The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Reviews

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Written by WorstUsernameEver on May 30th, 2011

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Prior to this review, we completed The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings twice to see just how different things can be, and are now beginning our third playthrough, as we're curious about what other massive changes can happen throughout. CDProjekt have only made two games since their inception, with the first being something of a flawed masterpiece and the sequel now arriving to abolish the flawed part. We can happily say it's just about succeeded in that aspect, although the game is held back by initial launch bugs and issues that hurt the overall package. Full-screen errors, some crashes and controller malfunctions in the middle of combat are but a handful of some of the bugs encountered, and these did hurt the game overall.

With that said, it's possible that these issues will be rectified in due time (with some already completely fixed), and if you can ignore them completely or begin your playthrough prior to a patch... you can see where the score would go. While the gameplay is by no means perfect, and the story may not be to everyone's tastes, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is an in-depth, complex and powerful RPG with an immense level of detail poured into every nook and cranny. This is a game that paves the way for what RPGs of this kind should strive to be.

Witcher 2 might have sounded like a perfect game till now, but unfortunately a pretty long list of technical bugs drag the score down. One of the most common issues that I came across was the lack of proper collision detection. Geralt's attacks would sometimes make no connection with the Dragon (boss fight), which might actually frustrate some players. Characters disappear all of a sudden when a conversation ends and sometimes the player can't enter an open door.

CDProjekt were kind of enough to send me the Digital Premium Edition which sells for about $45 at gog.com and the game was packed in with extra goodies like art books, pamphlets, game guides and more. For me that offer is a steal. Not to mention that the game in itself is an achievement, but these small add-ons goes a long way in deciding the value for money factor for gamers. It was also recently revealed all DLC for the game will be free which I think will add a lot of value to an already great game. With Witcher 2, Cdprojekt have shown the video games industry that money can take a back seat and gamers will be put first. Overall, Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is a landmark game in the esteemed history of PC gaming.

The Witcher 2 shows that PC exclusives still merit a very respectable place in the video games industry. It has beautiful graphics, but it's backed up with a story that's more than capable of holding its own. Add to this, a game with an challenge that's rewarding and a combat system that rewards a methodical approach and you have one of the best RPGs you'll see this year.

The Witcher 2 is hands-down, one of the best RPGs I've ever played. Naturally, I'm a die-hard BioWare fan, so to see this amount of effort put into an equal if not better product is something I'm immensely happy about. I have another thirty hours to put into the game in order to complete it, and I don't think I'll regret it in the slightest. With the new patch, any issues that I would have had previously with glitches or bugs have been for the most part patched up.

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