The Witcher E3 Previews

GameSpot and ThinkGaming each bring us a new preview of CD Projekt’s The Witcher, after seeing the RPG firsthand during this year’s E3. A snip from GameSpot’s article:

We watched several different demonstrations of the game in action. The first demonstration showed off the game’s combat system, which can apparently be handled with nothing but your mouse in one hand. However, despite the control scheme’s ease of use, the combat system seems to have surprising depth. You’ll apparently be able to left-click your mouse to swing your weapon and right-click to perform evasive maneuvers, but your timing and spacing will determine exactly what Geralt does. For instance, right-clicking on a nearby space may cause Geralt to simply sidestep, while rapidly right-clicking on a spot further away may cause him to hop or tumble backward. On the attack, since Geralt is an expert swordsman, he can attack with a series of vicious combination swings and thrusts by clicking the left mouse button in sequence with onscreen cues, and he can also choose from numerous different fighting styles, such as “strong,” “fast,” and “group,” which are effective in different situations.

And a snip from ThinkGaming’s article:

The fighting system animation has been based off of more than 200 authentic motion-captured moves. It runs quite smooth, although it feels like it lacks a bit of complexity and customization. The movement and fighting style is quite similar to Diablo in that is just a mouse click to move and attack. There is the ability to choose from three different fighting styles: strong, swift, and group. Although there are not that many choices, these styles are quite interesting. They allow you to implement particular attacks to take advantage over certain monsters and their weaknesses. The demo we were shown with the different fighting styles did run very well and seem quite promising. There are also just a few magical spells and special blows that add to the combat system.