THE WITCHER ENHANCED EDITION

Were I a member of the gaming Industry right now, I would be shamed to be taught what gaming should look and feel like and how it should be marketed by a small Eastern European company. Who of the multi-billion gaming "giants" ever went back to improve a released game? Yet, there you have it: thanks to CDPROJECT gaming as an art-form is still alive and kicking!

This was the most awaited fantasy cRPG in the past 3 years. Not only did the original deliver, but even more work has gone into truly improving it.
THIS WAS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL cRPG GAMES I HAD EVER PLAYED - AND NOW IT IS GORGEOUS!

The environments are detailed, realistic, and can be experienced from up close. Grass, flowers and tree branches moved in both FABLE and TITAN QUEST as well; these, however, seem so true I caught myself reaching for my...antihistamines! Weather affects and day-night alterations (you have to see the elongating shadows to believe them!) are just gorgeous! More importantly, these are not just eye-candy: certain NPCs and monsters appear only when the correct combination of time-of-day and weather coincide...The horizon is far and the clouds move in endless variations. It reminded me of the sky of the original UNREAL, another visually ground-breaking game at its time. PURE VISUAL MAGIC!

The character (Geralt) can master both sword-fighting and magic spells (what is known as a Warlock). To some die-hard RPG fans this may seem like heresy, nevertheless, keep in mind that multi-classing is not unheard off. The movement repertoire for both practices are impressively designed. Especially the sword-fighting, it is at par to any console action game. And the spells (both offensive and defensive ones) are not less impressive.

Free roaming? Yes and no. One can decide which parts of the map he will visit but loading is still needed to travel even annoyingly short distances. And since quests and side-quest still have to be completed, yes, eventually a subtle, yet ever present, directionality is present.
Looting and bartering? Aaah...yes, sort of. You practically never change the sword you start off with (although you do get to improve its abilities), whereas good armor is only a little easier to come by compared to PLANESCAPE. On the upside, you get to gamble, have romantic relationships (FABLE was full of great ideas after all!) and bribe for information, so trinkets have other uses as well.
Detailed character modifiers? Nothing like the AD&D rules. You gain talents (gold, silver & bronze) which you can spend to improve your fighting or magical abilities. Pretty much like the DIABLO or the TITAN QUEST abilities systems.

So, apart for the slight action-cRPG handicap, I have only two other objections. First, the...camera placement. Once more the atrocious Aurora Engine (remember NWN2...?) will keep auto-placing it where it is bound to get on your nerves - as it targets your character even if that is not the most logical option. Yes, this has indeed improved compared to the original but one cannot teach an old dog new tricks.
Second, the controls. They need getting used to as the fighting combos are still easily ruined by clicking out of sync. You do eventually get the hold of it, however it keeps glitching.

Nevertheless, its shortcomings are not enough to diminish the breath of fresh air this release brings to the scene. The Enhanced edition not only is a truly reworked game but it also comes full with detailed Manuals, beautiful Maps and all the extras that games used to come with in the good old days...

Whereas the BALDUR's GATES saga was story-heavy but (by today standards) visually wanting and the NEVERWINTER NIGHTS series was found, well, wanting in all aspects, THE WITCHER is the dream cRPG that BIOWARE was supposed to be capable of releasing all along but never did - and its current EA bedfellows surely put a stop to such aspirations now. That game, however, is finally here - and not from whom you would expect.
A tip of my hat to CDPROJECT for keeping the ART-FORM of Gaming alive. Well done indeed!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

And it is groundbreaking; there's not another game quite like it on the market at the moment. It's violent, of course it is, but that's not why it has the "18" rating. This game for the PC is not PC - it's crude, its lewd, but it's awfully good. You will find yourself having so much fun that you'll put quests on the back burner just so you can go on the make one more time. But once you've scratched that itch, it's back to business, and this game delivers there too. Combat is intuitive, gory (would you want it any other way?), and a joy to watch. Some of Geralt's moves will have you bouncing in your chair shouting "eat steel sucker" (or something broadly similar - you know what you're like). The arcane isn't sidelined either, and Geralt's magical abilities can inflict serious damage too.
All in all a superb game.

A great RPG that goes outside the normal explore, hack and bash genre by providing a good background continuing storyline and rather clever combat methods. Excellent NPC and scenery graphics although some of the characters and generic rooms get a bit over-used. The incidental scenery and immersion aspects, eg startled flocks of birds, pets, etc, are excellent.

The Enhanced Edition has excellent English dialogue and soundtrack, which is just as well as I was sold the German version. All the supporting books were in that language only although there is an Adobe version of the English Game Manual on the DVD.

A thoroughly good game and buy and I look forward to playing Witcher 2.