The Witcher 2 was a marvelous game that pushed the western RPG to new heights, so of course it was no surprise when Polish developer CD Projekt started work on a sequel. We sat down at E3 and got a full 45 minute demo of The Witcher 3: Wold Hunt, a new title in development for next gen consoles.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt puts players in the shoes of a Witcher named Gerald. Witchers are basically assassins for hire who will take any job given to them as long as it pays. Players will have a lot of things to do in the new game with the world being over 30 times larger than the previous installment. From what we saw in the demo, the world was massive, with travel done by horses and even by sea. The game even has it’s own built in weather, so you will need to take notice before going on your travels, especially if you plan to go by sea.
One of the first things I noticed when the demo popped up was just how gorgeous this game really is. The level of detail as Gerald was walking through the town was incredible and, at one point, the view of the vast sea from a clifftop was breathtaking. Things really start to shine in exploration where there is so much attention to detail in the environment, as well as during combat as enemies you set on fire really burn.
Combat and exploration are where The Witcher 3 are going to shine and thankfully there is an abundance of both and what’s there is very refined. There is a lot of strategy to be found here as you must pay attention to your enemy movements, dodge, and then attack. Gerald also has a slew of spells at his disposal to throw into the mix, presenting players with plenty of options during combat. In fact at one point during the demo, our presenter lured a monster out of some ruins to get him into an open field and better his chances of victory.
Speaking of the enemies, there is a lot of detailed paid to each and every enemy I saw during the presentation. In all, there are said to be around 80+ different monster types to be found in the game. Each enemy I saw moved in very distinctive patterns and all had very different attacks to guard against. Another interesting nugget was that there are no bosses to be found in The Witcher 3. Instead of bosses, the group at CD Projekt have given each enemy more attention and made sure that each battle will force you to really be on top of your game.
When it ended I was left with my jaw hitting the floor from the sheer amount of detail in this title, from the combat to the environment. Even the story presents a deep level of content, with multiple dialogue choices and over 100 hours of gameplay. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a game that every RPG fan should have their eye on when it releases next year on the PS4, Xbox One and PC.
