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When you get right down to it, E3 is a busy place. Well, perhaps busy isn?t the word for it ? more like hectic. If you are setting out to visit a booth or test a game, odds are a hundred other people are right beside you attempting to do the same exact thing. While they say this is the most efficient way to do things, it also means that the show floor lacks the personal touch. Sometimes the noise can be louder than the game you?re playing, essentially causing you to miss half the experience of the game.
On the first day of E3, while gathering our group at the top of the stairs in front of West Hall, a representative of CD Projekt, an RPG publisher-turned-developer based in Poland, approached us. They wanted to invite us to a little presentation of their upcoming game The Witcher, but in much less hectic surroundings.
Having not really heard of the CD Projekt or the game The Witcher before, we had no idea what to expect from them, really. According to the representative, CD Projekt was the largest RPG publisher in Poland, publishing games such as Baldur?s Gate, Icewind Dale, Diablo, Neverwinter Nights and Morrowind. So along came the final day of E3, and we decided to use our invitation to check out this game.
To get the media away from the hustle and bustle of E3, the guys at CD Projekt reserved a suite at the nearby Staples Center, which was infinitely more quiet, allowing a much more focused presentation. To begin with, there was the question of what is a ?witcher?. They explained to us that a witcher was sort of a monster hunter (kind of like Van Helsing). The witcher in particular to this game is named Geralt, and he is the most famous (or infamous) witcher of them all.
The game The Witcher is loosely based around the novels created by the Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The player assumes the role of Geralt, who is trying to regain his lost memory, and unwittingly becomes involved in a worldwide power struggle. The plotline of the game is really split into two pieces ? the global plotline, and Geralt?s own personal plotline. Both of these are important to how the game progresses.
The developers at CD Projekt have licensed the BioWare Aurora engine, and have done some modifications to make The Witcher a visually stunning game. Throughout the entirety of the demo, I was impressed at how the game looked ? there really was a lot of attention to detail. Along with graphics, the animation of Geralt was also quite good. According to the CD Projekt team, Geralt?s sword fighting animations were motion captured from experts in medieval swordplay, giving them an authentic flare. There were also numerous special effects, such as a poison effect, which causes little red dots to float around in your vision when you are poisoned.
The witcher Geralt has many weapons and items at his disposal, including swords, potions and magic. Geralt uses two different swords: a steel sword for human type enemies, and a silver sword for monsters. The swords can be smithed by you, and even enchanted for different effects on monsters. The spells that Geralt uses are called signs, of which there are five different types. Each sign can be upgraded through use, slowly becoming more powerful and diverse.
Another skill that Geralt possesses is alchemy. Using this skill, Geralt can make potions that allow him to see in absolute darkness, or even to move very quickly. The potions are usually made using toxins, so they will often have a side effect when used.
Of all the things that are usually important in an RPG, the storyline is usually forefront. This is also another area where I was really impressed. Many game adoptions of books or movies are quite linear ? following the book or the movie exactly, where each level in the game has a corresponding scene in the movie/book. This is not so for The Witcher. Throughout the game, you can make a lot of choices that will affect how the game progresses. The basis of your choices in The Witcher involves choosing ?a lesser evil? ? there really is no clear right or wrong. This large, winding plotline leads to three distinct endings, which will occur depending on choices made by the user throughout the game.
The interaction with different elements in The Witcher was also quite impressive. We were told that in some parts, you will have to go out and get drunk with a guy to gain his trust, kind of like going out with the buddies. When you drink alcohol in The Witcher, your character can actually get drunk, and you can suffer the consequences of your actions (slowed reaction, etc). The Witcher also moves into Geralt?s personal life, where Geralt is a known a lady-killer (yes, figuratively).
When you add all this up, The Witcher stands to be a very groundbreaking game in its own right. With all of the features that were presented to us in the (unfortunately) short meeting, it seems that The Witcher has a lot of potential to be not only a great storytelling vehicle (as any good RPG should be), but also a great experience for each player, as you may essentially choose your own destiny.
So far, no release date has been set for The Witcher, so just keep checking back for any updates. |
