these potions from resources found throughout the game. These potions gives you benefits that will help you in fight. You can only use these potions before and not during a fight. Along with potions, you have magic. There are several type of magic that you can use ranging from immobilizing a foe to setting them ablaze. Like sword skills, these magic can become stronger as you level up. The combat certainly isn't for everyone but I personally enjoy it a lot. The one thing I most nitpick is the inventory system. There is a lot of compartments and it does overwhelm when you glance at it. You will get use to it but you can't help but wonder why it couldn't have been a little more simplify.
Like many modern rpgs, choices now play a huge role but for The Witcher 2, it may play the biggest yet. Let's take Mass Effect for example where there are many decisions. You pick lines to say and then you towards a path renegade or paragon(evil or good). The problem with these games is that you feel obligated to choose a path and stick with it because there is no reward for being in the middle. For The Witcher 2, the isn't a morality system that pushes you towards a certain path so you are free to do however you see fit. When you do make a decision, these decisions impact varies. One of the decision go as far as to actually change the environment around you. That's plenty impactful if you ask me. Having these impactful decision pretty much implies that you must play through the game a few time if you want to get the full experience.
There are plenty of side quests to do along with the main quest of the game. You are able to track these mission with a marker so you can focus on one mission at a time without ever getting confused at what your objective is at any given time. The main game of The Witcher 2 took me approximately 22 hours to complete and that is just with a few completed side quest. Doing everything this game have to offer and you are looking to at the very least double that amount. As touch upon on earlier, Geralt's adventure is something you want to go through a few times to get the full experience. One you are finished with that, there is also an arena mode where you go gladiator and fight monster after monsters. This is a neat feature because it add tons of replay value to the game. The Witcher 2 is a game that will keep you occupied for weeks and maybe even months if you are a completionist like me.
One thing also worth noting is that linearity of The Witcher 2 causes some of the side quests to be doable only at certain points of the game so you must do them before moving on to the main quest because there is no turning back. That also brings me to my next point. The saves. There is only twelve. For an rpg with several different paths, this is a small problem. You may quickly find yourself out of save slot if you save frequently and this causes you to be stranded on a save that you made a mistake with choosing the wrong dialogue by accident or if the result of the decision you made isn't what you wanted. The auto save feature in The Witcher 2 is very inconsistent and save usually after large sections of the game. You will likely want to save frequently or you could be back a few hours if you die.
Perhaps one of my favorite aspect of The Witcher 2 is the sound design. The voice actors CDProjekt assembled is top-notched. The voices are really convincing and they are really pretty much the best of the best in video games of all the games I have ever played. As great as the voice-acting may be, there is a very, very, very slight syncing issue. When talking to some random NPC, I notice that Geralt's voice occasionally sounds lower than the person he is talking to. Sometimes the voice volume matches between two character while other times it doesn't. This is minor complaint of mine.
The music in The Witcher 2 is fairly good. The themes meshes up with the drama almost as good as a 360 to Halo - eerie instrumental piece for dark moments of the plot and jolly dwarf theme at joyful environment at the bar. The outside environment sound in The Witcher 2 is probably what is most amazing in the audio department. The birds chirping in the wilderness, fire burning at the campsite and NPC talking while minding their own business all made the game almost felt very real and natural. There was even a moment where I had to take off my head set just to check if it was actually the game itself or it came from outside. And no I was not joking.
The Witcher 2 is a graphical powerhouse considering that the game is actually a port of the original PC. I've have seen the PC version up close in ultra setting and yes the 360 does not quite match up with it due to the limitation of the fairly aging Xbox 360 hardware but this doesn't stop The Witcher 2 for being one of the best looking game and best looking rpg across all video game consoles ever. From the lighting effects to the little details on the dwarf's beard this game looks amazing. The unique art direction of the Witcher 2 along with the power of the RED engine developed by CDProjekt bring new standards of what giant rpg games could look like if done correctly proving that it isn't much of the hardware but how you use them. With the upside to the visual, there also are some downs as well. The game screen tears noticeably from time to time and textual problem do occur when the camera moves quickly around from on screen to the next. Installing the discs to the hard drive does significantly reduce these annoyances but there is really no long term solution to will make it go away for good.
Final Verdict:
The Witcher 2 Assassins of Kings is a game I always wanted play but did not have a monster of a PC to do so. There was a lot of hype from the gaming community about it and it wasn't long until I soon joined the hype train after the 360 version announcement along with other console only gamers. I was skeptic at first because many high end PC already had problems running this on ultra settings so I wasn't sure how "well" the game would transfer to a current generation console but CDProjekt somehow managed to do the seemingly impossible.
Did the game live up to the hype at the very end? I am happy to answer with an assuring YES. The Witcher 2 Assassins of Kings(Enhanced Edition) is a fantastic game and should not be missed by anyone that call themselves a "gamer". The Witcher 2 holds almost every single important aspect of what a rpg should be and more. You are missing out in one the decade's finest if you do not pick this up. If it weren't for the few minor technical hiccups, this game is as good as gaming will ever get. I couldn't be excited enough for next title in this the series.
Pros (+):
-Gorgeous Visual
-Top-Notched Voice Acting & Overall Sound Design
-Engaging and Involving Story
-Fun Controls
-High Replay Value
Cons (-):
-Occasional Screen-Tearing
-Overwhelming Inventory system
Score (Overall): 95%