Our only real complaints are that Geralt's movement feels a little too weighty, and yet twitchy at the same time. The day-night cycle and dynamic weather make for some dramatic vistas, from bleak rain-swept battlefields to sunlight dappling through cherry blossom. The game looks fantastic, with a world that's packed with small details and which looks and feels inhabited. ^ It may be beautifully rendered but the game's grim tone often matches that found in Game of Thrones
WITCHER 3 PC REVIEW UPGRADE
You can upgrade your skills of course, including some neat tricks such as deflecting arrows by parrying with your sword. You can die quickly if you're not concentrating, and taking out bigger groups requires some thought. The fighting isn't exceptional stuff, but it flows nicely and there are some brutal finishers. An encounter with a Noonwraith forced a strategic combat approach, employing traps to give her corporeal form that let us land physical attacks: CD Projekt Red has clearly striven to avoid identikit combat encounters. So-called Signs also let you use defensive and offensive magic, letting you throw down temporary defensive bubbles, traps that inflict area-specific damage on enemies and bombs.
WITCHER 3 PC REVIEW PLUS
The combat system is pretty simple, with light and heavy attacks plus parries. Most hunts result in a fight but Geralt is more than able to handle himself from the off, with a steel sword for fighting humans and a silver one for monsters. This possibly makes things too easy, as we'd have liked a little more detective work at times, rather than simply following glowing footprints. Geralt has enhanced Witcher senses, which let him see clues when searching for items and footprints when tracking animals. The world has a good share of content too, with horse racing, a complex card game-within-the-game to master, treasure hunts and some huge battles with epic beasts. Hold down a button and he'll even follow a path or road without further guidance. The horse is fast and can gallop to outrun most enemies, but you can fight from horseback if you choose.
Thankfully Geralt can always call upon his horse Roach, who comes running at a whistle. The Northern Kingdoms of 'The Continent' make up a huge explorable area, strewn liberally with castles, villages, ruins and more. It may be story- and character-driven, but there's a huge amount of freedom available to you outside of the main storyline.
WITCHER 3 PC REVIEW CODE
^ Geralt may be a mercenary but he has a moral code of sorts and motivations that most will understand Even allowing for the usual connivances of prophecies and amnesia, you start as a nobody who knows no one. You are simply Geralt of Rivia, a hulking great slab of machismo and dry wit. Generating a hero of your own making in the typical pen-and-paper model, as with Skyrim or Dragon Age, can also leave your character lacking a place in the world they inhabit. No millions of nose, hair and eye-colour combinations. The Witcher 3 has no character creation system. Destiny and Bloodborne are both RPGs of a sort, but while they both have appropriate mechanics, they lack the other half of the equation – a fully fleshed out character to play rather than just a faceless combatant. RPG mechanics may have been purloined by practically every game under the sun in recent years, but there's a lot more to the genre than simply loot, experience points and the slow grind to god-like abilities. That's more than £20 less than the list price of £34.99. DEAL UPDATE: Over at the Microsoft store, you can currently get The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Game Of The Year Edition for the reduced price of just £14.