UPBEAT iGamer Video Game Review

by Cochaman Peef with additional editing by John Mundazio

Atari's 'The Witcher™'— The Sum of Cool Parts!
The Witcher, if you haven't actually been following, is a third person RPG developed by CDPROJEKT and published by Atari based on the works of Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, and uses the popular Aurora engine, which in turn is the driving force behind the ever popular Neverwinter Nights series. I’ll start by saying the one definitive thing about this game that crosses my mind; It is certainly one of the better RPG’s I’ve played. Let’s face it, I was never big on Gothic, and never fancied my chances on Two Worlds going by some of the reviews, but I’d been tracking The Witcher for quite a long time. So, as a whole, I’d never been huge on the third person RPG genre in the style of Gothic and such, but now I’m totally in love with The Witcher (hell, I had to pry myself away from a 4 hour session just to write this review!). The graphics, as individual pieces, aren’t hugely phenomenal by current gaming standards, lacking a lot of advanced techniques in some places. However, the graphics culminate into way more than the sum of their parts, to create unique areas that really hit you upon seeing them. The graphics at their best settings are good, but not hugely great— about on par in most aspects with Oblivion, you don’t often notice the visual hit when changing from medium to high and back either, meaning there isn’t a huge gap between graphics settings, don’t be afraid to sacrifice a bit of eye candy for those essential frames, you won’t miss much. Beware, that some (minor) graphical glitches can make you wince, such as clipping, and the occasional bad animation, especially during the combat and fist fights.

Conventionally, most RPGs follow a similar pattern of decision; The good option (whereby the right people live and the deserving people die), the mercenary option (mostly being paid to carry out what is essentially the good option) and the bad option (some good people may die because you want them to, end of story.) The Witcher, however, takes a far different approach; each choice will have consequences, you can’t usually have everything, for example; do the sinners die for their crimes? Or would you see them burn the Witch, who, despite doing nothing essentially evil, pushed them along a little bit? On one hand, you’re potentially freeing a bunch of murderers, on the other, you’re condemning someone of far lesser (by my judgment, perhaps not yours) crimes to a horrible death. Your Choice.

Also, unlike what some other RPGs promise, your choice really does affect everything around you— often much later down the line, which means saving your game pre-choice isn’t usually a viable option for experiencing every alternative. Combat is deeply satisfying, even though the dodge maneuvers which have been implemented into the combat aren’t awfully useful unless you’re really stuck in a rut. The swordplay is excellent, but lack of control on the players’ part can make it seem repetitive, but don’t get me wrong, it’s never dull to watch. It can, however, be hard to execute in the early stages of the game; before you quite understand it and before you start distributing talents. With a bit of practice though, it doesn’t have a massive learning curve. UB

Titles rated "Mature (M)" have content suitable for persons ages 17 and older. These products may introduce more intense violence or language than products in the Teen category. In addition, these titles may also include mature sexual themes.