The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Previews

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Written by Brother None on June 16th, 2010

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That's where you would have left off in the first game and the second continues down the neutral path, with the land still wracked by factional strife. By the time the story starts, the Order have been almost defeated, while relations between the Scoia'tel (non-human rebels) and the authorities are frosty. However, the situation is more stable than it's been for a while and Geralt is on his way to La Valette castle, the home of a baroness who is still resisting King Foltest's attempts to restore order. As the story progresses, the significance of the assassin who Geralt defeated at the end of the first game becomes clear.

This becomes the main thread of the story, a tale that takes Geralt to new areas of Temeria. There'll be no revisits to locations seen in the first game, so forget about going back to Vizima to see what's going down there. As you know, the new areas will be more than double the size of the old ones, and another exciting factoid is that they won't be crippled by loading screens. They'll all be loaded in once and you can flit between all the different areas of the city at your will, which also includes building interiors.

Overall the effect of the new system makes character interactions feel more cinematic and natural than in the first game. Also in the sequel is a new combat system, shown off as the protagonist, the white-haired Geralt, took on groups of hostile elves in a forest swamp. To survive the onslaught of arrows being fired, one of Geralt's traveling companions put up a magical sphere that protected him. To advance to safety, Geralt had to stick close to his slow-moving companions who were projecting the shield and fight off any elves that walked through the magical barrier.

Some other additions that will be found in the sequel include:

• A nonlinear storyline that has multiple possible endings.
• A new community subsystem that is akin to that found in Fable 2. The non-player characters will have their own motivations and lifestyle and will react to Geralt based upon his actions.
• Geralt will be able to more freely explore his environment, which will present more tactical options. Geralt can now jump over fences, scale walls, and ascend rock formations.
• A more complex dialogue system that aims to draw the player deeply into the story. Conversations can include more than two characters at a time and some conversations will require a response from Geralt within a set amount of time.
• The overall time to complete the game will be shorter, but the gameplay will feature more events and have a more intense feel overall.
• Sexual encounters will now be more story-driven rather than a (collectible card) mini-game.
• No loading screens!

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