The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is a member of the race of third-person action-RPG developed by CD Projekt RED promising Polish team initially exclusive to the PC platform and published in May 2011. The reason why we went back to talk about a title released last year is that, in the meantime, the impressive range of game has been enhanced with exclusive content free for PC users who have already purchased, being able to boast of the words Enhanced Edition . But the most important thing is that The Witcher 2 in the revised edition, enlarged and corrected has been successfully converted for Xbox 360, going up close to undermine the throne of best action-RPG for consoles, held at the time by discussing Mass Effect 3 BioWare.
Of course, the environment and combat mechanics are literally thousands of years apart, but the soul that feeds the heart of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings shows some affinities with the latest controversial work of BioWare, offering a refined embroidery narrative where the main character always plays a determining role in each of his choices, proud modulating the entire gaming experience and leading to a final shortlist of sixteen possible, although inevitably scripted, give the illusion that any decision has had a decisive role in the resolution of events.
Compared to the original The Witcher (also graced by a reinterpretation Enhanced and available at a great price on the Steam digital delivery platform), the gameplay of Assassins of Kings had already been granted at frequencies far removed from the initial point style & the click of a production designed for an audience of players accustomed all'accoppiata mouse and keyboard. In The Witcher 2 for Xbox 360 adaptation of the work has gone beyond all expectations, materialized in a perfectly functional input system available via pad, without great sacrifice compared to the flexibility of the original. Of course, the immediacy of a click of the mouse to equip a weapon or change the clothing was necessarily resized, and benefits from the shoulder buttons to navigate through menus revisited. Other small sacrifices were made, such as the inability to choose what to collect the items left on the ground, obbligandovi a posthumous selection. Unnerving, initially, the sighting system of objects and characters with whom you can interact, but with a little 'practice it will go into the background. The overall result is still commendable, and for those who have never tried the PC version, is not at all what, in reality, it was found necessary to bargaining.
The plot of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings takes the reins of the events narrated in The Witcher, but with a jump time in the history of a handful of months. The protagonist is Geralt of Rivia, also known as Gwynbleidd, in the Language of the Ancients: The White Wolf. Belonging to the caste of the Witcher, is a relic of a distant past in which human beings were changed through the use of special blends of herbs and teas, gaining superhuman reflexes, incredible agility, the ability to see in the dark and other qualities that made them perfect killing machines in the service of the highest bidder. Their purpose was to protect humanity from the monsters, but times have changed and the services of the Witcher are not so popular, in fact turning into a ever-shrinking minority of mercenaries, some of which are completely unregulated. Geralt finds himself involved in the killing of a regent, and in an attempt to clear his name and find the real regicide ventures into a fantasy world full of charm, in which political plots merge with timeless tales of love, where the Dragons are an endangered species and between elves, dwarves and human blood does not flow good ... Indeed, blood will flow too.
If you already initially the fantasy storyline of The Witcher 2 (divided into a prologue, three acts and an epilogue) was rich and complex, the Enhanced Edition has been enhanced with new and wonderful animated intermission sidequests and alternative, that bloom in the third act as the beautiful flowers on every corner and every conversation, dragging the player into a fantastic fantasy world that gives a nod to the best literature of the genre. So gorgeous in this regard, during the initial events of the second act of the game, the mention of Tolkien One Ring, the symbol of the imaginary fantasy to which The Witcher 2 owes much of its charm, without wanting anything away from the literary work of ' Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, which are based on either playful chapters in the saga of The Witcher.
Sapkowski is theorized to be the world of intrigue and betrayal, paid sex and true love, fighting with bayonets, but imbued with the rune magic of Signs. In this context, dark tones, so complex and mature, even where there is space equally bad language on the lips of men and women, there will (wisely) even humorous moments. That's The Witcher 2 wins both the avid RPG both the casual player who thought he might need just another shooter action. Just try it once and experience the hard way the need to take a decision on the fly, while the hourglass press, to yield to the inevitable suspension of disbelief, identifying himself with no way out in the charismatic protagonist, Geralt of Rivia.
