Game designer Jakob Stilinsky says that the console version (for PS3 and 360) will be a little slicker. It'll feature extensive use of motion-capture for the character animations, have better lighting and environmental effects, improved enemy AI and full achievement and trophy support.

Seeing as this game is yet to be officially announced (this obviously being a leaked promo), we've tagged this as rumour until Atari make things a little more official. Just in case there's one person in the world who thought it'd be funny to fake a leaked developer diary for the console port of a Polish PC role-playing game.

[via Eurogamer]

The Witcher Sells One Million Copies In A Year [Gamasutra]

3:55 PM, the LA Convention Center. Everyone is tired, and you can see the media room starting to slow down — people wander by with exhausted expressions on their faces, looking at their watches and lighting up when they realize there's not much left in the day. Even Crecente has passed the point of being totally with it, pausing in the middle of sentences to stare off into space. I shuffle off to check out Atari's E3 offerings, and am met with a surprisingly cheerful staff who point me in the direction of caffeine. I am not caffeinated enough to face a spiel on Deer Hunter Tournament, so I'm sat down to await a demonstration of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition. I hear something about transport options from the person enthusiastically imbibing what the Deer Hunter guy is saying — 'Oh cool, so you're planning on having like, ATVs and stuff?' — and am glad I'm parked in front of The Witcher instead of one screen over. More impressions and details after the jump:

So, The Witcher isn't new, but the whole presentation focused on the improvements made to the game. After apologizing for already having given the presentation five times in a row, Tomasz Gop enthusiastically explained what the 'expanded edition' really expanded upon (and kept coming back to 'fan suggestions'). The expanded edition features over 5,000 lines of totally rewritten and rerecorded script, as well as a whole new German script created from scratch (was it that bad?). In addition to the script itself, a slew of new dialogue animations were added to make characters look less like wooden blocks and more like dynamic people. Monsters and NPCs are still based on the same character models, but have gotten randomly generated clothes and colors to shake things up a bit. Further, the inventory system has been improved and makes for easier storage and sorting; there is also an easier system for collecting loot after battles. Importantly, load times have been significantly reduced. Another nice feature is the ability to play with any combination of the available subtitles and voice tracks; we watched a scene with a Polish voiceover and Chinese subtitles.

The boxed edition will feature two new adventures, the adventure editor, the official soundtrack CD, a CD of music inspired by The Witcher, a game guide, "The Witcher" short story by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski, a map of the Witcher world, and a 'making of' DVD. Already bought the game? Don't want to shell out again? Never fear — everything will be available for download if you purchased the original version. The enhanced version is expected out in September of this year.

I was then shunted over to take a look at the PSP and DS versions of N+. The handheld versions will feature 350 levels and 150 coop and versus multiplayer levels. Players will be able to create their own 'playlist' of levels, as well as get lots of unlockables. The level editor will enable people to design and share their own levels — the download and upload process is fully integrated, and by utilizing a 'purgatory server,' the DS friend's code hell will be bypassed (this was a point that was mentioned very excitedly). N+ will be coming to PSPs and DSs next month

From one DS game on to another — I thankfully didn't have far to go to look at What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver, and by this point was wondering exactly how these Atari people were remaining so chipper and upbeat. This is a reasonably detailed cooking simulator (unsurprisingly); I didn't spend too much time with the actual gameplay, but the guy demonstrating did allow me to try my hand after he scorched some prawns. It's ... a cooking game. A detailed cooking game with really complicated recipes.

However, the 'special feature' that was apparently most exciting was the inclusion of lots of real Jamie Oliver recipes, the ability to create shopping lists based on those recipes, and using the DS as an ultra-portable cookbook/list maker. Now, I like to cook, but I'm not sure I'd pop my DS on the counter — sounds like a recipe for electronic disaster when DS meets boiling liquid or something. Still, the fact that the game comes with a book's worth of (actual) recipes is kind of cool. It will be out in December in time for a Christmas '08 release.

