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The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Digital Premium Edition best price

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Digital Premium Edition - $39.99

User review

Shortly before I wrote this review I finished The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, and I wanted to wait a while and collect my thoughts before I posted this for others to see, to fairly assess my experience. After a few hours, I can't really say anything great about this game other than the graphics until I've played through the whole thing again. Though I still don't know if that's a good thing.. This isn't your average RPG, your average action game, your average fantasy setting, your average... anything really.

One Sentence Review (TL;DR): An exceptional game with some painful flaws but a twisting narrative to equal a memorable experience. (That really isn't for kids. The M rating isn't playing around)

Long version:

GRAPHICS:

This game is, in one word, beautiful. The graphical power is among the best ever made (there with Crysis and Metro 2033), however its use of those graphics to make memorable and engaging environments is sort of the anti-Metro 2033. It's just immersing and atmospheric, but in a fanciful sense instead of a grim and oppressive one. The character models are excellent and for the main characters expresses a lot about them.

STORY:

Our "hero" (and he is only this in a very loose sense of the word) is Geralt of Rivia, an amnesiac Witcher (a professional monster hunter, basically) trying to piece back together his life and memory, but being in the wrong place at the wrong time forces him into circumstances that prevent his leaving. What follows is a couple dozen hour adventure into a tangled criss-cross of many peoples' and factions' various power schemes vying for political control of the Northern Kingdoms, with Geralt often landing smack in the center of it all. The main draw here is the many points in the game where you make decisions on where the story heads next, best shown by the fact that depending on what you do in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and 3 are very, very different (even taking place somewhere else entirely).

Due to the sheer amount of information you receive, you'll just have trouble remembering which ones you're talking about. You'll need to keep a pad of paper and pencil handy as names of people and places are often given without context, and the games journal which gives you a breakdown of these is not accessible mid-conversation, often leading to situations where you'll have to make game altering choices about things when you're not entirely sure you know what's going on. To give an example, at one point a character says "Rachel betrayed me! That jerk!", Rachel being an NPC you were introduced to about 3~5 hours earlier and who has not been mentioned since then. Thankfully with the games roleplaying options Geralt can be played as indifferent about these developments as you might be.

GAMEPLAY:

A note on the prologue: The most recent patch has made the prologue much more forgiving for people new to the game, and all the complaints you'll read about it no longer really apply.

Combat is a free-flowing melee game similar to Arkham Asylum but with swords and magic, and while the combat is often very satisfying it lacks the visceral punch Batman brought to that series, and with the added RPG elements it brings some issues. There are 3 trees that our main character Geralt can specialize in, and each has its own flaw to annoy you from time to time.

The first is Alchemy, Geralt can brew dozens of potions with varying affects on him in combat, specializing in these allows you to drink more potions and to increase what they do. However, these potions only last a few minutes, cannot be drunk in combat and often cannot be drunk in areas where combat is likely to happen, meaning that much of the time you are fighting you might not even be able to use the strengths your character is playing to. Next are the Signs, Geralts version of magic. The spells are pretty cool and varied, but Geralt sometimes doesn't like to cast signs when you tell him to, leaving me in a sputtering rage as he dies because he was lazy. Last up is swordplay. You'd think, how could this be messed up? Well, it sort of is. If you don't lock onto your targets you will happily bound around the arena slashing at whoever Geralt feels like attacking, often resulting in you getting your stuffing beat out from behind because you rolled past 4 guys to hit your target.

Added onto this are several instances of poorly designed encounters, some of which you WILL have to die and reload to learn the strategies for so that you can defeat them. Most annoying of which are the quicktime events, which are pretty small and a dull orange color, which is really problematic as some of the events occur in environments that are mostly orange. It's pretty annoying. Once you get past these issues or just between times when Geralt's controls get you killed the combat is very satisfying and blowing up monsters and stabbing dudes is just fun.

I'd like to give this game a 3-Star rating due to the sheer number of times I was vexed by some poor game design, however for an experience this responsive to the players will and as a game that is obviously a labor of love, it deserves that 4th star. You just need to know what you're getting into.

