The Witcher - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 31st Oct 2007, 10:44

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2007/10/31/the_witcher/1

Wide open areas, dynamic weather and lighting, epic fantasy and a classic role-play structure - could The Witcher be the next must have CRPG or is it cursed to be just another mediocre title or worse? There's only one way to find out and that's to read the review!

Veles · 31st Oct 2007, 13:44

So it's great from a gameplay and story perspective but a bit buggy and the graphics are a little bit of a let down?

My copy of the game is in the post right now, quite looking forward to it, the skill system from that screenshot looks very similar to the VTM system. I think I'll probably love this game.

Mathmarauder · 31st Oct 2007, 14:00

The Witcher is actually based on a great series of books by the same name. The game follows the literatures story pretty well which is uncommon for a game. The amnesia might seem like a cop out on the story but if you read the books it will make sense. It also explains some of the fighting and reasons why Witchers only get the rudimentary magic.

naokaji · 31st Oct 2007, 14:17

i love it.. just two things are not so perfect...
1st, if you die and load a savegame there is no way to skip the cutscenes, so you have to see them again.
2nd, it makes you forget time... dont fire up the witcher at 10 pm... or the next time you'll look at your watch it will be like 4 am....

other than that its a good candidate for Game of the year

(not going to comment on story to keep it spoiler free)

btw, i have not had it crash once yet...

CardJoe · 31st Oct 2007, 14:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by naokaji

i love it.. just two things are not so perfect...
1st, if you die and load a savegame there is no way to skip the cutscenes, so you have to see them again.
2nd, it makes you forget time... dont fire up the witcher at 10 pm... or the next time you'll look at your watch it will be like 4 am....

other than that its a good candidate for Game of the year

(not going to comment on story to keep it spoiler free)

btw, i have not had it crash once yet...

Crashes are supposed to be very prone under Vista from what I've found. You can skip cutscenes though - esc for actual cutscenes and just click to skip a line of dialogue.

naokaji · 31st Oct 2007, 14:48

weird.. esc worked for the intro movie.. but not for the ingame cutscenes... well, maybe it was just me going crazy at 4am lol...

pendragon · 31st Oct 2007, 17:31

wow... i so need to get this... thanks for the review, joe!

Spaceraver · 31st Oct 2007, 18:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Article

so if you want to use the mouse in the OST viewpoint

Page 2 of article. Third and fourth paragraph "Over The Shoulder" = OST? Shouldn't that be OTS, or am I getting something wrong?

Sorry to correct your spelling Joe, a very small slipup that has me baffled.

shoelace1976 · 31st Oct 2007, 18:34

Joe

Thank you for a great review of the game. I have been following this game because a friend of mine who is Polish LOVES this character. Apparently, the character is a cultural icon born from a series of books from a famous writer in Poland. From the way my friend describes Geralt, it sounds like he is Poland's Indiana Jones. After reading your review however, I realized that the hype for many in Europe for this game may come from these books. I am going to play it probably and enjoy because I love role playing games that are design in this manner. However, for us, in U.S. is this something new? I don't think so. Especially since we were playing games like Planescape: Torment and the like. Am I going to think its the greatest thing ever. Probably not. But I know it will be fun and solid a solid game.

Cupboard · 31st Oct 2007, 18:48

I sense a "hot coffee" type mod coming for this...

Sparrowhawk · 31st Oct 2007, 19:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cupboard

I sense a "hot coffee" type mod coming for this...

I, too, can see where hot coffee might work. It's a shame some very modern countries have such a backwards, puritanical view on the human body.

zerolock · 31st Oct 2007, 20:12

looks interesting, might try it some day and hell yeah, I want hot coffee

DXR_13KE · 31st Oct 2007, 23:32

that woman has a nice pussy.........

cat.

Woodstock · 1st Nov 2007, 02:45

hmmm looks awesome, and if i wait till i get a decent rig, and those "issues" should be fixed

CardJoe · 1st Nov 2007, 07:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by DXR_13KE

that woman has a nice pussy.........

cat.

Lol, I did think the kitten in the crotch was a nice touch. Reminds me of a dylan moran sketch about male genitalia.

"Wouldn't it just be nicer if there was a kittens head there and you just tickled his chin 'til he threw up...or something"

Luukas · 1st Nov 2007, 09:52

I skimmed through the review, so I may have missed it, but I think it's worth mentioning that the combat turns atrocious the moment you drop to ~20 or less fps (IMHO, of course). In addition to making timing combos harder, commands just don't seem to follow through.

I used 4xAF / 2xAA / 1280x800 and had everything except textures on low, and the game still dropped to 10-15 fps in some areas. Most of said locations were, unfortunately, very much combat oriented. This was on a E6400@3 / 2GB / 7600GT / XP.

edit:

The game has, so far, only crashed twice on me, with a bug preventing the completion of one minor quest in act IV.

CardJoe · 1st Nov 2007, 10:24

I only got FPS problems in one or two areas and then it wasn't attached to anything I could see and playing through that same bit later had no problems whatsoever. When the FPS did drop though it went through the floor, forcing me to restart, so it didn't effect combat for me.

Torwald · 1st Nov 2007, 11:39

The first polish game I am proud of

I think at last World will see that we CAN make good games.
Nice review too, I haven't got a chance to play it yet but it sounds promising.

kosch · 1st Nov 2007, 12:20

I love this game being playing it the whole weekend. Running @ 1920x1200 with everything at max on a 8800 Ultra.