Finally, I headed over to look at the second expansion for Neverwinter Nights 2, Storm of Zehir. The first feature noted was the expanded party editor, now featuring full party customization of up to four party members. There has also been several new classes added, though the only one mentioned in any depth was the "swashbuckler." The party conversation system was demonstrated, with answers and questions being based on intelligence, sills, class and so on. A new, detailed overland map has been added that is a walking map — no more zooming from place to place. The maps are completely moddable, and also feature traps and other surprises that players can interact with via skills.

A mercantile aspect has been added, and trading and quests can help improve your merchant empire in the world — as well as make an impact elsewhere. New monsters will be popping up (the ones I saw looked very nice, even though the game hasn't been entirely 'cleaned up' yet and looked a bit dank in places). The message I was left with was "Lots of new stuff! New races, classes, feats, spells, enemies ... did I forget anything? Yeah, lots of new stuff!". The expansion is due out in the fourth quarter of 2008.

I'm assuming they also fixed whatever it was that was letting me kick so much ass in the beta version, as evidenced by the frustrated comments in the original post. Only one way to be sure though...head over to The Witcher: Versus and challenge the powerful sorceress Kotaku to a duel. Muhahahaha.

The Witcher: Versus [CD Projekt Red]

The Witcher Enhanced Edition Release Date [Official Website]

"CD Projekt has always been oriented to gamers' needs, so releasing an adventure editor for the modding community is an obvious move. It's quite a demanding tool, however, and it will bring loads of satisfaction to many of the fans. After all, we made The Witcher with this tool," said Adam Kiciński, CEO, CD Projekt RED.

Create New Legends With 'The Witcher' Adventure Editor, Plus First New Official Adventure For Fans

Atari Announces the Launch of the 'D'jinni' Adventure Editor, 'Price of Neutrality' Adventure and Patch 1.3 for CD Projekt's Acclaimed PC Role-Playing Title

LYON, FRANCE - 14 April 2008 - Atari today announced the release of the D'jinni beta adventure editor and Price of Neutrality adventure together with patch 1.3 for The Witcher, the PC role-playing opus from Polish development studio CD Projekt RED which continues to garner high praise and new fans the world over thanks to its unique blend of mature fantasy universe, tough decision making and intense tactical combat. The first official adventure and patch 1.3 are available for free download via www.thewitcher.com, with a separate free download available containing the D'jinni beta adventure editor.

"CD Projekt has always been oriented to gamers' needs, so releasing an adventure editor for the modding community is an obvious move. It's quite a demanding tool, however, and it will bring loads of satisfaction to many of the fans. After all, we made The Witcher with this tool," said Adam Kiciński, CEO, CD Projekt RED. "We've also prepared the first official mod with a completely new adventure which will be available to download for free."

The Price of Neutrality is the first official adventure from the team at CD Projekt and features around two hours of gameplay during which the player is introduced to the other witchers in more detail following their brief appearance in the original game. Populated with new NPC's and other new graphical assets, the adventure takes the player into the little explored outskirts of Kaer Morhen in a compelling story with tough decisions and more than one possible ending. The adventure text is localised in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Polish. In the same download, patch 1.3 readies the game for playing the new adventure.

The English language D'jinni beta adventure editor will let fans craft complete new adventures for Geralt using the existing graphical assets, maps and environments in the game. By creating new stories, cut-scenes, graphical effects, dialogue and gameplay actions, users of the adventure editor can let their imaginations run wild predicting the turmoil and tests waiting in Geralt's future, or even filling in the missing years between the close of Andrzej Sapkowski's last Witcher novel and the start of the game.

Based on the universe created by best-selling Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher puts players in the role of Geralt, a professional monster slayer who exists on the fringes of a complex society troubled by the kind of problems more commonly found on the front pages of newspapers than in a fantasy universe. Taken as a child, mutated, and trained in the arcane ways of the witchers, Geralt is a reluctant hero, who nonetheless finds himself all too frequently in the heat of battles that are not his own. In this world there is no right or wrong, only decisions and consequences.

