Trailer
THE WITCHER 3 : WILD HUNT
Review by JamesPaul Jun 5, 2015
About
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an action role-playing video game set in an open world environment, developed by video game developer CD Projekt RED. Announced in February 2013, it was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 19 May 2015.The game is the third in the series, preceded by The Witcher and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, which are based on the series of fantasy novels by author Andrzej Sapkowski.
Visuals
Visually, “The Witcher 3” is one of the most detailed games to date; it shines on PC’s capable of running the game on its high or ultra graphics settings. In terms of game design, however, it feels like something that could have been realized during the previous generational cycle. You’ll still hear the background chatter loop around at tiny intervals. And the character animations don’t appear more expansive than what you might find in an Assassin’s Creed game.Structurally, there is little to differentiate “The Witcher 3’s” multiple-choice conversational system from BioWare’s Mass Effect and Dragon Age games. And console players have had the opportunity to contend with overwhelming 3D, open-world RPGs at least since Bethesda Softworks released “The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind” back in 2002. (For the record, that is the first game that I can recall regularly dreaming about.)
Gameplay
In true sprawling RPG fashion, that’s not all that The WItcher 3 is about: finding Ciri isn’t the crux of the game’s narrative. Other power struggles come into play later on, and then some other stuff happens, and then… the whole world is at stake and you’re the one to save it. It’s a fantasy RPG, after all, and while the ending is typically grandiose and heartstopping, the main thread would feel a bit rote without its minor story arcs. You won’t care so much that the world is at stake unless you’ve made the effort to learn a bit about it via sidequests. And while newcomers won’t feel punished for skipping the first two games, they’ll miss the rewarding familiarity of old characters and references. To accommodate new players, dialogue options are sprinkled with opportunities to gain background information on plotlines involving historical events.
The PC advantage is obvious when it comes to combat, which benefits from a mouse and keyboard. Due to Geralt’s syrupy movements the ability to more rapidly adjust the camera with the mouse is a saving grace, especially when the game’s lock-on system leaves a lot to be desired. It definitely locks on, but when it comes to scrolling through enemies on the battlefield it’s less than ideal. It’ll usually take a left-to-right approach, rather than a back-to-front approach, which doesn’t work well when you’ve got more than three enemies baying for your blood, and one right up in your face.
Stories in role-playing games aren’t the be-all and end-all to the genre, as gameplay needs to have solid foundations, since you spend a lot of time interacting with the game’s mechanics that they need to be good to keep you playing to the end. That said, having a captivating story can help in building characters, craft an interesting world or make the journey through the game memorable. Previous Witcher titles featured good stories, and the second game began to show that the developers could bring multifarious adult topics, such as racism, politics, violence, and rape, without cheapening the game or the content it was trying to display. CD Projekt Red’s writers have stepped up their game in not just bringing a fantastic story, but actually infusing the game with worthwhile short stories that aren’t part of the main quest. There is no denying that telling a story is one area that The Witcher 3 truly excels in.
Screenshots
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Developer
Publisher
Genre
Release
Starring
Platforms
CD Projekt RED
CD Projekt
Action - Role Playing
May 19, 2015
Geralt
PC, XB1, PS4
+ Well Placed Characters
+ For RPG lovers
+ Beautiful Visuals
+ Addictive Upgrades
+ Jaw - Dropping Combat
- Few Bugs
- Mid-PC's can't play this !!!
Combat
Combat returns improved over the previous game, including more strategic implementations and smoother animations. It still rather straight forward in execution, with Geralt keeping his trademark silver (for monsters) and steel swords (for humans) that can be slashed in quick or heavy strikes. Additional options are used to keep the action from becoming mindless. Geralt has access to five magical signs, and can use various items from his ever growing backpack. Humans are weak against Igni, a fire-based sign, while wraiths can only take real damage when trapped in an Yrden magical trap. If you are expecting Souls-like combat from this RPG, then just stop, because it’s not nearly as finely tuned as the Japanese hit, but, there’s a lot here that is required from the player. For example, special potions need to be crafted and applied to blades to deal effective damage on monsters. It builds on the concept of tracking and hunting a monster, finding out what the beast is and creating the best method to take it down. When you are fighting monsters or large groups of humans around your level, the buffs, signs (mind control is a great one) and learning how to parry are vital in keeping you alive in battle. Interestingly, combat does not offer much experience, as most is offered as rewards for completing quests, giving the game a focus on beating tasks above grinding in combat. If you do jump ahead in the story and then return to areas later at a higher level, then the combat does become more button-mashy, as there are no level scaling enemies featured in the game. The automatic lock on, the one where the game will lock to an enemy to make it easier to hit them (think Batman: Arkham titles) can cause Geralt to miss attacks, as unlike Batman, the game doesn’t drag Geralt closer to the enemy to hit. This means it can cause an issue when you accidentally move the camera away from an enemy, causing the game to calculate a new target. Best thing to do is use the target lock-on, which stops this issue, or don’t mash attack.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt debuted at No. 1 in the UK software sales chart in its first launch week and the income grossed by the game is 600% higher than predecessor The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. It was also the best-selling video game in the UK in 2015 as of 26 May 2015, breaking the record previously held by Battlefield Hardline.
REVIEW
I
this !