GameSpy's PC Games of the Year
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Two major gameplay factors really push The Witcher over the top. The first is a fun (though challenging) timing-based combat system that makes fighting much more difficult (and consequently more enjoyable) than in a traditional action/RPG clickfest. The bigger factor is the game's moral ambiguity. This plays out in a series of moral choices presented to the player where the impact of the choice isn't felt until much later in the game. In one example, a "terrorist" group of dwarves and elves tired of discrimination and oppression at the hands of humans tries to steal a cache of weapons. Geralt can let them have them or kill the raiders. Whichever choice he makes, he can still complete his current quest but that action causes a ripple that will much later change what people and what quests are available due to a massacre that may or may not occur. Just like real life, the player must often make difficult decisions without enough information, blind to the eventual consequences. This is single-player RPG greatness. Don't miss it.
