The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Preview

Voodoo Extreme shares their impressions of The Witcher 2 press build in this three-page preview, and it’s pretty clear that they were quite impressed with CD Projekt RED’s latest effort. A sampling:

The development team stayed true to the quality of the storytelling and RPG elements of the first game, and then took just about everything else to the next level. We’re talking a drastic overhaul of the game engine, professional voice-work for all characters, true day and night cycles, NPC schedules to go with the time of day, and an evolution the gameplay in general. A typical sequel these days usually involves just making content within the engine that already exists, but from the looks of it CD Projekt started with a fresh foundation when The Witcher 2’s development kicked off.

I only was able to play through the Prologue and Act I, but that chunk of gameplay in itself took several days to progress through, and I loved every minute of it. Considering that I was playing a “preview build”, I couldn’t help but be impressed with just how much gameplay the preview slice offered. What I did see got me very excited, and provided nearly as much play time as some first rate titles do in their entirety.

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Oh and those pesky sex cards, they’re gone. Who needs sex in a game anyways, right? Well, actually, Geralt does. The dude is a love machine! Ok, maybe not as much as he was in the first game but the opportunities to get a little wild with the ladies are still there. When sex does happen it’s not hidden away with suggestion and a nudie card. Instead unique graphic scenes play out revealing most of the goody bits in full view, at least those that a fan of Playboy would consider appropriate. It’s also done is a tasteful manner, so no whips and chains or anything freaky. Well, at least based off what I’ve seen so far (although I did spot a couple of old school wooden dildos, as seen in a screenshot in the gallery!).

I’d imagine the question most people want to know most though is if The Witcher 2 is if going to disappoint as a sequel, or even as a first experience. Absolutely not on both accounts. CD Projekt seems to have struck gold again thus earning its place among the ranks of the old kings of RPG like Black Isle, Origin, Bethesda and Bioware. If there’s any studio that RPG fans should be standing behind now it’s CD Projekt Red.