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PC loyalists to whom “consolelol” has become the default response when discussing PC-to-console ports can rest assured that The Witcher 2 is in safe hands. CD Projekt might be career-championers of the purity of good old fashion PC gaming, and most have heard their swan song against DRM banging through the halls of PC development, but you wouldn’t guess that console game development is alien to them after playing The Witcher 2 on Xbox 360.
In a large way that’s because the console version justifies its existence. This isn’t even a port, the development crew keep telling us, this is an adaptation. It’s the same story of dark fantasy politics that you played last year on PC, with roughly four hours of new material slotted into the game, added cutscenes, introductory features for new players, alongside a number of additions from Version 2.0 of the original PC title that will be recognised by anyone who played the game after its release late last year.
Its first four minutes are the work of Oscar nominated animator Tomasz Baginski who turned out a new CGI introduction, something that lays out the darker, knife-to-aorta tones for the rest of the game. The Witcher 2 on Xbox 360 is designed – or re-designed, however way you want to look at it – simultaneously for new users and the older users who have been loitering around the back-lots of CD Projekt awaiting new Witcher material, so compared to the PC’s pre-Version 2.0 offering it’s a gentler kind of animal. Both markets are coaxed back to the game by way of a smoother introduction to the world and the concepts that hold it together.
On console we’re offered a tutorial to take us through the basic concepts of alchemy and meditation – which are used to create potions, heal, sleep to specific times of day, and so on. It’s of little interest to seasoned players already aware of the systems, at least until the Arena rears its head. Generally speaking The Arena gives you a place to fight waves of enemies, with points gained from each wave added to a leaderboard. However in your first encounter with it, it works to teach you the intricacies of the combat system: dagger throwing, the laying of traps, sword-play, the concept of Signs which are cast by your Geralt de Rivia character.
This exists as a place of practice, where practice is rewarded by chests after defeating a string of enemies, and where strategies can be developed and honed. The Witcher 2 is a slashing-action RPG on a superficial level but CD Projekt RED understands the simple pleasures of coordinating tactics and mastering a handful of Sign spells to show the full potential behind Geralt. Beyond the draw of wave-based combat, this can be used to perfect your methods of killing, and by its end the game’s tutorial system will suggest to you a difficulty setting to play, including its insanity-level Dark Mode which was first introduced in Version 2.0 of its PC brethren.
Back in 2011 The Witcher 2 had been designed with both mouse and controller compatibility in its PC release, however one of the most significant differences between platforms for most users will likely be how much object interaction has been made easier. Earlier problems with interaction hotspots on items which were too small in the game, forcing users to awkwardly mouse over doors and loot until the item was recognised, are now simply non-issues. Items can be picked up all at once when dropped from enemy corpses, with the old awkwardness replaced by the wondrously mind-numbing simplicity of hitting a face button.
Now in 2012, the console version is up against a very different set of foes. Witcher 2 on PC had initially come out at a time before Skyrim or even Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, stone giants of the RPG genre that have reared their heads throughout the months that have passed since the release of the Geralt saga. However, even with these games fresh in our minds, The Witcher 2 clearly has what is necessary for a game to stand out in the genre. It’s darker, grittier, and bloodier than any fantasy fare that has come out since the beginning of the year, and beyond that is one of the most exciting RPGs of this decade.
The Witcher 2 on Xbox 360 is due for release on April 17. Owners of the PC version will be able to get the upgrades via a patch, although a firm release date hasn’t been set.
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