The Witcher is available now at retailers across Europe as a standard game pack and as a Limited Edition containing a wealth of exclusive content. For more information about The Witcher visit www.thewitcher.com and for more details about Atari's entire product line up visit www.atari.com.

-ends-

In Europe we are quite used to see many forms of sexual expression in fine art, books, films and even on television. The games are not seen much differently then. In order to see sexual references or various forms of sexual acts (although softer ones) we never had to cross over into pay-per-view TV or head off to the seedy part of town.

If we stay within the limits of good taste, without being explicit, we had always known that whatever we showed in The Witcher would be acceptable for our target, mature audience without banning us to some kind of 'porn' games ghetto... We just want to let mature gamers — the audience we created the game for - play the game they want to play. At 18 years of age, you can walk into a store in the US and buy movies, magazines, etc. that have much more objectionable content than what you can see in The Witcher.

The Witcher Enhanced Edition Announced

New, Improved and Enhanced Version of 2007 PC RPG of the Year Coming in Late Spring

Warsaw - February 18, 2008. CD Projekt RED is pleased to announce that in May of this year, a new and improved version of The Witcher will appear in stores, a game already considered by many players and media to be the best PC RPG of 2007!

Michał Kiciński, CEO of CD Projekt described the idea behind The Witcher Enhanced Edition: "The leading idea during the development of The Witcher Enhanced Edition is to create a game that is devoid of all of the major criticisms levied at the original release. The Witcher was received very warmly by both players and the media, but we are well aware that it is not a product without its faults. There was just not enough time to perfect certain elements, while we learned that some things needed to be changed from the players themselves. Now we have the opportunity to introduce changes that will allow The Witcher to provide even more enjoyment. I hope that, as a result, the game will come even closer to the ideal RPG."

Maciej Szcześnik, Project Manager at CD Projekt RED, spoke about the content provided in the new edition: "The Witcher Enhanced Edition will be a completely polished product, something rarely found on the PC market. Of course, it would have been best if the original edition could look that way. There were a few ways the original game didn't quite live up to our high expectations, but now we're trying to make up for it. Work is being done on two levels: one concerns the removal of technical obstacles that hinder the player from properly using the game and thus gaining enjoyment from it. Some of those elements include the loading times, which will be reduced by 80%, the stability of the game on different PC configurations, as well as an array of smaller fixes that will increase interactivity and precision in combat. The other level consists of very important changes that are not usually found in patches. First and foremost, the English-language version will, for the most part, be completely re-done. The amount of text in that version was reduced compared to other language versions and that was said to cause a significant decrease in immersion and atmosphere. Now the English version will be as polished and atmospheric as the other language versions. Speaking of other language versions, most of them will be improved in some way. Significant changes will also be made in the German version, where we are planning to re-record the voices for many of the characters. The most important improvements concern those elements of the game that players criticized the most. For example, over 50 new supporting character models will be added, so that the player won't run into the same person too often. The inventory panel will be re-designed and improved, and some elements of the main game screen will be polished. However, one of the biggest changes that will greatly increase the player's immersion in the game world will be improvements concerning dialogue scenes. Both Geralt and non-player characters will get over 100 new animated gestures which will make their body language during conversations much more natural. Additionally, the facial animation and lip-sync system will be re-created, making the faces of the speakers now even more natural, as well. Of course, I've mentioned only the most important changes, and that's still a lot. There will be many smaller changes that will make the game more fun. I'm convinced that, thanks to those changes, The Witcher will almost be the ideal game for fans of PC role-playing."

