The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition (Xbox 360)

I have only played this game for a few hours and I am definitely in love. It's interesting, engaging (who doesn't love a bit of nudity in the first five minutes - DRAAAMA), the graphics and surroundings are superb for it's time, and so far it seems to be devoid of any cliché'd RPG elements. The battle system is a little bit difficult to master at first (after I took part in the tutorial, it was recommended that I play on easy difficulty) but with time I am sure it will be mastered and used to great efficiency. Also, if you are an enjoy and hoarder of loot, then this is the game for you. There are plants, coins and junk to collect EVERYWHERE and from the get go there is plenty of exploring to do (in and out of people's houses which I love cos I am nosy) without it being too intimidating and making you feel like you want to just run through an area. That being said, some people who REALLY REALLY love exploring open expanses might be disappointed. After all the gushing I guess I should point out some flaws. There has only been several tiny things that irritate me. 1: when you want to stop moving a couple more steps are taken meaning that if you want to stop to collect something chances are you'll have to gently backtrack a few paces. It will just take some getting used to is all though. 2: Just in case there is any confusion/rage, the tutorial glitched on me a couple of times and I could not move after I had finished reading a piece of advice. It was annoying to have to go out and start over but believe me the tutorial is worth it for first timers. Other than that, I feel like the menu system is just a bit clunky in comparison with other games. It just needs a small bit of a tidying up. Overall, despite the couple of complaints above, I think this is a well polished and well made game that has definitely gotten me very excited for the Witcher 3 and has made me wish I had played it sooner. If I was to compare this other games, I would say that it has better graphics and more appealing to the eye than Skyrim, like a grown up Fable, and the writing and dialogue is similar to the Dragon Age franchise. So if you like those game, this one is for you!

Just so there's no misunderstanding here, the Witcher 2 is an amazing game, and probably the best PC to console port ever. The fact that its flaws will take up a bigger chunk of this review is but a testament to its overall quality, as they are all the more galling when juxtaposed to the level of excellence it displays in so many areas. Thus, make no mistake: This is one game you absolutely must buy if you own an Xbox and are into RPGs. The Witcher 2 makes no excuses. It's as authentic as a fantasy world can believably be, gritty without being grimdark, mature without being exploitative or gratutious, and respects its audience's intelligence. In terms of narrative drive and character development, it manages to supplant its source material (the very good Geralt novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski) and boasts a very strong cast of loveable rogues, despicable scoundrels, misguided idealists and uncompromising pragmatists, always teetering on the grey line between light and dark. It's raw, in your face and doesn't pander to anyone but those who love a well-crafted RPG. The production values are impressive, both in the graphical and aural departments alike: This is one of the best looking games in console history so far, the soundtrack is sure to find its way into your music device, and the voice acting is top-notch (with the occasional hiccup). Gameplay is quite challenging, but far from unforgiving, and by the end of the game you'll have a veritable arsenal of tools to dispatch foes with in cinematic and satisfying ways. Now for the grievances which deprived it of that fifth star: - As an old-school RPGer, I love me some inventory management, but the loot system is just aggravating. You cannot choose what you want to pick up, which loads you up with plenty of junk, and there's an annoying blinking screen whenever you sell something and when you navigate through the menu tabs. - This is one of the stingiest games I've ever played, with measly monetary rewards for most quests, precious little gold to be looted from enemies (even those you'd expect to be carrying some money) and extremely underpriced loot. Not being a hoarder, I was constantly strapped for cash, and whenever I did manage to accumulate some wealth, all it took was a couple of purchases I'd been holding off to reduce me to two digits again. Said purchases were often no longer worth it by the time I was actually able to buy them as well. Such a system seems to encourage grinding, which is something I believe has no place in a single-player RPG. - In that vein, there's too much crap spread about. The Witcher 2 is not alone in that regard, but who goes inside a peasant's hut to steal two gold pieces, a chunk of red meteorite ore, an ell of cloth and a rope ladder, while said peasant has nothing to say to you? And who the heck leaves gold pieces inside a barrel in the middle of a military camp? It's about time this ridiculous stuff got removed from games altogether, as it only encourages scrounging instead of exploring and it's quite frankly just silly. - In a challenging game like this one, a long death animation and a slowly loading death screen is very, *very* annoying. I was often angrier at the screen than at the enemy that had just made me bite the dust. - Your character can be unresponsive at times, and some of the combat contrivances can be aggravating, such as having to unsheathe a sword before being able to use one of your magic signs. Often, when loading an automatic save before a combat, some enemies would be able to get a shot in before I could make my character react. - Call me picky or elitist, but in a game with AAA production values that has invested so much in good localization, the number of times the contraction 'it's' is confused with the possessive pronoun 'its' was simply unforgivable. *It's* a pet peeve of mine and *its* prevalence in this game was jarring. - The gameworld's vernacular is funny, very authentic and adequate to the setting for the most part, so hearing NPCs calling your character 'emo' is baffling to say the least. The main antagonist's voice acting and accent also leaved a lot to be desired, as he seemed quite out of place, especially before the final confrontation. - Lots of immersion-breaking texture pop-ins during dialogue and when loading saves, even with the game installed to the hard drive. - There's a lot of emphasis placed on preparing before fights, but such preparations aren't really encouraged. Most of the times you'll have no idea what you'll be dealing with, so you'll just chug generic potions before venturing forth, and the enemies' long field of vision isn't really conducive to trap-setting (setting traps during combat is silly and impractical). - The last chapter is short and very poorly structured. If one follows the story's flow, it's *extremely* short. If one suspends one's disbelief and makes time for, say, a game of dice and some walking around, it might last you more than an evening's gaming session. If one suspends it even further and indulges in some sidequests as if nothing special were happening, it's a little longer, but still rather short. A game should never require you to dispense with some questing so as not to break the narrative's flow. Very bad form from the designers' part. - This final criticism is more subjective, but I'd have preferred it if the developers had made the game longer by including the 'other' path one can take in the story, instead of closing it off. Sure, it increases replay value by providing you with a completely different second chapter, but I for one don't usually play games twice when they're story-based. The 'other' path could very well have been an extra chapter and more gaming fun instead of requiring you to do it all over again just to explore another side of the story, or loading up an older save to make different choices. I'm all for different decisions, different outcomes, and those permutations remain no matter which path you choose, as the game is all about choices and consequences, but I still felt my gaming experience was shortened because of that design option. That being said, it bears repeating: This is an outstanding game. You owe it to yourself to play it if you like RPGs, you owe it to the fantastic folks at CD Projekt for going above and beyond the call of duty to provide their customers with bang for their buck, and you owe it to the genre to show the developers they're on the right track by buying The Witcher 2. So what are you waiting for if you haven't done so already?

