The Witcher E3 Previews

The folks at RPG Vault and FiringSquad are both offering up new E3 previews of CD Projekt’s The Witcher. A snip from RPG Vault’s article:

The game appears to incorporate a compelling combination of core elements. The setting contains many familiar fantasy archetypes but still exudes a distinctive personality. Combat, which is naturally a significant aspect of the play, looks gripping, with over 200 animations, a selection of attacks emphasizing speed, strength and effectiveness against multiple opponents, a quick but not frantic pace, and a control system in which timing your mouse clicks properly produces increased damage. Also of considerable interest is a moral emphasis wherein decisions have both positive and negative consequences, meaning there is no clear best choice. This also suggests high replayability. As you can easily see for yourselves, the visuals are both detailed and highly attractive.

And a snip from FiringSquad’s article:

Another unique feature of The Witcher is that it has a fully mouse-driven control scheme. In the game there is no need for keyboard controls, even during combat. Attacks are driven entirely by clicking, but there is method to it rather than mere Diablo-style madness. Proper timing of clicks, as indicated by the cursor, will set off combos on your foe. You also have the choice of styles fast, strong, or group and should choose appropriately based on your situation in combat. The mouse even permits defensive tricks like diving away to dodge with a mere double-click. Being an RPG, the key is character progression in stats as well as story, and Geralt, the central character in the Witcher books as well as the game, can improve his skills for longer combos, power attacks and even deflecting arrows with his sword. Combat is quite fluid, thanks to roughly two hundred different combat animations, though we’re not certain if these are exclusive to Geralt, human characters in general, or all beings in the game.