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E3 2011: Witcher 2 for the Xbox 360 (Impressions)

by: Chuck - posted: 6/9/2011 10:44:00 AM
More On: E3 2011 The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
Game: Witcher 2 (360)
Developer: CD Projeckt
Release Window/Date: End of 2011
What's polished: Awesome Witcher 2 action coming to the Xbox 360, great writing, fantastic graphics
What needs polish: Are console players ready for something this complex?

My appointment with CD Projekt for The Witcher 2 was a bit awkward today as I don’t think I was supposed to be there. The tone of the presentation was aimed at educating a console audience that had not heard of the game and was intended to introduce them to a series that PC gamers have known about for a little less than 4 years.

The audience wasn’t familiar with franchise badass Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster slayer blessed with a quick blade and an arsenal of magic at his hands. They didn’t know about how deep the RPG elements of the game were or how the series is known for its great writing and its deep morality system where your decisions have long term repercussions. And they certainly didn’t know about the hyper violence and nudity that are the calling cards of the series. I think I may have heard a light popping sound when they mentioned that the game has 16 different endings.

What I did notice is that the game hasn’t lost any of its visual splendor in the translation to the Xbox 360 and that the game is still one of the prettiest RPG’s out there. I’m interested to see how the final code runs on Microsoft’s console but the code I saw in the demo ran without a hitch (although it did crash once).  The folks at CD Projekt allow you to control the PC version with the Xbox 360 so there's no need to worry about how the game will be controlled on the console

It’s worth noting that the Xbox 360 will get all of the same free DLC and content that the PC folks are getting as all of it will ship on the disc when it’s released at the end of the year. That should be a lot of good stuff as CD Projekt has already released a few DLC packs for the game.

I’m interested to see what the console folks make of The Witcher 2 as it’s one of the deepest, best written, and robust RPG’s ever produced. I just hope the console folks are ready for it.