Stunning, deep, challenging, immersive and innovative. Witcher 2 is quite simply a modern masterpiece!

The Back Story

CDprojekt began publishing role playing games (RPG) in Poland around the same time the Baldur’s Gate games came to fame, producing some of the best localizations of western RPG’s. CDProjekt turned their eye toward developing their own games a few years ago. The Witcher was released in 2007 and was based upon the novels of Poland’s most beloved fantasy author Andrej Sapkowski. The Blood Of Elves Saga recounts the adventures of Geralt, a monster slayer created through magical mutation and disciplined to become a master swordsman, magician and alchemist. CDprojekts first game was a success and sold well on the very narrow PC platform. It was very hard-core and used the older aurora engine that Bioware developed for Never Winter Nights and this would hold the game back from mass mainstream success. The first Witcher video game turned CDProjekt into an international brand and their follow up, four years in the making comes packing production values that quadruple its predecessors and truly put the competition to shame.

The Story

The Witcher 2 picks up right where the first game ended. Fans of the original will feel right at home jumping into Geralt’s boots and beginning where they left off. New comers will have a tougher time acclimating to the richness and depth of the setting but it will soon become like that history class you loved in high school – real, thought provoking and inspiring. The world of this fantasy saga is not unlike classical fantasy (elves, dwarves, and magic) but it draws its sense of reality and textural finesse from European history. The setting is draped in the late days of the Middle Ages; the dawn of the renaissance. Kings, lords, persecuted humanoids and scheming sorceresses all attempt to leave their mark, like Italy during the 16th century, the map is ever changing. The countries of the land are in flux, their leadership entering a new era of conquest and strife that rises from both the lower class and the richest of lords.

At the story’s center is Geralt a warrior caught in the machinations of politicians. He quests only for the wellbeing of his close friends, his lovers and the very skin on his back. He is bound by a higher sense of justice and over the course of the game seeks out the true evil that slips mysteriously between the fingers of the lords and kings he serves.