The Witcher Enhanced - PC

The Witcher is a well supported story focused RPG. the original game has been updated and supported in ways that far exceed expectations for game companies these days. Even years after the games release, people who are just now buying can be secure in the knowledge that this product is still supported by the company that produced it. Even now, years after the games release, the company is still releasing new content, patches, director's cut content, and general product updates. Most gaming companies will not do this for you. They'll make a product, then toss it by the wayside after they have your money. I recently bought it even though it's somewhat old now when I heard about all the new content that the company is still releasing for this game. There really aren't that many high quality RPG's being produced anymore, and this is certainly one of those few. The game's mature themes add a level of character and depth to the story and world that many other games won't even approach. This world is a world that is driven more by story and role-playing then by endless "grinding" and leveling like many other RPGs out there. Put more simply, this means that there is a lot more dialogue, and the game is less action oriented, at least during the early stages of the game. The combat animations in this game are nothing short of fantastic. The longer you play the game, and the more feats and skills your character obtains, it appears that the combat animations get that much more impressive looking, as you might expect them to. Say goodbye to the boring, bland, and lifeless combat animations of older RPGs like Neverwinter nights, and say hello to what this game has to offer. While it is single player only, The Witcher brings a lot to the table in terms of play time. Even though I was rushing through the game, I still managed to get between 90 and 100 hours of playtime out of this game. For a single player game, that is quite impressive. There is no shortage of game content in this game. if that isn't enough for you, it is worth noting that different ethical decisions you make as you play the game produce different outcomes later in the game. This helps lend greater replayability to the game. On the whole, while this game is not my favorite RPG that I have ever played, it's easy to see that it is a high quality game, that it is well supported, and that it has more game content than most people could ever want. For people who prefer games would emphasize the story and role-playing aspects of RPG's with less emphasis on pixel bashing, this is the game for you. For those who prefer a greater emphasis on pixel bashing, you would probably be better off playing something like Dark Messiah of Might and Magic instead. How much you like this game will depend largely on which of these two different types of RPG you prefer.

I have been playing RPGs since the mid 1980s and found this to be one of the best for PC. It can be completely mouse controlled and that makes it immensely versatile. All menus are accessible easily. Overall I would give it an 8 on a 10 scale. Documentation is excellent and there are lots of good Walk throughs available to help you if u get stuck. Remember this is a game for mature players, due to the sexual content. Nothing Vulgar but it introduced what Oblivion and the Elder Scrolls series missed completely, a little sexual content without X rating the game. Played the game at easy level for a while until , I realized the Witchers attack styles. Then increased the difficulty to hardest for more of a challenge. There are many Quests that are listed as Primary quests, but the secondary Quests may seem trivial but greatly enhance the Storyline. It is very important that side quests be completed because they can contribute valuable items for the Witcher to use in combat and in his alchemy. It has an immense Alchemy menu that is a must to win the came as well as Battle Mage abilities that will eventually help you win the Game. Like I said I loved the Game, Kudos to Atari and the developers for a well thought out Game and Story line. It has several outcomes depending on your decisions made during Chapter 3 and 4. So I used a memory STICK TO COPY MY GAME DECISIONS ....allowed me to play out each Scenario to its end. Remember to SAVE often because some battles will not allow SAVES during combat. The few CONS of the game is that it's Save Menu will not allow Naming individual Saves. I like to SAVE some scenarios with different Potions to try different Combat tactics, but that is a minor inconvenience, IF YOU copy your saves to a Memory stick to copy back to your Saves directory. Which effectively can overwrite a bad decision SAVE. There could have been a little better Combat graphics as in Elder Scrolls Oblivion but for the Low Price for Download Software, its more than adequate for somewhat realistic First shooter RPGs. My recommendation to RPG nuts , Buy it!! Its well worth the money and you dont need a CD to tote with your laptop to play. Also, I had it loaded on 3 different PC's and depending which saves worked the best, I could transfer those save files among my PC's via LAN so I could continue from any PC in the House or my laptop. Like I said I would rate it 8 out of a possible 10. With only 2 CONS, Also, I had no difficulty installing on either of my 3 PCs. Buy it and have fun, it is an excellent Game.

