The Witcher Enhanced Edition - Choosing the lesser of two evils, again! (The Witcher (PC))

Member Name: Zalkawe

Product:	The Witcher (PC)
Date:	12/06/09 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of depth, compelling storyline, player driven plot

Disadvantages: A few repetitious enemy spawns, some minor broken mechanics

The Witcher, based on the popular short novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, was first released in 2007 by little know Polish game publisher Red Studio. It was widely known to have broken game mechanics and be full of random irritating bugs, thing was it was also an absolutely cracking RPG.

Roll on the enhanced edition released in Europe in March 2009, whereby several gigabytes of patch fixed umpteen game mechanics, added a ton of new animations, a load of new content and made sure every second person didn't look exactly the same.

The game itself is an RPG with considerable scope, combining real time action with levelled progression. You take on the role of Geralt one of the few remaining Witchers, an order of professional monster slayers. The plot is thick and completely non-linear, progressing in line with moral choices you make in interacting with NPCs. Different choices have any number of outcomes so it is wise to choose carefully (and save regularly).

Although not having the same scope as a free roaming MMO the size of the game and the genuine effect you can have on the world is impressive. The moral aspect is incredibly well done; characters are deep and suitably duplicit meaning that there are a lot of hard choices to make.

There is a lot of depth here; I lost count of the random side quests I discovered. Unusually (and refreshingly) many of those quests had off shoots of their own that felt genuinely worthwhile, adding to the narrative without (usually!) affecting the main story's progression.

If I have any complaints they would be minor, some of the monsters character models are somewhat repetitious and simply not being able to walk off even a low ledge feels strange in a modern game, indicating that some of the mechanics still aren't quite right. They also haven't quite managed to crack the notorious real time vs. levelled combat system dynamic either, although they have given it a damn good stab (a far better one than Fallout IMO).

One other point is that there are significant adult themes, including a lot of sex, so although that might be a selling point for some this really isn't one for the kids.

I really recommend this game, all in it's a class act and at least an 8 out of 10 on my incredibly arbitrary rating system. One extra tip is that if you can find an old copy of the game, the enhanced edition patch is available to download free from Red Studio's site, I didn't tell you that though (go and get it!).

Summary: Deep plot driven RPG that combines real time action and level based development.