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Preview of: The Witcher | By: Justin Fenico |
17 May-2006 |
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Set in a world created by Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher is a game about a man who has trained to be a warrior his entire life. This man, known as a witcher, is a member of a brotherhood that protects the people from the evils of the land. Killing the undead, werewolves, and other beasts, a witcher earns his living offering protection. |
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Two years later, The Witcher is still in development. Two years later, it’s still managed to grab my attention and captivate the RPG lover inside. Being labeled strongly as an adult fantasy RPG with very dark tones, The Witcher aims to bring a fresh feeling to the genre. A lot of times RPGs will be labeled as “dark” or “adult” because it features blood, or swearing; with The Witcher we’re talking about strong issues such as racism towards elves, dwarves and the main character’s constant struggle with his own identity. To think of The Witcher as some sort of savior would be a mistake. If anything, he might be labeled as “a gun for hire” showing allegiance to no one but himself and his clan.
The showing at E3 focused on three specific topics; combat, graphics, and the different type of choices you’ll have to make throughout the story. Combat, which has been my favorite aspect of this title from day one, branches off into three types: swift, strong, and group. Each style works more effectively when used against certain opponents. You’ll even be able to dodge/block your opponents attacks all in real-time. Using over 200 motion capture animations done by professional swordsmen, the look and feel is very fluid, life-like, and just plain fun to watch. No longer will we be forced to watch static attacks combined with mindless mouse clicking. These animations link together forming a stunning visual experience. There’s even a “killing blow”, a sort of finishing move that puts the icing on the cake. Using two main swords, one of steel and one of silver, you’ll be able to enchant them with magical items or runes. Magic is also another option as you’ll be able to learn fire spells, telekinetic blasts, and even mind control. With over 250 special abilities to unlock, it looks like there will be more than enough ways of generating carnage
Watching the demo play through and noticing how smooth the sword play has become only made me mystified how this engine could ever have been part of Bioware’s Neverwinter Nights title. Not that NWN looked horrible, but after four years it doesn’t have any type of eye candy that I can’t get anywhere else. The Witcher, on the other hand has so much to offer. Basically gutting out the Aurora Engine and rewriting it to incorporate the latest advances in Direct X9 technology, The Witcher features dynamic shadows, day/night transitions, beautiful weather effects, normal mapping, reflection/refraction in water, and a full physics engine. That means your telekinesis spell will actually throw barrels around, enemies will die realistically, and even heads that are chopped off will roll on the ground in the proper manner. CD Projekt even went as far as scouting cities like Prague to give the title a very renaissance and dark presence. They even used real life blueprints to create the different types of buildings.
The final point of the demo was all about choices. As I said before, The Witcher really isn’t a savior, nor is he evil. In fact, he’s pretty much void of all sentimental values. He gets paid to kill monsters because it’s what he does best. It’s what he’s been bred for since birth. That being said, there are many ways to get the job done. In the example shown to us, The Witcher captures a spy and begins to question him. Now at first we are given the option to kill the spy, torture him, set him free, or confer with the rest of your council. CD Projekt wanted players to feel as if every choice has a consequence, but the so called “good choice” isn’t always the right one. In this example, if we set the spy loose, our comrade is killed. On the other hand, if we killed the spy, we lose valuable information that could help save a close friend. The interesting thing to note about these choices is that the effect never pops up right away. This stops gamers from going back ten minutes ago and reloading the same seen over and over again until you get the so called “right” choice. Therefore, every choice matters and can’t be taken lightly. As it was said during the meeting “sometimes you have to choose the lesser of two evils”.
The Witcher has been a title I’ve kept a close eye on since I saw it back in 2003. Though I’m not a patient man, some things are worth waiting for. In the case of The Witcher, it was one of my highpoints during E3 and it will no doubt be a highpoint when it’s released next year.
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