The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Xbox 360 Previews
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RPGamer:
The whole point of this presentation was to introduce neophytes like me to this great looking game and to reassure all of the fans of the PC version that this is indeed the entire Witcher 2 experience, only adapted for consoles. In terms of performance, the game ran fairly smoothly, even at this early stage. CD Projekt also hopes to implement a lot of the features of their REDengine, so you can expect smooth gameplay without any of the frequent loading gamers are used to in open world games like these. The game will be out on the Xbox 360 by the end of 2011. As someone who prefers to game on a console and doesn't have a PC that can run this game, I'm very excited for its release.
PAL Gaming Network:
The levels we were shown were from the very beginning of the game prior to the first chapter, with Geralt attempting to break out of a prison. The dynamic nature and options in the gameplay were just like in the PC version, where you can either choose to go about the prison stealthily without ever being spotted, or goad the guards in and fight them by hand. Depending on your approaches and methods, you may meet different characters on the way out and shift the way the game plays out so things never really happen the same way twice. CDProjekt has also shown that they intend to keep the brutal difficulty of the PC version intact, showcasing how easy it is to be punished in combat when you let your guard down. Tactics and cunning are highly encouraged, which is a great thing to see considering so many games like to hold your hand a lot nowadays.
CDProjekt gave some examples of the scale and depth to the game by playing out the prison escape in several different ways, with some involving characters you'll never see if you went through the dungeon another way. They also mentioned that just like on PC, if you can see it you can go there, so scale is certainly not getting trimmed when it comes to the console version.
Finally, CDProjekt will make it a note to support the console community just like they do the PC community; with free DLC and content from the get-go. The release of Witcher 2 on Xbox 360 will give players all the DLC that the PC version came with and more for no extra cost.
Gaming Excellence:
Anyway, the entire demo was to showcase that the engine (called the Red Engine), could run on the 360, which it did quite well. Compared to powerhouse PCs and their owners, what was shown won't be too impressive, and really there is no real reason to buy the game a second time.
For console owners that don't have access to the game on their computer, however, this is a title that should not be missed. Heck, they're even meeting their commitment on the PC of releasing all DLC and extra content for free, and applying it to the 360 as well. If you haven't played it yet, look for The Witcher 2 on the Xbox 360 when it comes out at the end of this year.
