Gaming The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings Preview

I've never really given any RPG's a chance, working in game development I tend to spend hours in front of various editors and when it comes time to play, I like something fast paced.

Main reason I'm going to get this game is due to there bold anti DRM stance, I want to help it pay off for them and hopefully show the industry it was the right thing to do (The company I work for has long taken an anti DRM stance, but it's very significant to see it for a AAA title). Although I tend to prefer my games attached to steam works I've pre ordered straight from GoG.com. And who knows it could be the start of my love affair with RPGS

 

Preordered, now just to wait for Dragon Age 2 and grind that until May.

 

Seems to me that those Bit-tech peeps present at the demo were too busy looking out for some sex and weren't paying enough attention to the actual goings on in the game, lol

 

Mass effect (1 or 2) to my mind had more role playing in it than most "proper" RPG's did.

 

That was user votes, not bit-tech themselves, if i remember rightly. Mass Effect 2 is probably not the rpg purist's choice, but it is an accessible and well made game experience.

 

For me good RPGs aren't just about the role and the character development, but the story development as well. Witcher was great (based on enjoyment of the game I've even bought the books that are translated to English, unfortunately only the short stories ("The Witcher") and the first novel ("Blood of Elves") in the series are available so far.

Regarding Mass Effect as RPGs.....sorry, ME1 was great, and ME2 was going well (although the characters all seemed a bit more "cliche'd" into specific roles -- the reluctant/dying/sensitive assassin, the Cerebrus tormented genius gorgeous chick with a past, the ultrapowerful abused child physic prodigy, etc -- until the final boss just ruined it for me.

SPOILER ALERT DON'T READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED ME1 or ME2!!! (It pisses me off but I don't want to ruin it for others)






We understood from the end of the first one that the Reapers "needed" biological organisms for some reason, hence the technology bait to build up followed by the repeated return from deep space every aeon to 'cull'. The return of the Prometheans as modified puppets of their former selves was a nice reveal. But when the Reaper being built from human bodies is a giant stupid pseudo-robot skeleton with giant "SHOOT ME HERE DUMBASS!!" H.U.D. markers on gushy bags inside it....oh dear god. Unfinished reaper or not, it was like they didn't even try. I mean, compare that with the fight down the spine of the Citadel having to fight off Soverign's minions and the ship's batteries on the way... Such a complete and total story failure from what was a great buildup until then. Nearest equivalent final boss fail: Borderland's "prize" for opening the Vault being some stupid tentacly blob that just took ammo and no real skill to put down. Sigh.

 

Sounds great, I didn't like The Witcher but this one sounds much more my kind of thing. It's nice to have an alternative to Dragon Age 2 as well, in case that turns out a bit lame.

 

Preordered