I am flabbergasted I could have missed this game! I was/am a huge fan of Oblivion. I really enjoyed Dragon Age but I am more a first shooter type and managing a group is less entertaining for me than single player/single character. I was interested by The Witcher 2 so I read many reviews and something coming back all the time was indeed the mention of the original game. So I tried it, hell, it was only 9.99$. It took about 2 hours to download the 11GB of the game and I started playing it. I am still playing it now. The good: - One of the most interesting story I have ever played so far. I am only at chapter two and I must have played at least 20 hours already. Easily...but I like to take my time and play all the side quests before progressing on the main one. - Well designed game. - Unusual fighting style but it gets quickly easy. - A bit more realistic than Oblivion as far as looting. You cannot carry 20 armors in an invisible backpack. You have very limited slots for weapons and none other than your body for the armor. - Excellent Alchemy and Ingredient collecting process. - Works very well in 3D (with Nvidia 3D glasses). The less good: - I would have liked a possibility to gain skills at negociations, specifically to buy or sell items at a better price. - A few minor visual bugs. For instance, the dwarves often have their right hand graphically messed up; it will form a columns towards the ground. A female monster (forgot her name) has her breasts doing the same thing but going down to her hips... I am quite sure it is a bug, otherwise... Conclusion: A solid 5 stars. It has replaced Oblivion now as my favorite RPG game and I hope the new one will live up to its predecessor. I will certainly add more impressions when I finish it but it won't certainly be soon.

There are few things more frustrating than playing a game on the cusp of greatness, and rarely have a I played a game as close to being great as The Witcher. This game is hugely ambitious, featuring an expansive story with multiple endings, a large cast of characters, varied locations, hundreds of quests - all wrapped in a detailed and lovingly crafted world that is a unique mix of sci-fi and fantasy. It also has one of the most annoying and amateurish interfaces I have ever dealt with in an RPG, not to mention a few other blunders that will routinely spoil your pleasure as you play. To summarize quickly: You play Geralt, a member of a dying breed of Witchers. Witchers are mutants of some sort, capable of using magic and genetic enhancements to augment their natural talents. These they put to use to survive in their trade - monster hunting. While useful, Geralt's "witcherness" causes all sorts of problems too, mostly because everyone seems to be a flaming racist. Dwarves hate Elves, Elves hate humans, and everyone hates Witchers. Fortunately, Geralt has lost his memory so he (like you) gets to wander Temeria as a blank slate. Your ultimate goal is revenge, and as you make progress you will have to make choices that will change which quests you get later down the line. There is an emphasis on realism here that is in stark contrast to games like Oblivion - no matter what you do, you will not be able to do every possible quest on the first playthrough because some choices will exclude these quests from the story. All told, the land, characters and history of the world in which the Witcher takes place are explored in some depth, giving one the impression of being part of a real, living and breathing culture. Ok, so how does a game set in such a compelling world actually play? First, the Pros: - Hours and hours of play time. The main story has more than 6 chapters and after a good 20 hours of play time I was still on chapter two. There are so many side-quests and optional areas to explore, people to talk to, and items to find...there's never any lack of things to do. - Beautiful locations: lovingly crafted environments from swamps to castles to mountain peaks. The level designers really did a fantastic job. - Main story: It's really intricate and well done. You'll find yourself wanting to keep playing and playing to learn more about this world and uncover the mystery of Geralt's past. - The enhanced edition comes with the strategy guide which is very useful for getting a hint when you're stuck. Now, the cons: - Ugh, some of the voice-acting is terrible and much of the dialogue is uninspired. There are a few excellent voices, and the random NPC chatter is well done, but for the most part the critical cutscenes are marred by SoCal accents and flat deliveries. - Interface woes abound. Inventory management is a particularly frustrating chore, especially given that this game is not really about collecting loot. It's hard to tell what items you have at a glance, impossible to determine what the value of an item is, and so on. Using potions and switching weapons is central to effective combat, but the mechanics of doing so are far from seamless. Learning the hot-keys helps with the whole pause:switch-weapon,switch-combat-style game mechanic but it doesn't completely mitigate the action-killing effect of getting cut to pieces while the sword switch animation plays out. - Loading screens everywhere. Boo. Ultimately, this game is only worth playing if you're really into the genre, in which case, it is totally worth playing. Otherwise, I can't see a person putting up with all the frustrations and quirks of this game. Recommended for fans of fantasy RPGs, but not the casual kind - be prepared to earn your enjoyment.

