Before the decision was made by CD Projekt to revamp The Witcher with an Enhanced Edition, it was already a very good game, in spite of any bugs. With the recent release of the Enhanced Edition, my vocabulary stumbles over the word “exceptional” as not carrying enough praise to correctly describe the sheer brilliance CD Projekt have created for fans of the RPG genre.

The Enhanced Edition boasts numerous improvements over the original title, including hundreds of bug fixes and a very long list of changes. All this accumulates to what could easily be considered a masterpiece. The Witcher: Enhanced Edition is hands down the best roleplaying game I've played since Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and this praise is well-deserved.

Entering the relatively bleak world of Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher sees you assume the role of Geralt, a Witcher. Geralt is a monster hunter, who makes a living out of killing beasts, intimidating folk, and helping out those in need. Having lost his memory, Geralt finds himself at Kaer Morhen, a stronghold the Witchers call their home. Within moments, the fortress is under siege by a bandit group, and so begins one of the greatest roleplaying experiences ever created.


The narrative presented in the game is a highly mature tale that addresses many themes. The scope of the main quest is magnificent, and is progressed primarily through your own actions whilst controlling Geralt. While a lot of it is scripted heavily, you're left with an illusion of freedom, which allows you to either be friend or foe to any NPC. The game world is not comprised of black and white decisions with everything instead tinged with grey.

This is made evident throughout the game. Your decisions do effect things, and not just in a superficial way. For instance, if you agitate a particular character in the world, their influence amongst other NPCs will either tarnish or enhance your reputation amongst their allies and colleagues, while gaining you favour with their enemies. This is portrayed foremost in dialogue, though dialogue is sometimes let down by poor translation, even after a thorough rewrite of the script.

Despite thorough reworking of much of the dialogue, the game still features a few instances where the expression of NPCs is unclear. Sometimes, they speak complete nonsense with conversation loops often returning to a thread that bears no relation to what has been just discussed. This is a minor frustration given the excellent plot of the game, which is filled with enough twists and turns to keep even the most jaded of gamers interested.


While dialogue does play a massive role in the game, when you're not speaking courtesies, dealing with racism or practising subterfuge, there's a healthy dose of combat, complimented with a unique battle system that is simple but also offers plenty of strategic depth when combined with Geralt's alchemical abilities (more on this shortly). Geralt is able to fight with a variety of weapons, but swords are his primary survival tools, and you'll come to love them as you progress through the game. As befits his character, Geralt carries two swords – a steel weapon for fighting humans, and a silver sword for fighting monsters.

When engaging in swordplay there are three different styles of combat – strong, fast or group. As the names imply, each style has a particular purpose. Strong is good for armoured opponents or large beasts, with fast good for regular enemies, and group proving its usefulness when surrounded by multiple assailants or a pack of beasts. Changing between modes is intuitive, and while it can be a little overwhelming at first, it is maintains your interest in combat. It is an ingenious method that adds variety to combat.

Combat is quite visceral, especially against human opponents. As blows land, rivulets of blood litter the game world, with violent combinations of blows often resulting in decapitation or dismemberment. It is gritty and realistic, with animations quite adequate, though not as extravagant as the dance of blades depicted within the canon of fantasy literature.


In addition to the different styles of swordplay, Geralt has the option to exploit his knowledge of alchemy (gathered from books, scrolls and discussion with others in the game world) in order to create potions, oils and bombs to assist him in combat. For example, poisonous compounds can be applied to his sword to ensure a swift demise to human opponents unfortunate enough to meet him in combat. Items that can be used in alchemy are derived from a number of sources: plant life, the carcasses of defeated beasts, and of course items bought through merchants.

The alchemy system offers plenty of depth and opens up many side-quests. There are a large number of side-quests present in the game, which though typical of western RPG sensibilities are somehow imbued with originality. This is most likely due to the fact that monster design is well and truly original. No “bring me ten goblin ears” questing here. For example, the Drowned Dead, zombie-like creatures who emerge from lakes and swamps at night are said to be the restless souls of humans who out of compelling grief gave themselves to the water to be with deceased loved ones. In addition, each monster type has well thought out back-stories. It is this sort of originality that makes The Witcher stand out admirably from other RPG titles.

As is often the case with RPGs, Geralt's journal is filled with insightful information to the game world. It includes character biographies, a bestiary, maps, and other standard tome-like RPG fare. One small annoyance here is in the quest tracking, with the interface making it difficult to distinguish between quests you've completed and those that are still active.

Character progression is not represented through numerical levels. Instead, as Geralt gains experience he receives a number of talents. At each stage of his development as a Witcher you are able to control the distribution of various talents (there are three types, Bronze, Silver and Gold), allowing you to improve Geralt in the areas you choose. Though a limited magic system does exist, the focus of combat is primarily on swordplay, which may disappoint those looking for some Dungeon Siege or Diablo-style magical extravaganza. The RPG mechanics of The Witcher are original and work well.


The setting (albeit typical medieval fantasy fare) is beautifully rendered in the Aurora engine. CD Projekt's work in this department is stunning, with graphics breathtaking and richly detailed. Character costumes are also exquisite, with the armour of knights embellished with scratches here and there, and garments of noble folk finely accented by excellent texturing. While there is a rich visual palette present in terms of textures, character models are generally fairly similar – with an abundance of repetition to be found in the more densely populated areas of the game. Again, it’s a tiny flaw, but one that can be forgiven given the excellent quality of the role playing and game play mechanics.

Character models aren't the only thing recycled throughout the game, with voice acting also reused throughout. The number of merchants and peasants with exactly the same voice is often unnerving and can sometimes shatter the otherwise completely immersive and compelling game world created by CD Projekt. Other audio components in the game are used very well, with dramatic music accenting the mood of the game. Ambience and monster sound effects are compelling and at times terrifying, conveying a great sense of sonic depth.

The Witcher: Enhanced Edition is a mature role playing game that is a must-have for fans of the RPG genre. In what can be considered a drought in the RPG industry, it shines exceptionally bright, and is on par with the likes of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn as one of the seminal titles of the genre.

I must admit, it has been difficult to review The Witcher because writing a positive review is infinitely harder than blabbering about any number of faults found in a lesser game. While The Witcher does have a few flaws here and there, it does what it sets out to do (be a role playing game) with such excellence that in the coming years, the title is likely to be considered a classic.