Adam Kiciński, head of CD Projekt RED spoke about publishing and the availability of The Witcher Enhanced Edition in different parts of the world: "Our goal is to make the Enhanced Edition available to all players all over the world. We are currently negotiating with our publishing partners to confirm availability dates. Our release date in Eastern Europe is May 16, and thanks to the great support from fans, we're confident that we will be able to bring the game to stores around the world on that date, as well. The retail release will be quite important for us, as we're not just improving the game itself, but want to improve how the title is packaged. For example, aside from the game DVD, we are planning to include a DVD with the D'jinii Mod Editor, as well as two additional adventures, a video DVD with extended material detailing the making of the game, a music CD with 29 tracks from the game, a music CD with 15 tracks of music inspired by the game, an 80-page instruction booklet, a 112-page official guide written by the game's developers, and a 50-page short story written by Andrzej Sapkowski. There will also be a map of the game world. As you can see it is quite an elaborate release and it is important to us that fans all over the world be able to buy this version of the game. Especially considering it will not be more expensive than the standard edition of the game! Fans that have already bought the game need not worry, however, because the new content and improvements will be available to them in the form of a downloadable update."

The Witcher Enhanced Edition not only means changes in the game's mechanics or better graphics, however. There's also an included mod editor called D'jinni that allows players to create or modify their own adventures in the world of The Witcher, as well as two completely new adventures created by CD Projekt RED. The first adventure, entitled "The Price of Neutrality," tells the story of Geralt coming back to Kaer Morhen and finding a mysterious camp near the stronghold (3 new quests), while the second one focuses on Geralt's close friend, Dandelion, and his troubles in Vizima City (5 quests).

The Witcher is an RPG about the adventures of Geralt, a professional monster slayer, and was developed by Warsaw, Poland-based CD Projekt RED. The game is based on a new version of the BioWare Aurora Engine, titled Aurora 2007. The story is set in a world created in the books of Andrzej Sapkowski and sold all over the world. The game has already managed to garner worldwide success, having sold over 600,000 copies. It has received more than 45 awards and distinctions, including the prestigious "Best PC RPG of 2007" from IGN.com, Gamespy.com and PC Gamer (see the entire list of awards: http://www.thewitcher.com/community/pl/awards/). The game has also received very high ratings from players from all over the world, which is reflected in the average player-review scores at such sites as Metacritic (9.4/10), GameTrailers (9.1/10) and Gamespot (8.8/10).

Portal Brain Age 2 Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass BioShock Puzzle Quest Rock Band Super Mario Galaxy Wii Sports The Witcher WoW: Burning Crusade

And now that the industry has become so successful at creating high quality, more polished sequels, will any of these titles really be in play a decade from now?

The Future Of Videogames [Forbes via WiiWii]

While I love Croshaw's latest review, this one of The Witcher, I wasn't so delighted with the bit of comedy machinima slapped on to the end. It was, I hope, just an experiment and one we won't see more of anytime soon. Fortunately The Review of The Witcher has a wonderful punchline and mentions washing gimps, so I'll forgive him his indulgence.

Zero Punctuation: The Witcher [The Escapist Magazine]

- Crash of the Titans," written by Christopher Mitchell for Sierra Entertainment
- "Dead Head Fred," written by Dave Ellis and Adam Cogan for D3 Publisher
- "The Simpsons Game," with lead writer Matt Selman, written by Tim Long and Matt Warburton, dialogue by Jeff Poliquin for Electronic Arts
- "The Witcher," with lead story designer Artur Ganszyniec, dialogue by Sebastian Stepien, additional dialogue by Marcin Blacha and writers Sande Chen and Anne Toole for Atari
- "World in Conflict," story design by Christofer Emgard, story consultant Larry Bond and script consultant Ed Zuckerman for Sierra Entertainment.

WGA announces videogame nominees [Variety]

Original
Smith: Why do pricks go in cunts? It's the natural order of things. Humans have always disliked dwarves and elves. Not for me to know why.
Edited Version
Smith: Humans have always hated dwarves and elves.

Eds Note: Sande Chen writes: "CDProjekt has already gone on the record stating that the script was edited down due to production constraints. It has nothing to do with censorship. And considering a lot of reviews has already quoted the mature language in the English script and forum posts have noted the use of "Cock" and "Cunt" in the script, strong language was not censored at all.

