The Witcher: a Study in Neutrality

Check Out My Swords

Somewhat surprisingly, The Witcher is a game developed specifically for PCs, though it plays in many ways more like a console RPG. You play from a third person perspective, with the option to choose between three camera angles. F1 and F2 are more of a top-down view, and you click on the ground as you would in Neverwinter Nights to move your character around. The preferred perspective and method of control — according to the game as well as my personal preference — is an over-the-shoulder (OTS) camera and the use of WASD to move your character around in FPS fashion (select using F3). Left-clicking interacts with objects and people and attacks enemies while right-clicking uses Signs — The Witcher equivalent of spells. As part of the Games for Windows initiative, The Witcher supports the Xbox 360 controller in addition to standard keyboard/mouse input. It also works with Windows Vista — 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

Looks a lot like Washington in the winter

The majority of the game is spent running around talking to people, slaying monsters, reading books, playing FedEx delivery man, etc. — all staples of RPGs. While the game doesn't necessarily break any new ground in these areas, the quality of writing and the plot is certainly up there with the best of the genre. There are substantial differences in the game worlds and implementation, but personally this ranks right alongside games like Baldur's Gate 2 for having an involved and interesting story. Let's talk about some of the differences, though.

Combat is a real-time affair, although it can be paused at any time by pressing the spacebar to browse your inventory or give other commands. That still might sound like Baldur's Gate, but in truth it's not. Combat is a much more visceral experience, straddling the line between full-blown action-oriented gameplay and turn-based combat, but falling much closer to the former than the latter. Clicking on an enemy will draw your weapon — generally speaking, this is one of two Witcher swords, steel for humans and silver for monsters — and clicking on an enemy when your sword is drawn will initiate a sequence of attacks. After a set series of slashes, thrusts, and/or stabs, you must click on the monster again at the appropriate time to chain a second attack. Time this properly, and Geralt will begin another sequence of blows, more damaging than the previous attacks. Depending on the weapon, combat style, and skill level of your character, you can chain together up to five attack sequences — at which point all but the most powerful enemies will be dead.

This is me, buffed out at the end of the game

Skills are upgraded by spending bronze, silver, and gold talent points, in most cases acquired when you gain a level - there are a few other instances where you will gain a talent point, but these are the exception rather than the rule. Levels one and two can be upgraded with bronze talents, three and four require silver talents, and level five requires gold talents. The first ten character levels will give you three bronze talent points; the next ten will give you one silver and two bronze points; the final ten (maximum level appears to be 30, but it might be higher) you get one bronze, two silver, and one gold. There are three categories of skills you can upgrade: attributes (affect everything), swords, and signs - see below for discussion of the latter two. Certain attribute levels are required to reach higher levels with the combat skills (again, see below), and there are also a few special skills are only available after you consume a mutagen potion.

Weapon skills are broken down into two primary categories: steel sword and silver sword. Each category has three subcategories: strong attack (strength), fast attack (dexterity), and group attack (stamina) — you can have a sword skill one level higher than the associated attribute (shown in parenthesis). You upgrade all six areas independently, so you can potentially be very deadly against groups of monsters while using your silver sword and yet completely inept when it comes to using the strong style with a steel sword. The strong skill is best used against slower, more powerful opponents — faster opponents will parry your blows, interrupting your attack sequence. Similarly, the fast skill is for use against more agile opponents, and while it's not as likely to be parried by a heavily armored foe it does happen and even when successful it doesn't do as much damage. The group skills help to fend off multiple opponents, and become particularly effective when you're fighting three or more creatures at the same time. You can switch between any of the three attack modes by pressing a button, but you cannot chain together different fighting styles. Switching weapons requires more time and leaves you vulnerable to attack.

Signs are the other part of combat - think of signs as a quick mini-spell that doesn't leave you sitting around chanting, waiting for someone to stick a sword through your heart. There are five signs, the most useful (in my view) being the Aard (stun/knockout/push away) and Igni (explosion/fireball/ignite) signs. Others allow you to temporarily shield yourself — great for when you need to drink a potion or want to run away — cause fear/hex in nearby enemies, or set a trap on the ground (Quen, Axii, and Yrden respectively). Use of signs is related to your intelligence attribute, and you can have a sign level one higher than your intelligence — so level four intelligence allows you access to all sign levels. Again, on the hard setting signs are probably more helpful, or maybe if I had powered up the Axii/Yrden options they might have helped in a few battles. Most of the time, I found Aard to be sufficient, allowing me to stun enemies and then kill them off with a finishing blow, with an occasional Igni tossed in for good measure.

Fighting a group of drowners

Besides swords, you can also find daggers, torches, clubs, axes, hammers, and maces. While some of these might look cool, the fact of the matter is that none of them are particularly useful in combat compared to your swords. The reason is that your Witcher skills only apply to swords, so you don't get to chain together more than two attacks and you don't do as much damage if you're not using swords. The net result is that any other weapons you encounter are pretty much only used for being sold and earning money. The potential exception is the torch, which can provide light in dark areas. However, since the torch makes an ineffective weapon, you are better off using your potions to gain your night vision ability.