Jun 7, 2011
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings starts in Temeria, shortly after an attempt assassination on King Foltest. As the royal’s favorite bodyguard Geralt has been pressed into service in Foltest’s army. Here, he joins returning favorite, the sorceress Triss Merigold and an interesting new crown servant named Vernon Roche in the battle to save Temeria’s throne from the perils of civil war. Unfortunately, the appearance of a strange and powerful witcher puts their plans in jeopardy: Foltest is slain by an unknown assassin and Geralt is accused of the murder. Now, the White Wolf must work to clear his name and track down the true kingslayer, all while doing his best to steer clear of the political upheaval which threatens to engulf Temeria and the other Northern Kingdoms as the infamous empire of Nilfgaard tries once again to lay claim to the free peoples of the Pontar Valley. Sound daunting? It should. As the only witness to Foltest’s death and the secret plans of the kingslayers, Geralt must face down monsters, murderers, political intrigue and his own personal demons in this rollicking installment in CD Projekt RED’s Witcher saga.
The Witcher 2 follows close on the heels of the original game. Geralt is a witcher – a mutant warrior charged with hunting down dangerous monsters and keeping innocents safe from harm. But Geralt can perhaps be called the witcher’s witcher, for not only is he one of the last of a dying breed – the witchers were hunted to the edge of extinction during events of the original game – he is also one of the best in the world. As The Witcher 2 unfolds, we learn that Geralt’s fame and prowess have made him the particular target of the rich and powerful, of humans, elves and monsters alike. To make matters even more challenging, Geralt is recovering from amnesia and most of The Witcher 2 is spent trying to piece together his past and come to terms with his memories. His unusual predicament makes Geralt one of the more interesting heroes among the RPGs released this year, and the twists and turns of Assassins of Kings will keep both game veterans and newcomers to the series on their toes.
A mysterious Elf sitting on a tree
Visually, the game is gorgeous, and it’s clear that CD Projekt RED took their goal of making one of the most beautiful RPGs in gaming history seriously. Characters, costumes, architecture and weather effects are all brilliantly detailed, from the twinkle in Geralt’s eye as he casts a mind control spell, to the subtle changes in lighting and shadow when Triss Merigold casts magic spells in the rain, to the runed hallways of the dwarven miners or the shattered but beautiful remains of elven cities.
Character interaction is more robust than in the original game, with more dialogue with Geralt’s friends and allies. With a large cast of interesting characters, paired with a beautiful musical soundtrack, I often found myself wandering the various towns or natural wonders Geralt visits during his quests, just taking in the sights and sounds.
This is the first time we’ve gotten the chance to visit the neighboring kingdoms in the north. Geralt’s quest to find the kingslayers takes him to Aedirn, and to the dwarven stronghold of Vergen. The architecture in the later parts of the game is unlike anything we’ve seen in the previous Witcher, and lends a sense of intrigue to Geralt’s quests, along with a rare chance to see the dwarves in their native element. And with Geralt still suffering from the lapses of memory which gripped him in the first game, traveling outside of Temeria really felt like an adventure, and a chance to play the tourist in a new location.
New monsters help freshen up the gameplay as well. There are plenty of old enemies to fight, like drowners, nekkers and ghouls, but The Witcher 2 also offers new challenges in the form of powerful insectoids, trolls, new undead monstrosities and powerful boss monsters like the cthulian Kayran, a vast monster capable of leveling entire buildings with a single swipe of its tentacles, and requiring a combination of magic, steel and quick thinking to defeat.
Yes! There are Dragons!
Dynamic side quests offer far more intrigue and adventure than they did in the original game. Even Geralt’s Witcher contracts require a bit of strategy – instead of wandering the wilds and slaying every nekker, endrega or rotfiend that comes your way, completing contracts requires destroying the monster nests scattered throughout the quest area. And for that, Geralt needs the right kind of tools.
