The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Preview

After discussing the sequel's storyline, dialogue trees, mature content, and combat mechanics with senior producer Tomek Gop, GamesRadar has put together an informative two-page preview of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.
(I think that the story that we've written for The Witcher 2 is definitely bigger scale,) Gop says. (Whenever you make a choice, or do anything, you will see that it influences a lot more than one or two people. It might change history. We really pride ourselves on the moral ambiguity and choices you make. We don't put them in the game because we have to have ten choices per chapter, we just think that they naturally fit in the story that we've created. And the difference in The Witcher 2 is that the world is going to change a lot more in the second part depending on your choices. Places will look really, really different due to your actions in previous chapters.)

Gop promises huge-scale conflicts, with returning anti-hero Geralt now finding himself unwillingly embroiled in events happening on the international field. Although reticent to get involved in politics, Geralt's Witcher abilities inevitably thrust him onto the world stage. Having saved King Foltest from assassination at the conclusion of the previous game, he's forced into His Majesty's service, travelling through the land of Temeria on a mission to restore order.

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CD Projekt's experience honing the first game has given them plenty to think about regarding ergonomic design. Some of the original's more tortuous systems have been straightened out, says Gop. (We've made the combat system smoother,) he says. (It's not as visible when you're changing your combat stance. You had these combo sequences previously, and if you changed stance you had to start the sequence from the beginning. You had to decide first what kind of combat stance you used against certain kinds of opponent.

(We're trying to do it differently this time. We still have distinct kinds of fighting that you can utilise, and a distinction between fast and strong opponents, but you now have a lot of ways to mix them together without breaking the flow of the combat. You're not going to break the combo of your strikes if you just mash buttons, but if you want a more tactical approach to the combat, it's still going to be there. You'll also be able to combine the keystrokes to add some variety to your combat, using magic or throwing something. There will be a lot of possibilities.)