A few imperfections stand out amidst all the graphical wizardry, such as mechanical facial animations, characters that pop in during cutscenes, and the occasional frame rate dip. The game is nevertheless demanding of your hardware, though it is attractive even at lower settings.

Impressively, all of this beauty is rendered using DirectX 9 technology rather than the newer DirectX 11. Pungent colors, roaring flames, and shafts of glowing light make mainstay environments like sewers and caves a wonder to explore. You cross paths with a giant dragon and other grotesqueries, each of which moves with a sense of weight appropriate to the creature's proportions. Yet The Witcher 2 is as much about grand gestures as it is textural detail. The superlative art is rendered by equally superlative technology that ensures you can admire the rips on a mercenary's trousers, a harpy's individual feathers, and the buckles and seams on Geralt's clothing. These may seem like unimportant details, but they're indicators of how much care went into every facet of this game's environments and character models.

Look closely at the patterns carved into a stone column, and you notice how each one is slightly different. Walls, cliffs, and meadows aren't just repeated textures. A red scar above a defiant elf's upper lip is not just a testament to past violence-it suggests a permanent scowl. The delicate lace of a sorceress's collar gives her a regal air, yet dark makeup and dark brown eyes speak to mysteries beneath the surface. In The Witcher 2, sights like these communicate so much. On the outskirts of a dwarven enclave, sunlight glistens upon a misty pond a tower just beyond it bristles with potent magical properties the underbrush surrounding you casts deep shadows, yet rays of golden sun coax you onward. The Witcher 2's phenomenal visual design isn't its defining characteristic, but it's an effective lure and makes for an immediate connection with the game's provocative tone. Now Playing: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Video Review This superb role-playing sequel offers a bold world woven together by tenuous alliances and closely guarded secrets.īy clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's Some bugs, combat quirks, and other foibles prove bothersome, but they don't greatly diminish the impact of exploring a dungeon whose walls ooze the agony you've just witnessed. And just as you exert your power on this game's events, they work their power on you, drawing you further into a gorgeous world populated by quarrelling trolls and drunken, sex-crazed dwarves. As Geralt of Rivia, your actions don't just bring you closer to the truths of your own murky history, but they also influence the tides of war. They're meaningful not just because they are packed with excitement, but also because there are stakes-both personal and political. Like the rare Roses of Remembrance you might find growing in this role-playing game's lush fields, these moments are carefully cultivated. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is a gift, gilded with moments that stay with you even after the curtains close on its dark tale of uncertain pasts and uncertain futures.

The witcher 2