The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings review

Another welcome addition to this sequel is the inclusion of stat-boosting customizable loot such as armor pieces, monster trophies, weapon runes and special diagrams detailing recipes for particularly powerful gear that you can have crafted for you. The sheer amount of content that this game throws at you is almost on par with open-world games like Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion... almost. While the main quest can run you a good 20-25 hours if you’re trying to hit some sort of speed record, the overly abundant side quests can easily tack on another 20-30 hours. Other distractions include minigames like betting money on dice (a fun take on poker), arm wrestling with the local guardsmen and bare-knuckle boxing with tavern drunks.

Above: These things are called nekkers. Seriously, fuck nekkers

The most rewarding hobby in The Witcher 2 is the execution of a successful monster hunt. For every village, soldier encampment and castle you visit, there is witchering that needs doing and in order to successfully complete these monster contracts, you’ll need to do your homework. The game tracks your knowledge of various monster breeds, which governs how effective you are in combat against them. Expanding your knowledge involves either digging up tomes detailing your target’s weaknesses or actually doing battle with the monster in question, although the latter is much slower and more dangerous.

Above: Hope you did your homework

This process becomes even more involved when you accept larger contracts for one of the game’s set-piece monster battles. While this approach to gameplay might seem like an exercise in tedium, the side work actually makes the final confrontation all the more exhilarating. CD Projekt seems to have taken some inspiration from action games like God of War and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow as each of the monster boss battles are surprisingly grandiose. Engaging these beasts with all of the appropriate traps, weapon oils, potions and battle tactics to have the whole thing go off without a hitch is beyond satisfying.

It%26rsquo;s going to be a good year

The Witcher 2 couldn’t have been released at a better time - that is to say, six months before Skyrim. Not that The Witcher 2 is a simple appetizer to hold us over. Don’t get me wrong because it deserves better than that. Every aspect of this game speaks to its incredibly high quality. Likewise, the branching storyline, multiple endings and various ways players can level Geralt will ensure tons of replay value for the serious role-playing gamer. It may not end up being the best RPG of the year, but it’s most definitely one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played.

All of you PC purists can feel free to start trolling console users in the comments section now.

Is it better than...

The Witcher? Yes. While the original game offered a truly fantastic RPG experience, there were just too many problems bogging it down for The Witcher to be considered a classic. The Witcher 2 takes all of the foundations laid out by the original and improves upon them tenfold.

Dragon Age II? Hell yes. Whereas both games streamlined their role playing elements, Dragon Age II committed a mortal RPG sin: it ditched both player customization and challenging strategic combat for reasons I’m not entirely sure of. The game’s focus on framed narrative also butchered any type of plot cohesion and made Hawke’s epic tale seem more like three bite-sized stories. Likewise, Dragon Age II recycled more than the whole of Green Peace.

Mass Effect 2? No... but they're basically equal. Witcher 2 wins outin terms of moral dilemmas. Whereas Commander Shepard runs into a handful of ethical conundrums that force you to pause the game and seriously consider your next course of action, Geralt has droves. The utter ambiguity of The Witcher 2’s world forces players to frequently choose between the lesser of two evils as opposed to simply deciding whether you want to be “right” or “wrong.” Mass Effect 2 is an utterly fantastic game, but it still suffers from a mild case of “donate to the orphanage or burn the fucker to the ground” syndrome.

Just for you, Metacritic!

Truly a labor of love, this amazing sequel fortifies the foundations laid down by a flawed classic and creates a brilliant masterpiece. Visceral combat, dizzying player customization and a truly immersive story all come together to create one of the best role-playing experiences of the year.

May 17, 2011