Moreover, if you look at the original source you quoted — the Witcher forum — and ShackNews — and Writers Cabal Blog, we state that we handed in a script based on the translation of the Polish script and as free-lance writers, we accept that once we hand in a script, there's the possibility it will get changed.

Additionally, as contract writers, we do not make the decisions as to what happens to the script."

If someone were to post naked pictures of me on the Internet, I'm not sure if the word "tribute" would be the first to come to mind. But if that someone were Playboy, and that Internet were Playboy magazine, maybe I would feel differently (don't worry, I'm joking and would never do anything to hurt pornography). See the KSFW but probably NSFW promo pics after the jump (you pervs).

Just Kidding.

Playboy's Annual Girls of Video Games [via n4g]

The Specs

Since PCs aren't consoles, it's probably a good idea that I show you the recommended specs for the game, along with the system I played on for comparison's sake.

Minimum requirements

* WinXP SP2 / Vista
* Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz or AMD Athlon 64 +2800
* 1 GB RAM (WinXP) / 1536 MB (Vista)
* 128 MB Video RAM w/ DX9 Vertex Shader/ Pixel Shader 2.0 support (NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or ATI Radeon 9800 or better)
* 8.5 GB hard drive space

Recommended requirements

* WinXP SP2 / Vista
* Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13 GHz or AMD X2 5600+
* 2 GB RAM
* NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX or ATI Radeon X1950 PRO
* 8.5 GB hard drive space[1]

Once Upon A Time

Geralt is a Witcher, a human mutated into the perfect monster hunting machine. While he died at the end of Sapkowski's series, the beginning of the game finds him alive and well, albeit having completely lost his memory. He is taken to a Wticher stronghold by his compatriots, which is soon attacked by brigands led by a mysterious sorcerer. The mutagens responsible for creating the monster hunters is stolen, and a young recruit is left for dead, sending Geralt on a quest for answers and revenge. I know the concept of an amnesiac RPG hero is tough to wrap your head around, but work with me here.

The world of The Witcher is like a dark, medieval version of our own. You'll find racism, drug use, profanity, rape, murder, jealousy, intrigue, etc. Geralt might as well be starring in a dark fantasy version of Law and Order. He questions witnesses, eliminates suspects, eliminates suspects, jumps to conclusions, makes judgments. The game has all of the hallmarks of a TV crime drama. When you aren't wooing women, crafting potions and explosives, performing escort quests or simply exploring, you're solving crimes. Plot lines are every bit as twisted as a detective show, with suspects becoming allies, and the innocent revealed as extremely guilty.

Decisions, Decisions

From the get go you are presented with decisions that will effect gameplay, but unlike many RPGs, the effects won't be readily apparent. CD Projekt has made sure that you won't be able to quicksave back to change your mind by making your choices matter much later in the game. My choice to kill a group of elves trying to steal weapons early in the game ended up with a major NPC getting arrested several hours of gameplay later. When such events take place your decision is recalled via a painted cutscene, showing the ultimate effect of your actions. Every time such a scene occurs it makes you wonder what would have happened had you chosen another path.

The choices themselves aren't often very clear. There is no real good and evil in this world. Throughout the game you'll find yourself wondering who the real monsters are that Geralt is hunting. In the first chapter alone you deal with brothers killing brothers over jealousy, a soldier who rapes a girl he claims to be in love with, and a priest who allows children to be kidnapped. Are they any less sinister than the evil hounds you find yourself facing throughout this corrupt village? Are you hero or anti-hero? The story is crafted beautifully to the point where I found myself questioning my own motives as it progressed. Brilliant.

