The Witcher release date is October 30th. New video of developer walkthrough shows combat & gameplay
The Witcher is an epic open-world RPG similar to the likes of The Elder Scrolls series based on the books of the same name by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski and the game tells the story of Geralt, a man who becomes a “witcher” — a travelling monster hunter for hire gifted with unnatural powers. The game has a huge world that you can traverse and all the PC RPG trappings that you are familiar with, from extensive towns and villages with lots of people to talk to (complete with full voice acting) to various quests, side-jobs and mini-games you can partake in to find new items and equipment and gain access to new areas.
The game uses BioWare’s Aurora Engine and features an extensive weather system as well as realistic physics. One of the most unique aspects though is the combat system, which is based on how you click the mouse to execute combos. There are three fighting styles: a quick style that lets you make fast, but weaker, jabs, a heavy style that features slow but strong attacks and a group fighting style that features sweeping attacks for taking on multiple foes. And all these styles are demonstrated in the video. Where you will also see the game’s multiple camera angles and control scheme, which allows for the clicking of the character to move him around the world or a more standard control that uses the keyboard to move. I personally like the fact that his standard run is also pretty quick.
The combat looks great, but they could use a bit more work on the lip-synching and the way characters move when in conversations. But it looks pretty good and has great graphics, although not the game doesn’t seem wholly original. It is said to have a decision making feature though where decisions you make in the game will manifest themselves in a matter of a dozen hours or so from when you make them . . . so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out in the final game.
The Witcher has a release date of October 26th in Europe, October 30th in the US (just in time for Halloween) and November 2nd in Australia.
To see the game in action give a look at this Developer Walkthrough.
Developer Walkthrough Part 2 – Includes Combat
Did you know the unique PS Vita game Gravity Rush is helmed by the Siren series director? 
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