The Witcher series seldom needs an introduction, especially if you’ve been gaming for the past ten years. But for the uninitiated, The Witcher III: Wild Hunt concludes Geralt of Rivia’s story (the game’s protagonist) from past installments in the series. The story now focuses on a young Witcher by the name of Ciri; a sorceress named Yennefer (Geralt’s love interest); and a vicious phantom army that calls itself the ‘Wild Hunt’.
The reappearance of the Wild Hunt — according to in-game lore – signifies the end of days. Geralt is faced with countless obstacles as he traverses an open sandbox world teeming with villages, cities and intelligent AI-based enemies. Additionally, he must make unwanted alliances and break ‘Witcher’ code if he ever plans to succeed in his mission(s).
Wild Hunt’s world is thirty times bigger than previous Witcher gamers. It also implements many new features that were not present in its sequels, including the ability to sail boats to new, undiscovered locations, and to ‘Fast Travel’ just about anywhere on the ‘World Map, to name just a few. Basically, everything you know about the Witcher series has either been improved or revamped in some way for this release.
For starters, the game begins with a dream sequence that doubles as a tutorial. We’re shown Geralt inside the witcher school, Kaer Morhen, as he has a discussion with his love interest, Yennefer. It’s learned that Yennefer is concerned about a young witcher named Ciri, who happens to be training without permission. From there, the game has the player use Geralt’s ‘Witcher Sense’ to search for objects inside the environment. Basically, you have to use Geralt’s ‘Witcher Skill’ to find a key that unlocks the door to Yennefer’s room. Once this is accomplished, you search for Ciri and eventually return her to Vesemir, your mentor. Again, the game provides a brief tutorial that helps the player brush up on their combat skills. It’s relatively brief, but it helps to shake off the cobwebs and sharpen your trigger finger(s).
As the sequence ends, we’re shown Geralt waking up and realizing that it was all a dream (he is actually on a mission to find his love, Yennefer, with the help of his mentor Vesemir). The first few hours of gameplay are quite vigorous, as you speak to locals to discover Yenefer’s whereabouts; participate in brutal tavern fights; and hunt down a blood-thirsty Griffon that has been terrifying the locals of White Orchard. And this is only a fraction of the content the game provides, as you ride through a vast countryside filled with wolves, monsters, and cut-throat bandits waiting to ambush you at every turn.
As mentioned earlier, The Wild Hunt improves on several gameplay aspects from previous games in the series. Combat now relies on a action role-playing game system complimented by the use of Magic Signs. The magic system contains a variety of attack and defense spells that can be accessed by pressing the Left Trigger button. Spells that are available in this menu can be highlighted with the left analog stick and selected by pressing A button. When you’re not in combat, you can ‘meditate’ on a specific skill by pressing X button. This process involves choosing the number of hours Geralt will spend meditating on that skill.
Combat can now occur on horseback, but a ‘Fear’ meter limits the amount of time Geralt can spend fighting on his horse, Roach. Once this meter reaches its limit, Roach will rear back in fear, tossing the player to the ground. This will cause a slight recovery delay for the player, making them vulnerable to attack. It’s usually a good idea to dismount during most combat sequences because of this issue alone.
Geralt is now capable of jumping, climbing and vaulting over smaller obstacles (i.e. stone walls, barrels, etc.), but it’s nowhere close to mimicking the gameplay dynamics of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series. It comes in handy when you’re chasing an enemy or trying to escape from a group of monsters, but it’s not nearly as fluid as it should be. In some ways, the climbing mechanics are more akin to Sony’s Uncharted series for Playstation 3.
Combat itself plays every bit as good as the previous two games. Geralt’s attacks are assigned to both the X and Y buttons, and blocking/parrying is executed by pressing and holding the Left Trigger button. Dodging can be accomplished by tapping B button, but it’s not nearly as effective as blocking. Special items such as food and healing potions can be assigned to the directional pad, and they can be used at anytime during combat.
When you’re not fighting the Wild Hunt and completing missions based on the main story, you’re running side quests for the countless NPCs that populate the game’s world. Most of these quests are simple retrieval missions that range from finding merchant carts to blessing the bodies of the dead, to name just a few. All of these missions – story-based and side quests alike – are displayed in the Minimap, which is located in the upper right-hand corner of the display. This mapping system shows your current location and the surrounding area. Underneath the Minimap are your current objectives for active quests. If your current quest contains more than one objective, you can toggle between them by pressing the right Analog Stick.
Replacing the Dice Game from the previous two Witchers is ‘Gwent’ – a card game where both players are considered generals and their cards soldiers. The player starts by drawing 2 cards from their deck. Weather and Soldier cards contain stats that can affect the course of the match. Each deck has a leader that grants the player a special ability, which can help in beating your opponent. This ability can be executed at any point during the card game by pressing X button. Simple, but very addicting to play – Gwent is a great diversion when you’re feeling overwhelmed by the the Wild Hunt’s main adventure. In fact, I found myself playing it often during the course of this review.
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is one of those games that can’t be summed up in just a few words. But what can be said is that CD Projekt RED’s action RPG is not only a tour de force of the Xbox One’s capabilities, but the crowning jewel in a critically-acclaimed series that is sure to have a long, successful lifespan on Next Gen consoles and beyond.
Mike Pittaro
Platform: Xbox One
Developer: CD Projekt RED
Publisher: Warner Home Video Games
ESRB: M (Mature)
Price: $59.99
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt Official Website: http://thewitcher.com/witcher3/
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |  |
| The visuals look incredible on Xbox One. | |
| Sound | |
| Everything you would come to expect from a Witcher game is present, including a high quality sound track. | |
| Gameplay | |
| New content and enhancements abound. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is a prime candidate for 'Game of the Year'. | |
