The Witcher (The Witcher (PC))

Member Name: sharpe106

Product:	The Witcher (PC)
Date:	06/03/09 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good story

Disadvantages: Poor voice acting

The Witcher is a role playing game for the PC and was released in 2007. The game is only playable single player and has only been released for the PC at the moment.

The Witcher whilst based in the world from the books by Andrzej Sapkowski is not based on the stories it is set after the books although a lot of the characters from the book are in the game, so if you have not read the books it will not harm your enjoyment of the game just give you a bit of back ground knowledge if you have.

The game is set in a medieval type world and you play as Geralt of Riva who is a witcher, who has unnatural abilities. The game starts with you saving daughter of King Foltest from a curse which transforms her into a monster.

This starting gives you a quick insight into the game before the main game starts five years later after you have been found unconscious in a field and taken to the stronghold Kaer Morhen. You have lost your memory and the game proceeds with you trying to find out what happened to you whilst you get mixed up in a power struggle.

The game is separated into five main acts each set in different areas and needing you to complete different missions, although the game is non-linear and you can complete each mission different ways. You get to interact with many different characters both foes and friends and each choice and action you make changes the course of the game, not every choice is either good or bad, and what you decides to do changes how other characters interact with you.

You can carry up to two main weapons, choose from up to six different combat styles, and you can also carry several different potions which can do anything from increase your health or help you see in the dark, you can learn how to make more complex ones as the game goes on. As in most role playing games you can upgrade your character from attributes, combat skills and magical powers.

Controls/Graphics

The controls are pretty easy to use most of it is controlled by the mouse. You can play the game either over the shoulder or top down if you wish. The graphics are very good with a high level of detail, the main problem of the game is the cut scenes which although are very well written and look good and help to forward the plot the voice acting is pretty poor but as this game was originally made in Poland you can easily overlook this.


Difficulty

The game itself is not really that hard to complete as a bit of practice and you will be able to improve your character so you can take on any enemy although it might take awhile for you to get to that level.

Value for Money

A very good game that is well written with a good plot and good graphics, the game is fun to play and is the game is pretty big and takes quite awhile to complete. There is also three different endings available so once you have completed the game you can easily play it again to try and get a different ending.

Additional Information


Although the game has only been released for the PC at the moment . a version for the console is planned titled The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf to be released at the end of 2009.

Also unlike other games when you install the game if your computer is not able to meet the requirements of the game you can not play it, so you have to download a patch to be able to bypass this.

System Requirements

System Requirements Windows XP (with SP2) / Vista
2.4GHz Intel Pentium 4, AMD Athlon 64 +2800 or equivalent
1GB RAM (XP) / 1536MB (Vista)
128MB nVidia GeForce 6600, ATI Radeon 9800 or equivalent (DirectX 9 compatible with Vertex Shader/ Pixel Shader 2.0 support)
8.5GB HDD Space
Sound Card (DirectX 9.0c compatible)
Speakers or headphones
DVD-ROM Drive

Difficulty - 7 out of 10
Game play - 9 out of 10
Graphics - 9 out of 10
Story - 9 out of 10
Value - 9 out of 10
Overall 9 out of 10

Summary: A great role playing game with a good story and fun to play