But the new features in the Xbox 360 can not be reduced solely to narrative carvings and decorations, including reviewing the balance of gameplay by introducing an introductory mission is to all intents and purposes a real game tutorial, after which, based on your performance in combat, you'll also recommended the most appropriate level of difficulty to play the game the first time. Yes, because despite the boundless longevity ensured by a single playthrough, The Witcher 2 deserves to be replayed at least a couple more times, to experience more and different approaches to moral issues that will be submitted to, or choose new alliances and see where they take you, or even groped to persuade a specific person using a violent approach rather than a diplomatic judgment. Too bad that is inexplicably and mysteriously disappeared Arena mode, a minigame style Horde focused on a tournament fight, which had, however, already enriched the PC version for the previous release of patch 2.0.
The combat system is a carefully balanced mix of action and strategic elements that strictly, requiring higher levels of difficulty an alternate use of two blades supplied with the Witcher (a noble silver, more effective against monsters, and the other cold, sharp steel, lethal in humans, elves and dwarves) and magic of signs, but only after careful preparation of potions to drink beforehand and special ointments in which dip their swords. Also essential to use bombs and traps and deadly throwing knives, but only after you have found the recipes to make them or have them built by the capable hands of a few good blacksmith. Almost every aspect of combat is handled in real time, except for the selection of spells and secondary weapons, allocated to a practical radial menu that recalls the aforementioned Mass Effect, but without giving the player a relaxing break during which study with all calm the situation. Selecting this menu in the action, in fact, you get only heightened perception of reality, in fact turning a slow motion effect allowing you to ponder a strategy of attack ... but with a bit of performance anxiety, induced by the unceasing flow of time.
Compared to the smooth version, the Enhanced Edition for Xbox 360 is also a lock of the adversary system, which thanks to the pressure of the left trigger, and information provided with the right analog stick allows you to review all the possible targets, according to a scanning Circular of the battlefield surrounding, or according to their distance from Geralt. The reality, though useful, this option may often be put aside in favor of a more free and instinctive approach to combat, unless you have a strategic need to delete a specific opponent, such as in the case of attacks by several Nekker: necrophagous warriors often controlled by a few elements more dangerous.
Already present as in the past, but apparently optimized, the system of dodges side and parades, no longer constrained to the use of the Vigor and enriched by countermoves in the case where you have developed the relative abilities. Always present in the formula game clashes and events based on quick time event not really exciting, as well as mini-games of dice, the arm wrestling and wrestling, were all essentially unchanged ... and, perhaps, would have also benefited from minor finishing.
Like all self-respecting RPG, The Witcher 2 is also, ultimately, growth dynamics of the character, which are a result of experience (in combat and at the completion of each quest primary or secondary) allow for the enhancement. Each time Geralt levels up, to reach a maximum of thirty, will make available items that can be invested in a complex system of Talents, divided into four main areas that affect the yield in sword fighting, alchemy skills and magic of the protagonist. Each individual talent can be enhanced up to two times, and some may be further refined, using special genes mutagens collected from carcasses of enemies. Hear of genes and mutants in a fantasy without initially a bit 'crowded out, but the issue is rooted in the plot and will not fail to be resumed in admixture with the concepts of medicine and magic, arousing a sense of profound shock against a product of unchallenged value.
Technically it's been done a great job of adapting the powerful proprietary engine RED Engine to the hardware features of the Microsoft console, scaling intelligently detailed environments and graphics, giving to those in whole particle and reducing the sources of light in favor of the fluidity constant screen refresh. Well-implemented anti-aliasing, although not comparable to the filters available on the cards for hi-end PC. The overall graphic impact, despite the clear cuts and some unexplained impairments (such as specific events in the early stages of meditation, which appeared in the background transparency of the menu), can easily compete with the proper proportions, with the average retail- Top of the glorious edition for PC. A bit 'of screen tearing will inevitably live, especially during intermission sequences, generated almost always with the high quality game engine, but weighed down further by luxurious effect of depth of field, of course, an excessive burden on the graphics chipset the Xbox 360.
The characterization is flawless, also because of an artistic direction of the first level which guaranteed a working models polygon and texture of rare beauty. Strongly recommended the installation of both DVDs, for a total of 15.4 GB hard disk, in order to streamline the frequent loading times, while enjoying a higher refresh rate of the texture and overall quality of a 'image far superior than the classical use of optical media. Epic, as always, the soundtrack. Abandoned, for the record, dubbing in our language adopted in the first Witcher, in favor of a sumptuous sound localization in English, flanked by manicured Italian subtitles. And even if there was clear ... we went back to talk about The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition because it is a masterpiece not to be missed!
The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings Enhanced Edition for Xbox 360
The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings Enhanced Edition for PC (Windows Vista / 7 / XP)