The Witcher Reviews

Two more highly positive reviews for the Witcher have appeared. Yahoo! Games’ short review rates it 4/5.

But it’s far from a run-of-the-mill tale. The Witcher’s eponymous hero lives in a dark and seedy world packed with intrigue, plot twists and difficult moral choices that, for once, have a real effect on the game.

Many games have tried to do this and few have delivered, but The Witcher is one of them. Decisions you make early in the game will come back to haunt you, and not in the transparent light-side/dark-side format that you might have seen in Bioware games. In The Witcher, almost everybody is either corrupt, a crook, immoral, or downright insane, and you’ll often have to pick between sides that are all, at best, morally dubious. If you’re used to having your hand held through more conventional role-playing games, you’re in for a shock.

IncGamers longer review gives it a 9.

As has already been mentioned, The Witcher is visually stunning. I have played my fair share of graphical marvels in my time, but the attention to detail in this game is astounding. Everything from the character models and animations to the backdrops and weather effects are superb. Any screenshots that you may have seen do not do justice to the game when it is actually in motion. Yes, it really does look like that all of the time. Normally the game’s main character is focused on more than anything else as it is he who the player will see most of the time. In The Witcher every single character is subject to this scrutiny and every minute detail is accounted for. It is this attention to detail that not only put other developers to shame, but also makes me wonder how long this game must have been in production for! Okay, I admit that the generic NPC models are reused on quite a few occasions, but that is totally forgiveable for the amount of effort that has gone into them.

One of my earlier experiences in the game highlighted just how much thought had gone into the game in regards to presentation alone. There I was, engaged in a drinking contest with a dwarven buddy of mine, downing pint after pint and getting quite drunk. The room was literally spinning, the camera went in and out of focus – I had achieved the beer goggles effect! Geralt himself was a little worse for wear, really struggling to just stand up and staggering sideways whenever I tried to move him anywhere. I decided to find a campfire to rest until my intoxication wore off; I was in no fit state to defend myself if I was attacked. Just for amusement I decided to talk to the local trader on my way out of the tavern and what transpired next had me speechless. Geralt, still struggling to remain on his feet, was slurring his words! The merchant didn’t seem to react to me any differently to me than he would have done if I was sober, but I’ll forgive that little transgression.

Spotted on RPGWatch.