If you’ve played most of the action RPGs released in recent times like Mass Effect, Oblivion and Jade Empire, you’ll pretty much know what to expect in Polish developer CD Projekt’s The Witcher – which by the way is based on the literary works of noted Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. You have your moral choices that affect the outcome of the plot, factions to align with, side quests to indulge in, monsters to slay, maidens to lay, money to make, and a main character to level up into the ultimate killing machine. The only difference is that unlike, say, Oblivion (that offers players the opportunity to create their character from scratch), The Witcher forces you to step into the boots of a predetermined Witcher called Geralt.
Unlike what the name may suggest, Witchers aren’t male Witches; they are monster hunters who’ve been trained since birth to become proficient in the ways of the sword and magic. You play as one such monster asskicker who is the last of this dying breed. To make matters worse he’s suffered a serious bout of amnesia and must find out how and why he’s lost all his memory – amidst political turmoil that’s threatening to engulf the land. Then you have certain miscreants called the Slamandra who are after the Mutagen (that grants Witchers their supernatural powers) for personal, diabolical reasons.
One aspect of The Witcher that actually sets itself apart from other RPGs on the block is that it offers players three distinct camera angles to choose from. There are two isometric views (high and low) seen in games like Diablo, Fallout 1 and 2 etc while the other one (and the one I played the entire game in) is the over-the-shoulder view seen in most third person shooters today. Using this camera angle, you control Geralt using the WSAD keys while the mouse is used to look around and fight. This view is definitely recommended not only by me but by the devs themselves, since it leads to a more immersive experience, especially during combat.



