Game Preview: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The upcoming dark fantasy action-packed game ever, will be released next month on May 19th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows.

Cinematic Trailer

With Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Red’s saga has grown into something magnificent. It’s a game of truly epic scale that still displays an eye for every detail. It’s one that sees its hero, Geralt the Witcher, fully transformed from the sword-swinging Mr. Loverman of the first Witcher into a mature, reflective hero, and one where story, systems, art, music, action and lore all seem to mesh together into one dazzling whole. It’s the best fantasy RPG of its type since “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,” and sets a new benchmark for the genre. To be honest, that’s all you really need to know.

All the same, you’re probably expecting more from a review than just breathless hyperbole. Well, imagine a game that takes everything you love from The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings, Skyrim, and The Legend of Zelda, from Ocarina of Time to Twilight Princess and “Red Dead Redemption.” That pretty much has Wild Hunt covered. With the third Witcher, CD Projekt Red is playing in the very biggest leagues.

Wild Hunt has almost endless possibilities, but it’s smart enough not to swamp you with them all at once. The initial section of the game threatens to hit you with the same mild disappointment you felt when you discovered that “Dragon Age: Inquisition” wasn’t doing one seamless world, but a series of linked, large-scale landscapes. Even Wild Hunt’s starter area is packed with story missions, beasts to slay and side quests, on a map we would have called huge ten years ago, but it feels a little constrained. Is this what an open world Witcher really means?

Yet, CD Projekt Red is just getting you used to the systems; finding noticeboards and taking on pest-control contracts, to getting from A to B on horseback and discovering what perils and hidden treasures lie en-route. You’re being eased into the game’s combat – fast, smart and tactical – and into its research and crafting: two things that other games make a chore, but Wild Hunt makes an integral part of the fun.

There’s been a lot of talk recently among the gaming literati about whether systems engage players more than storyline, but Wild Hunt binds the two together in ways that make the question seem nonsensical. Geralt has evolved from a surly young blade to a would-be father figure, on the trail of the woman he once loved and the closest thing they have to offspring. To find them, he’ll have to battle men, beasts, spirits and otherworldly forces, while getting involved in intrigues that affect the fate of nations, yet it’s always clear what you’re doing and how it contributes to your aims overall. And if that means collecting herbs to brew potions to give you a fighting chance of taking on a murderous griffin, then that’s something you’re willing to do.

Gameplay Trailer

Even leveled up, Geralt is a professional rather than a superhero. While you can win some battles just by wading in, hacking away and dodging quickly, you’re more likely to succeed if you go in prepared, stocked with potions and with your target’s weaknesses in mind. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Wild Hunt is how it makes light work of its most mundane elements.

In the game, players can control protagonist Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter known as a “witcher,” who sets out on a long journey through the Northern Kingdoms. In the game, players battle against the world's many dangers using swords and magic, while interacting with non-player characters and completing side quests and main missions to progress through the story.

It still has the classic hook of every RPG – fighting monsters to gain experience and loot to level up and upgrade to make you even better at fighting monsters – but it has other pleasures too, with incredible scope for exploration and quests that are well-scripted, varied and full of personality. Your faithful steed works brilliantly both as a transport and as a means of charging headlong into combat, and even here the game shows intelligence, both by limiting its effectiveness in battle through a fear gauge, and in having what’s effectively a cruise mode for gently cantering along the paths.

With commiserations to Bioware and Bethesda, Wild Hunt is the new RPG by which all other RPGs should be judged. Not only has CD Projekt Red delivered the largest and most convincing fantasy open-world we’ve ever seen, but a storyline, quests and systems that make it an incredibly compelling place to run, ride and sail around in. It’s the “GTA 5” or “Red Dead Redemption” of sword and sorcery sagas and the biggest, most breathtaking time sink you’re likely to play this year.

You can Pre-order #TheWitcher3WildHunt for #PlayStation4 and #PC now!

PlayStation 4 – Chinese and English Version

PC

Below are the links for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (Expansion Pass) “Digital Codes” for you to use in the game:

PlayStation 4 - http://astore.amazon.com/gamwanpla-20/detail/B00WRJCRP8

Xbox One - http://astore.amazon.com/gamwanpla-20/detail/B00WRJCIPM

1st Video Credits: GameSpot

2nd Video Credits: GameSpot

#TheWitcher3WildHunt #PS4 #XboxOne #PC #Geralt #Rivia