Still more interesting were the return of Geralt’s “detective quests,” where the outcome of the quest line is determined by his success in investigating clues and interrogating the locals, often using the game’s new stealth mechanic. Failure to find the right evidence, or worse, being captured by town guards or jailers, leads to a completely different quest outcome. To make matters even more challenging, some quests are time sensitive, but there is little indication in the game’s quest log as to when these quests will expire. Upon turning in part of a quest chain I assumed to be little more than a basic check-in, the game’s plot line jumped ahead, catapulting Geralt further into the events surrounding the fight for the throne, but canceling a few side quests I didn’t realize had gone stale.
Questing has been streamlined thanks to interactive quest tracking and real-time quest markers on the game map. However, quest markers are not “level sensitive,” meaning that a few times I couldn’t tell if an important NPC or quest item was on the same level Geralt was, or if they were hidden in the attic of a nearby house, or deep in a dungeon beneath the earth. The addition of a magic tracking ability using Geralt’s witcher amulet helps compensate for this – activating the amulet reveals all nearby magical items, herbs, and quest objects.
Unlike the previous game, in Assassins of Kings it’s impossible not to get caught up in the politics and infighting that exist between the various factions vying to fill the power vacuum in the Northern Kingdoms. By the end of Chapter 1, I had to make a decision whether to support the Temerian royal forces or the Scoia’tael, and my decision to support one earned me the fierce enmity of the other. Despite Geralt’s own wishes and those of some of his partners like Triss Merigold, the life of a Witcher is no longer the simple, relatively carefree path we knew in the original game.
Somebody lost his head ...
Even more interesting are the “political interludes” scattered throughout the game – breaks in the narrative which actually give the player control of a supporting NPC like Triss or the heir to the Aedirnian throne, and ask them to make strategic decisions about political tactics, or trade barbs with foreign nobles. These interludes strike home the point that whatever is happening throughout Geralt’s quest through the northern kingdoms is a far bigger puzzle than mere monster slaying. As the plot thickens, both Geralt and the player are forced to choose sides in a number of conflicts ranging from local political struggles to backing a contender for the throne. The situation brewing in the Northern Kingdoms is dire, and Geralt is forced to bribe, threaten, blackmail and mind control his way through the political quagmire. Knowing that things could turn out very differently should I choose to support a different faction adds to the replay value of the game.
Leveling up also presents a number of choices and options. Geralt can choose between swordplay, magic and alchemy skills to give him the edge in combat or exploration, but he cannot specialize in every available skill in a single game. During my first playthrough, I focused on fleshing out Geralt’s magic skills, giving him bonuses to Signs and spell effects. But there looked to be interesting options in both other skill trees, which could be explored during subsequent playthroughs. Taking one skill tree to its highest level unlocks the ability to gain adrenaline during combat. Each hit with a spell or special ability will charge Geralt’s adrenaline bar, and a fully-charged bar allows the player to slow down combat and improve Geralt’s reaction time. Adrenaline is a very fun addition to the game, and offers new tactical options during otherwise impossible battles.
Unlike the previous Witcher, where Geralt could choose Signs or swordplay almost exclusively and still reach the endgame content, The Witcher 2 demands flexibility, even on the game’s easy levels. I used potions in nearly every single dungeon, and while I made full use of every Sign in my arsenal, I also invested in better swords and magical blade enchantments to give Geralt a much-needed edge in melee combat.
Geralt has more options for enhancing his armor and equipment: not only are there numerous common, magical and epic armor sets scattered throughout the game, Geralt can hire craftsmen to forge powerful steel and silver swords or armor upgrades offering protection from magic, poison, bleeding or incineration, or granting bonuses to strength, power and vitality. Rare materials harvested from powerful monsters also make good armor and for a modest sum, Geralt can turn the skins, teeth and bones of the monsters he fights into useful equipment.
Combat is very challenging in Witcher 2
In the long run, however, not much has really changed between The Witcher and The Witcher 2. Apart from a beautiful graphics upgrade, and some UI improvements to crafting, meditating and leveling up, Assassins of Kings seems like a variation on a theme, instead of a bold departure. Which is fine – this next chapter of the Witcher series offers an interesting adventure, coupled with several new insights into Geralt’s past history and many references to the Witcher novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. It may not bring as many new players into the fold, but the game has a lot to offer, though some of its rougher edges require some getting used to.