I am a big rpg fan, I have played virtually all of them from your final fantasys to dragon age, dark souls , skyrim etc. This game is a thinking man's rpg, you have to prepare your menu before the battle, like dark souls have to use strategy in battle, enemies are really hard on higher difficulty levels , enviorments have to be explored to find the way out ,it does not guide you like a baby like skyrim does sometimes. Graphics were hyped to no end, I admit that graphics are good but not ground breaking , story is very good and mature , I have played many rpgs but no one has grapped me from story point of view like this one , only Final Fantasy x had really good story in my opinion. So, dont buy it and keep sitting on the fence if you like really easy button mashers like kingdom of amalur but if you are fond of games that require thinking and have got combat that requires skill and strategy with good story then go for this game and also story changes a lot depending upon what choices you make which means you have to play it atleast twice to see most of it , replay value is great, great time for rpg fans with games like skyrim, dark souls , witcher 2 and dragon dogma coming out in may, I hope dragon dogma is as challenging as witcher 2 and not as easy as kingdom of amalur.

I have decided to upgrade this to 4 stars as the game as said before is good. But it does NEED better CONTROLS. Like other games it could benifit from a sprint button. i.e hold X to sprint. Then hopefully you would be able to jog along at a pace where you do not keep passing things and having to turn back. Also a marker for maps so you could go to certin places. Plus fast travel. Although I am still in the first town so maybe that comes later. Also exit are not shown and you find yourself running up against water or bushes and you cannot go forward even though the Quest arrow points you in that direction. Get these things sorted and you have a serious Contender for the likes of Mass Effect and Skyrym. I am sure with more money and development the Witcher 3 could be a World Beater but not yet. The game in itself is good, But the controls are not very good. Its hard to control pace between say walking and running. The arm wrestling using the left analogue goes all over the place. And unlike many rpg's when picking up items you seem to get the lot no choice so you end up carrying to much weight.It is no where near as smooth running as say Skyrym. But it is early days of playing so will press on. But overall not really impressed. The controls being the main issue here.Plus you have to prepare for battle rather than select items during. Which can be annoying as each item/spell/potion has a time limit. And your not always sure when battle is to commence.

'The Witcher 2' has finally arrived on consoles, and what great game! I have played both witchers on the pc and I loved every bit of it. So, basicly, as a witcher fan, I gave it a try on the xbox 360... and god, they actually pulled it off. People who love RPG's should realy try this game, because 'CD Project RED' nailed it! This is how an RPG should be! Be warned though, the combat isn't just hack&slash. You need to prepare for combat, make tactical decisions and strike when the enemy shows his/her weakness. POSITIVES: - Fluent but challenging combat. - Potion-system (prepare for battle in different ways) - Great story and characters. - Crafting system. - Lore and locations. - Different ways to finish quests and the main story. - New tutorial system! NEGATIVES: - A few graphical hickups. - Not many customisations character-wise (the look) CONCLUSION: - The Witcher 2 on the xbox 360 is a great game. From combat that's entertaining and rewarding, to the complexity but interesting world that shapes according to the choices you make. Superb.

