The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is the sequel to the 2007 RPG, built for the PC and released by CD Projekt RED. Based on the writing of Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher games follow Geralt of Rivia, one of the few remaining Witchers (read: monster hunters) left in the grim, fantasy world.

Assassins of Kings follows on where The Witcher left off, with Geralt of Rivia assisting King Foltest in his attempts to reclaim his children from their mother and solidify his monarchy. After King Foltest dies however and guards find Geralt standing alone over the corpse, he is accused of regicide and attempts to clear his name.

The problem with building a lot of different choices into your game is clear - and the most obvious reason most games stick to a strictly linear narrative. The size and nature of your changes are directly related to the amount of development time needed to enact those changes - and most people will never see the alternatives. If the changes are simple - killing this person means another is unavailable later - the development time is limited - make the second person mute or disappear them altogether. If the changes are vast however - choosing between two objectives disables all of the quest, plot and storyline elements found in the second - you are looking at hours of your game and hundreds of hours of development time most people will never experience.

This makes the extreme consequences for your actions both The Witcher 2's best attribute and its biggest problem. Once you choose your path and decide your allegiance, you will be regarded as an enemy by all those on the other side - so you can't flip flop and do quests for them - or even be seen by them. In other words, the only way to play the entire game is to play through it at least twice.

This is not necessarily a problem - the first Witcher title required the same - as did Deus Ex and dozens of other games. The under-appreciated Alpha Protocol was almost pointless if you only played through it once. It seems like every game out of Japan has a New Game + feature, with either the promise of added background story or 'better' endings.

As for games with changes though, there is something very gratifying about discussing a game with your friends, only to find out they had a remarkably different experience to you. Likewise, playing through a game again to see how things would have turned out if you'd done something differently can be a great experience in itself.

You need to want to play through the game again however - and this is where Assassins of Kings falls apart. That isn't to say you won't enjoy your first time through - the game is a blast as I'll get to in a second - but once you've reached the end, maxed out your level and are chopping down monsters like they're made of cardboard, it's tough to go back to struggling through fights. And it's tougher still when a game begins as slowly as The Witcher 2 does.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings begins with Geralt in a dungeon explaining a recent events - similar to this year's other big name fantasy RPG Dragon Age 2. In media res - beginning a story part-way through and recounting it in flashbacks - is a common literary technique, but it received mixed reactions when used in Dragon Age 2. Those who aren't a fan will be pleased to know events transpose in real-time before too long.

After Geralt explains the events which led to his incarceration, it's time to break out and fix his good name. You get your first taste of your consequences during your prison break - when you spoke to one of the nobles keeping Foltest from his children you had a choice of either talking him into letting you through or chopping him down. Talking to him means he is locked up in prison with you, killing him means he is dead. I felt pretty bad as I explained why I killed him to his mother, but she took it pretty stoically.



While his death would come back to haunt me later on in my first playthrough, keeping him alive was a pain in the ass when I started again. The sections in The Witcher 2 requiring stealth are annoying enough without a half dead nobleman weighing you down.

It was when I escaped the castle and reached the first village though that I knew I couldn't play through the game again. While I could have sped through the main story and jumped into the next part of the game rather quickly, the side quests are necessary if you want any experience - and any chance at all during battles.

Unfortunately, while some of the side quests are deeply involving and tell extremely interesting stories in themselves, they are essentially just that - stories - and not as interesting on a second run through when you know what mysteries lie at the end - especially if Geralt has to slowly trot all over the place to complete them.

The other side quests are your rpg standards - clear out the mines, exterminate the pests, etc. These are actually not bad in Assassins of Kings, for one simple reason - unlike the first game in the series, combat is actually good.

It doesn't start off great however, as I mentioned earlier. Battles at the beginning of the game tend to have you rolling and running away and around your enemy more than attacking them. The combat system isn't very well defined in game either, but it becomes obvious once you begin to play.

Stances are gone from the first game (thank goodness) and now Geralt simply builds up momentum when attacking - and as long as you aren't struck or stopped in some way, you can continue to build momentum until the battle is won. While targeting in a group fight can take some getting used to, once you do battles become like a dance, as you roll and weave through enemies, ducking their attacks and slicing them to ribbons.

Let's face it though, if you've seen any screenshots you'll know that just about everything about The Witcher 2 looks good. While The Witcher was technically graphically impressive - based on the Neverwinter Nights engine as it was - it was still not the prettiest game in the world. CD Projekt RED developed their own engine for Assassins of Kings however and they have done a stellar job. Outdoor environments are the best example of this, but they are followed a close second by characters themselves, who are detailed enough so you can pick out dwarves in minor roles (not distinctively unique in appearance) without getting close enough for their name to appear above their head.

The leveling up system has been simplified in The Witcher 2, with both good and bad results. Geralt now puts a point at each level into one of three different talent branches - after unlocking them not long into the game by filling the Witcher branch. The branches cover magic, combat and alchemy and are designed with filling a path to its zenith as opposed to spreading points out. Geralt maxes out at level 35 - which you can easily reach before halfway through the end chapter - meaning 35 points to distribute.

This allows you to fill out two talent trees, although only with one point in each skill. Mutagens - generally found on various monsters - can be linked to some talents further along the chain to increase Geralt's attributes. Geralt also gains skills at different, obscure points, which give him bonuses in certain situations.

It needs to be noted finally, The Witcher 2 - like its predecessor - is not for children. It opens with Geralt in bed with a naked woman and while the amount of sex is toned down from the almost embarrassing first game, it still plays a part.

That said however, if you are an adult and looking for a decent RPG, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is well worth a look. Some of the design choices are incredibly confusing and you might not want to play it again for a couple of months, but it does an excellent job of bringing Geralt's world to life.