I first bought this game a few months ago, way back in November. After a few months of casual playing I've finally beat it. Boy, was it worth it. I've never read the book(s), nor had I even heard of this gaming company before, but they sure do know how to crank out a beautiful game. Nothing has been skimped on. First of all, the graphics are absolutely superb. Even on my 6 year old Win Vista computer it looks and runs very smoothly. The environments are immersive, and while the levels do have their boundaries and load times, they rarely draw away from everything going on around you. Characters seem alive, and your actions end up affecting things later on down the road that you never dreamed of. While some people hated the combat, I applaud it. It's unique and requires a certain amount of skill to master the timing. The audio, too, is wonderful. Background sounds just fit and the music comes at all the right times. If you are on the fence about getting this game, do note that it is very time consuming. Even just one time playing through will take dozens upon dozens of hours. Stretched over a long time, this is great, but if you're more into a "get a game, beat a game, get another game" playing style, this probably won't be on your list. Bottom line, if wanna get caught up in an awesome medieval type story with great graphics, sound, and huge levels of fun, then I would definitely recommend The Witcher.

Do not purchase this game. I did and I am sorry. It has no printed manual, and it is heavily censored. The US Version and the UK version and the German version are all censored in various ways. I am very sad to see this develper decide that we are not mature enough to enjoy the full game story and I do not therefore recomend purchasing this, and I will be returning my game copy to the publisher for a refund or redress. I regret this posting, because I had high hopes for the improvements in load time and improvements in dialog and they appear to have been realized and in many ways this is a wonderful game. I do NOT support publishers arrogating to themselves content censorship that is the right of the consumer to decide.That is what ratings boards are for.

I've played World of Warcraft, Oblivion, Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2, and many other popular RPGs. The Witcher has an original and mature story line and plenty of amazing graphics to just sit back and stare at the fantasy world in awe. I put the Witcher in my list of top 10 greatest RPGs for sure. If you love fantasy worlds or RPGS that you can really immerse yourself into...this is definatly for you! The choices you make will determine things later in the game and you have complete control over Geralt's upgrades. The world isn't 100% free roam like Oblivion but it's close enough to not realize it unless your purposly trying to walk the edges of the map. The game really forces you to delve deep into the story and learn about the creatures and world around you, which makes it all the more fun. Without giving anything away, you start off the game in a castle where you don't have too many abilities or access to the outside world. Don't let this hold you back because it's more of less to get you used to the controls of the game. Once you're out of the castle and play through the game, you will see that there's a LOT more to the game. Some will say this game could be better because of this or that or try to compare it to other RPGs. The truth is that The Witcher is an original game/story on it's own merit and the typical RPG fantasy player is going to love it. I have suggested this game to multiple friends, ALL of whom came back later to tell me how much they loved it and couldn't stop playing it. I would love to see them expand more on the story and come out with a sequel. Also keep in mind that the company that made this game wasn't some long time, established game company like other franchises had(Oblivion). For a new Polish company, they did an AMAZING job. If you don't like in depth, single player RPG worlds, this game isn't for you. If you love great story telling, adult themes, lots of customization, magic, swordplay, etc...this game is for you! To those complaining about the game crashing on Vista...guess what, the game was made years before Vista came out so play it on XP. I use XP Pro with SP2 and the game has only ever crashed 1 time in all the times I played it.

The game is awesome, beautiful sound track, nice graphics, combat system is easy yet challenging and allows you to cope with a variety of different situations, the abilities you could unlock and upgrade are generally useful and only correct path is your playstyle, many types of weapons and possible upgrades, useful magic spells and alchemy to augment your character in near any situation. The controls are easy to grasp and camera is totally non obstructive, quest logs while shows a bit too much information is still a god send for its quick and easy look up. Now to the meat. So far the story is definitely the strongest part of this rpg. I won't get into specifics of story since well, the description covered it quite well and I won't judge but I will give my opinion on the overall story so far. It is quite dark very dark in fact. Many occasions in the story will you be forced to make a decision on something which could lead the story changing due to certain consequences of your choices. Its definitely something that kept me genuinely entertained not because of lvl as fast as you can mentality or because elite impossible to get gear but because the story is engrossing and changes as you make choices and wont be the same as long as you dont keep choosing the same choices.