Inventory management is still painfully time-consuming, with limited options for sorting through the piles of monster parts, raw materials, books, letters and random odds and ends Geralt inevitably collects throughout his journey. The game’s alchemy skill is both versatile and useful, but with a myriad of alchemical recipes for potions, oils, traps and bombs, I found it hard to keep track of all the required ingredients and even harder to find the few bomb recipes required to destroy the monster nests required for Geralt’s witcher contracts. Carrying around dozens and sometimes hundreds of raw materials for crafting also posed a challenge, especially in long dungeons when Geralt became overburdened, and I had to choose between discarding a potentially lucrative item in favor of a rare ingredient or crafting item. Some ingredients seemed a dime a dozen, while others were sometimes mercilessly difficult to find. An herb tracker would have been a welcome addition to the game map, and would have cut down on time I spent scouring the local forests and hills in search of a rare blossom, leaf or root.
But what was in many ways most challenging about the game was its uneven pacing. While the basics of combat, questing and monster tracking should feel familiar to anyone who played the original Witcher, newcomers to The Witcher 2 may find the game’s learning curve to be a bit steep. Geralt is forced to hit the ground sprinting during the game’s prologue, which introduces the basic concepts of swordplay, Signs and Quick Time Events in a “trial by fire” mode. The in-game tutorial glosses over the finer points of combat, alchemy and leveling up, and despite their prevalence, the new Quick Time Events – context sensitive timed actions like freeing a prisoner, loading a catapult, or fistfighting a guard, happen so suddenly and sometimes with so little explanation that a small hesitation or misstep can be deadly. I found myself pausing often at critical junctures in combat to hunt through the manual and figure out what to do next, or wing it and button mash, often with less than successful results.
The visuals are stunning ... Probably best looking RPG ever?
Strangely, the “survival of the fittest” pace which had been set during the prologue relaxed so much during the game’s next chapter than I found myself wishing I could have switched them around. Chapter I is filled with the same features we’re forced to learn during the frenetic prologue, from QTEs to casting spells to hacking and slashing through waves of monsters to save frightened townsfolk or rescue damsels and wastrels in distress, but the overall feel is one of relaxation. Add in old friends like Triss, Dandelion and Zoltan Chivay, and Geralt’s sojourn in the village of Flotsam felt almost like a vacation compared to the death, fireballs and wild struggle to save my skin I experienced during the prologue.
The game’s second chapter moves quickly, and while the pace isn’t quite as breakneck as the prologue, I still found myself scurrying to keep up with the imminent danger and mercurial politicians of Aedirn and Kaedwen. Chapter II is beautiful and offers many new and familiar faces with great voice acting, solid writing and beautiful graphics to introduce players to the Aedirnian city of Vergen. But if Chapter I was a stroll through the woods, Chapter II was a rough ride on a fast horse, and I felt as if I never quite got my bearings on how to navigate the multiple parallel plot lines Geralt is forced to deal with upon his departure from Temeria.
The pace only quickens during the brief and action-packed Chapter III, which offers little to no down-time. Combat gets more challenging and more interesting during the game’s denouement, and the constant threat of new monsters and powerful human warriors, kings and assassins kept me constantly switching back and forth between traps, spells, and my steel and silver blades. Despite the game’s climax and the lengthy speeches by Geralt’s enemies before each battle began, however, I finished The Witcher 2 with far more questions than answers. It’s clear that CD Projekt RED are setting us up for a third installment in Geralt’s story, but while I look forward to finding out what happens next in the Witcher 3, it would have been nice to have a bit more to chew on during the game’s epilogue.
Nevertheless, Assassins of Kings is a strong successor to the original Witcher, and with a plethora of different plot twists and different possibilities for alliances, enmities and a substantial helping of life-or-death choices to be made at the end of the game, there’s a lot of potential for replay and further exploration. I look forward to revisiting Temeria and the other Northern Kingdoms in future games, and Geralt’s future in the Witcher 3.
Final Score: 4/5
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