Its great to finally find a game with good graphics and a proper story line!

yakyb · 1st Nov 2007, 12:37

its a fantastic game love it to bits

31st Oct 2007, 10:44	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	The Witcher http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2007/10/31/the_witcher/1 Wide open areas, dynamic weather and lighting, epic fantasy and a classic role-play structure - could The Witcher be the next must have CRPG or is it cursed to be just another mediocre title or worse? There's only one way to find out and that's to read the review! __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

31st Oct 2007, 17:31	#7
pendragon I pickle they Join Date: May 2004 Location: Massachusetts,usa Posts: 632	wow... i so need to get this... thanks for the review, joe! __________________ -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- GCS d-@ s-:>: a- C++$ UL---@ P++>+++++$ L+ E----@ W+++ N o? K? w++>+++++ O---@ M-- V? PS--() PE+@ Y? PGP-@ t+(+++) 5(+)@ X@ R+(++) tv@ b++ DI@ D++ G e++>+++++ h! r(%) y? ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

31st Oct 2007, 18:48	#10
Cupboard I'm not a modder. Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Bury St Edmunds/Durham Uni Posts: 1,847	I sense a "hot coffee" type mod coming for this... __________________ i7 920, 8800GTS 512, 6GB Corsair all in an Intel DX58SO; 3*320GB RAID5; CM Stacker Samsung Q45.

31st Oct 2007, 23:32	#13
DXR_13KE Madeira's banana is the best!!! Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Madeira ; Portugal Posts: 6,476	that woman has a nice pussy......... cat. __________________ *Renegade X - 0.40 Release!* <---- CLICK!

1st Nov 2007, 02:45	#14
Woodstock So Say We All Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,657	hmmm looks awesome, and if i wait till i get a decent rig, and those "issues" should be fixed __________________ Hell hath no fury like a hippo with a machine gun.

31st Oct 2007, 14:00	#3
Mathmarauder Supermodder Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Houghton, MI Posts: 355	The Witcher is actually based on a great series of books by the same name. The game follows the literatures story pretty well which is uncommon for a game. The amnesia might seem like a cop out on the story but if you read the books it will make sense. It also explains some of the fighting and reasons why Witchers only get the rudimentary magic.

31st Oct 2007, 18:34	#9
shoelace1976 What's a Dremel? Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1	Joe Thank you for a great review of the game. I have been following this game because a friend of mine who is Polish LOVES this character. Apparently, the character is a cultural icon born from a series of books from a famous writer in Poland. From the way my friend describes Geralt, it sounds like he is Poland's Indiana Jones. After reading your review however, I realized that the hype for many in Europe for this game may come from these books. I am going to play it probably and enjoy because I love role playing games that are design in this manner. However, for us, in U.S. is this something new? I don't think so. Especially since we were playing games like Planescape: Torment and the like. Am I going to think its the greatest thing ever. Probably not. But I know it will be fun and solid a solid game.

31st Oct 2007, 20:12	#12
zerolock Minimodder Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Coldness of Finland Posts: 33	looks interesting, might try it some day and hell yeah, I want hot coffee

1st Nov 2007, 09:52	#16
Luukas Minimodder Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Finland Posts: 37	I skimmed through the review, so I may have missed it, but I think it's worth mentioning that the combat turns atrocious the moment you drop to ~20 or less fps (IMHO, of course). In addition to making timing combos harder, commands just don't seem to follow through. I used 4xAF / 2xAA / 1280x800 and had everything except textures on low, and the game still dropped to 10-15 fps in some areas. Most of said locations were, unfortunately, very much combat oriented. This was on a E6400@3 / 2GB / 7600GT / XP. edit: The game has, so far, only crashed twice on me, with a bug preventing the completion of one minor quest in act IV.

1st Nov 2007, 10:24	#17
CardJoe Player Character bit-tech Staff Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 8,001	I only got FPS problems in one or two areas and then it wasn't attached to anything I could see and playing through that same bit later had no problems whatsoever. When the FPS did drop though it went through the floor, forcing me to restart, so it didn't effect combat for me. __________________ this is joe's non-bit-tech blog

1st Nov 2007, 11:39	#18
Torwald What's a Dremel? Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: At front of my PC Posts: 16	The first polish game I am proud of I think at last World will see that we CAN make good games. Nice review too, I haven't got a chance to play it yet but it sounds promising.

1st Nov 2007, 12:20	#19
kosch Trango in the Mango Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Cambridge, UK Posts: 192	I love this game being playing it the whole weekend. Running @ 1920x1200 with everything at max on a 8800 Ultra. Its great to finally find a game with good graphics and a proper story line! __________________ [b]Really needs updating! - http://www.kosch.co.uk/

1st Nov 2007, 12:37	#20
yakyb CK is God!!! Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 1,073	its a fantastic game love it to bits __________________ Gaming Box:: q6600 @3.0 :: 9800gtx :: Abit IP35 :: 4gb :: 1.4TB :: akasa eclipse :: Win7 Development:: PhenomII 955BE @3.2 :: 4200 :: asus M4A785 M Evo :: 1.25TB ::Win7 Media Centre :: q6600 @3.0 :: x1950pro :: asus p35 epu :: 8gb :: 320 GB :: Lc17B :: Win7 server:: I7 860 :: p55 gd65 :: 3450 :: 8 TB :: 8gb :: Rebel 12 :: server 2008 R2