The Witcher After Dark

Make no mistake...this is an adult game. Adult language crops up often, and while I've not run into any outright nudity, the sexual innuendo runs rampant throughout the title. Sometimes it's subtle, like an extra bit of emphasis put on the word 'come' in a conversation. Other times the women in the game might as well have hiked up their skirts and painted a target on their privates. Geralt gets a ton of action throughout the course of the story, to the point where sex scenes included a trading card-like picture of the woman he's with against the backdrop of a blurry collage of bodies rubbing together. It got to the point where I went through every dialogue tree when I was speaking with females exhaustively, just in case. I don't get out much.

Swords and Sorcery

The combat in The Witcher is almost a rhythm game, really. In a fight, you initially click your mouse on your target to initiate an attack. At the end of said attack, your cursor changes to a flaming sword, at which point you can click to string together the next attack. Miss, and you leave yourself open to counterattack. As you progress through the game you'll unlock longer combos throughout three different combat styles for each of your two swords - silver for monsters, steel for human monsters. The system is very satisfying when it works, but at times, especially fighting large groups, you'll find yourself on the receiving end of a string of attacks that leaves you unable to fight back. It didn't happen often, but it was quite frustrating when it did.

Magic is also a large part of combat, as a well-timed spell can knock your opponent on their ass, setting them up for a killing blow. Casting spells is simply a matter of right-clicking, while holding the button down can charge spells to make them more potent. Spells are used in and out of combat...for instance, the wind spell you acquire first can be used to clear blocked passageways as well as knocking your opponents off of their feet.

An odd note concerning equipment...early in the game I received two additional weapons - a dagger and an axe. They have stats and everything, but they can't be used with the combat styles, so I have never used them. They look great hanging from my belt though, so I won't complain.

Potions, Poker, and Other Distractions

Alchemy plays a pretty big role in the game depending on the difficulty level you choose at the beginning. On easy, crafting potions and explosives using materials you collect from plants and monsters is almost more of an optional sidequest, but at higher difficulties you'll find you rely on the beneficial effects gained from drinking such concoctions to survive. Personally I found the system a bit unwieldy, but for folks looking to get the most out of the game, mastering alchemy can be a very rewarding indeed.

Along with alchemy, Geralt has a couple other distractions to keep his mind off how much people in this world suck. The poker dice mini-game is entertaining enough, with an accompanying quest that pushes you to find more and more skilled opponents. There is also a fist-fighting side quest, where you use your bare hands to pummel the daylights out of a series of tougher opponents as the game progresses.

Sights and Sounds

The Witcher does an amazing job of creating a living, breathing world. People line the streets of the busy cities and villages you visit, huddling under overhangs during the odd rainstorm and complaining about the weather. Blades of grass rustle as you wander fields and swamps in search of monsters to defeat. The music is definitely a high point in the game, with haunting Celtic melodies giving way to pulse-quickening battle music as your enemies move in for the kill. CD Projekt went to great lengths to immerse you completely in the world of The Witcher, which makes it all the more unfortunate that they spend so much time pulling you out of it.

Loading...Loading....Loading

The game would be perfect if not for this one, glaring flaw. Load times are ridiculous. They aren't so bad when going into a small building or cave, but when you enter a large city...forget about it. The initial village you quest in is particularly horrendous, as the large environment can take minutes to load. At one point exiting one of the houses in town I literally got up, went to my kitchen, made a peanut butter sandwich, came back, and the loading was almost complete. I could understand if I was running a below-spec system, but my computer matches their recommendations exactly. Does it hurt game play? Hell yes it hurts game play. I cannot tell you how many times I stopped playing out of sheer frustration over the wait.

The Final Judgment

I love The Witcher. Well, I love most of The Witcher. The story line, the combat, the characters, the environments...I love just about every aspect of the game. Having said that, I can't play for more than a couple of hours at a time until the load time issues drive me completely insane. It's really tragic that a game with so much replay potential has this one, huge, glaring flaw that makes me want to set it aside rather than go through it again. Perhaps a patch down the road will address the issue, but until then be prepared to wait.