This game realised everything I have been looking for in a RPG, as i have been waiting for that fantasy based game with a lot of grit and seediness which is never seems to be depicted. When they say that your choices effect then ending they really do, I've complete the game twice already and I gained completely different endings. The only issue I could say is that it is a bit short for my RPG needs, this being clearly true in the final act. However, the game has a definite replay-ability with the two different middle sections ( in my opinion the Roche path was better). It may be lacking the shear amount of quests which other RPG's offer but the witcher's side-quests are truly stunning and easily offered a 1000X the enjoyment compared to the typical fetch this or kill that quests you generally find. As you probably can tell I loved this game, don't miss it, as it is all to clear the Xbox 360 offers very few exclusives these days, so get it.

Shocking game, I really, really don't understand how this game is popular! The dialog is incredibly boring and there is no "oompf" in the voice actors at all, its like everyone's cat died the morning they recorded the dialog! Not to mention the incredible lack of attention to the fact that everything in this game makes louder noises than the characters can talk, even with background noise on 1 and voice on 10 its difficult to hear what is being said. The gameplay itself, well what can I say, the dull, emotionless, dude you play as can walk like a boss.... that's about it. As far as combat goes, fighting is painfully linear, I'm talking you press the attack button and if the character is within 15 feet of an enemy he will do a float, flip, spin attack in slow motion to land a seemingly devastating blow on the enemy for him to flinch, just like the guy before him and the guy that will follow, before continuing the lengthy battle that goes along just like every other battle in this game. I raise this point because the cinematic trailer for this game makes it look like the combat will be complex and owe inspiring as something like Assassin's Creed (not AC: III or IV, more like II) seriously, Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King for PS2 had better combat than this. Avoid!

This review is in light of all the praise the game got, the high expectations I had for a game and in particular, this quote from the NY times - "... redefines expectations for an entire genre." Let me tell you what the game doesn't do. First and foremost, the positives. The game is great to look at, the graphics are great and the few cutscenes in the game are enjoyable. Secondly, it's clearly a game for adults, no sugar-coating political complexities or dumbing down of social, cultural and historical references within the game. Furthermore, theres fairly hardcore (for a game) blood, sex and alcohol within the game which I think demonstrates that the target market of the game really is 18+, that's not just an arbitrary sticker on the box. Also the protagonist is engaging and likable, making you want to continue his quest, if only to see how it pans out for Geralt. However, here are the faults that make the game a massive let down and worthy of a 2 star rating. It's just not fun. It certainly doesn't redefine anything. The biggest issue is with the map. The game barely helps you at all trying to find, well, anything at all. You end up talking to every character in the game trying to get a clue about the next part of the quest, resulting in constant pointless conversations with NPC's. Also, the map has no concept of levels, as in, high low, first floor second floor etc. So when the map points you to a location, you often arrive there realising theres nothing there, because the true objective is below or above you. This may not sound like a big deal, but it's endlessly frustrating, especially coupled with the constant loading times even when you enter a house that is just one room. Furthermore, you don't really get to make any 'choices' in the game. It's not like mass effect where you can shape the world around you, or Skyrim where you can free roam and go anywhere you want. You basically have the main quest, about 4/5 side quests per Act (there are 3 acts) and thats about it. I can count only two real choices where you have a bearing on the game. It's more of an action-adventure game with a few RPG elements thrown in. There is no free roam, you can't fast travel anywhere. Your in one location, do the quests, move onto the next acts and do the same again. You actually have very little 'choice' in the game. The combat is essentially mashing quick attack or strong attack. You can block, throw a bomb, but it's really standard. You can't carry very much so after about an hour you won;t be able to pick up to much in order to make potions or craft armor etc. The game also isn't very long. Granted, it's longer than standard games, but it what is defines as an RPG, it's fairly limited. Other than to discover what happened to Geralt, I didn't feel overly drawn to the game in terms of thinking, wow i'm really enjoying the gameplay. It was more, i've paid £20 for this, I should probably just get to the end. My last point is probably my main one. Unless you've played the original Witcher, the game is not friendly to new users. The whole game refers to people and places from the first game in some depth and you easily get lost in the 'oh its A from the land of B', who sayed C from the mountains of D but was aided by E and F'. It's a real struggle. It's commendable that a game has thought so much about the actual world, I mean, it feels authentic. But basically, you need to have played the first game, otherwise the first 4/5 hours are bit of a chore. I wouldn't recommend it, it isn't terrible, just isn't that fun and it doesn't live up to the hype.