More Details

• All of the following Witcher 2 Premium Digital content can be found in the "Digital Premium Edition Extras" folder within your Witcher 2 Amazon download directory.
• MAKING OF DIGITAL DVD - All the cinematic materials related to game - trailers, dev diaries, gameplay footage, interviews and making-of exclusive video.
• DIGITAL SOUNDTRACK AND DIGITAL PAPERCRAFTS - In-game music along with two papercraft dolls - Geralt and one random character for collectors.
• DIGITAL WORLD MAP AND GUIDE - A map of the game's world and strategy guide for both novice and experienced role-playing fans.
• DIGITAL GAME MANUAL AND PAMPHLET - A rulebook and interface explanation to help you get started. Including representation of one of the in-game items.

In Brief

The second instalment in the RPG saga about the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, features a thoroughly engrossing, mature storyline defining new standards for thought-provoking, non-linear game narration. In addition to an epic story, the game features an original, brutal combat system that uniquely combines tactical elements with dynamic action. A new, modern game engine, responsible both for beautiful visuals and sophisticated game mechanics puts players in the most lively and believable world ever created in an RPG game. A captivating story, dynamic combat system, beautiful graphics, and everything else that made the original Witcher such a great game are now executed in a much more advanced and sophisticated way.

DEVELOPER: CD Projekt RED Brief Story Description After helping to stop the rebellion undertaken by the Order of the Flaming Rose and saving King Foltest’s life, Geralt became one of the central figures of political turmoil in the Kingdom of Temeria. Geralt continues to protect the King in the monarch’s mission to bring peace to his state. The last bastions of the Order yielded to the royal army. The only remaining task is to pacify the rebellious castle of Baroness La Valette, who announced separation from the Kingdom. It’s been a month since the attempted assassination of the king, when his army arrives at the gates of Baroness La Valette’s fortress in preparation for the final battle. In the meantime, Geralt, stuck with Foltest, cannot begin his personal quest - to discover the origin and identity of the mysterious witcher-like assassin responsible for the attempt on the king’s life - a quest that would answer many questions... Key Features A truly epic, intense, emotionally charged adventure with non-linear game narration. Three independent plot lines with several alternative events are dependent on the player’s choices and lead to multiple different game endings and several additional plot forks. This time gameplay time will be shorter than The Witcher 1, but more intense and packed with events. A complex, realistic and mature story touching upon subject matter seldom seen in other RPGs, told in a manner that is understandable and attractive to contemporary gamers. We investigate the assassinations of the rulers of the Northern Kingdoms and follow Geralt’s personal theme, in which he’s looking for his own identity. Gradually we learn how powerful forces influence our situation and what role they order us to play. Rich, mature dialogue as found in Andrzej Sapkowski’s book series and The Witcher 1, presented in highly filmic cutscenes and dialogues sequences, thanks to a new game engine. New, improved system of flashbacks. Now the reminiscences of Geralt, in which we observe the link between our past choices with current actions, are realistically and smoothly woven into the gameplay. Sex and eroticism will be introduced in a much more realistic, involving and mature way, thanks to which sexual relationships are presented more credibly than in TW1. Unique, deep, consistent and rich game world established in a series of best-selling books by A. Sapkowski and recreated in the game to provide an incredible, believable story-driven experience. Believable, true-to-life characters with their own motivations and goals. During our journey we meet ordinary men, soldiers, rebels, powerful mages, rulers and their assassins. Depending on our decisions we meet different game characters, and our relationships shape further actions in the game. Highly varied, breathtaking locations, which thanks to the new engine create a cohesive, fully accessible world! Rich, living world in which every character has their own way of life and unique occupations. Our actions modify the relationship with the game-world population and, in the case of the main plot line, open or close the possibilities of interaction with the game world. Greater freedom of exploration to provide increased game realism and a wider range of new tactical options. Geralt will surmount barriers, jump over fences, scale walls and ascend rock formations.