Manhunt 2 (WII, PS2, PSP)
At long last it finally arrives, castrated but no worse for the wear.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (X360, WII, PS3, PS2)
Barracuda, here I come!

The Simpsons Game (X360, PS2, DS, WII, PS3)
One Simpsons game to rule them all.

The Witcher (PC)
It's witchcraft, wicked witchcraft...

Hellgate: London (PC)
Welcome to the 'ell 'ole.

Culpa Innata (PC)
What life will be like 40 years from now. I can't wait to see if it's accurate.

Dementium: The Ward (DS)
GameCock rolls out the monsters.

TimeShift (PC, X360)
The clothes make the man.

Battalion Wars 2 (WII)
Who knew war could be so cute.

Tabula Rasa (PC)
Richard Garriot's futuristic MMO finally arrives.

Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness (PSP)
YOU are the Overlord. Or at least you will be if you win.

Virtua Fighter 5 (X360)
Beat down in HD.

The world of the Witcher differs from other RPG settings in that there is no clear delineation between good and evil. Much like the real world, it is a world of shades of grey, where evil is a matter of perception rather than fact. Though the setting is medieval fantasy, real-world themes are integrated into the story. Instead of having dwarves, elves and humans live in harmony, the humans have take over the other races' lands, forcing them to live on reservations. It's this sort of parallel that differentiates the setting from standard fantasy fare.

The Witcher takes the concept of your choices affecting how the story unfolds to a whole new level. Rather than giving you a choice of actions that immediately changes the way the story is laid out, your decisions can effect the story hours after you make them. Madej illustrated the point by heading to an inn to meet with an NPC who has a quest for him, only to find the NPC laying dead in his room. The game then presented a flashback to a point several hours back in the game where the main character was given a choice between handing over weapons he was guarding to a band of elves or fighting them. Having handed the weapons over, the elves then used them to start raiding human villages, causing the death of this NPC down the line. Now his quest line is gone forever, and there is no quick and dirty way to go back and change the decision you made. The mechanic has the potential to add tremendous replay value to a game already touting 80-100 hours of gameplay. OF course this means I will never have enough time to fully experience the game, but such is the plight of the gaming press.

There are no numeric stats in The Witcher. As you level you are granted abilities in three categories; gold, silver, and bronze. By the time you reach the highest level in the game you will have earned enough points to have purchased 100% of the bronze abilities,30% of the silver and only 10% of the powerful gold abilities, assuring that while every character has the same basic abilities their more powerful traits will separate them, creating even more replyability I will never get to experience. Madej also pointed out that every ability has some sort of physical representation in the game world. One might add an extra, flamboyant attack animation, while another might alter your character's appearance.

At first fighting seems like an overly simply series of mouse clicks, but the system digs a bit deeper than that. There are three fighting styles in the game. Group fighting allows your attacks to hit multiple enemies, heavy fighting attacks your enemies weak spots for massive damage, and quick fighting is perfect for dispatching weak enemies. As you fight, your cursor flashes, and if you click at the right moment you string together flashy combo moves that continue as long as your timing holds up. Very fluid and graceful, the combat animations were some of the best I've seen in a PC RPG. Aside from swordplay you'll also be able to use magic, with each spell consisting of a quick and easy version and a more powerful charged version that can completely decimate your enemies.

The Witcher looks quite spectacular. Powered by a modified version of BioWare's proprietary Aurora Engine, doing away with the tile-based construction of the original version to allow for environments to be created in 3DS Max and then imported into the game, allowing for much richer environments. The motion captured animations are graceful and fluid beyond anything I have seen in a PC RPG. You really cannot tell that this is the engine used in the original Neverwinter Nights.

I'd daresay The Witcher could end up one of the best RPGs of the year when it comes out this fall. When I was shown the game there was a freelance journalist there who said he only had ten minutes worth of time to spare, and Michal Madej assured him that once he saw the game he would stay longer. Thirty minutes later the both of us were still there, enthralled by the world CD Projekt had created. A very good sign.