This May, game development company CD Projekt Red will be releasing their third installment of the action adventure RPG series The Witcher. Inspired by the novels of the same name, by Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski. The Witcher series tells the story of Geralt, a mutated superhuman, who hunts monsters with the help of some lore-inspired weapons, potions and magic. His overall mission remains the same: to recover his past … oh, and to find his long lost love. Although the initial release of the first game took some time to catch on among players due to long loading times, crashes and other bugs, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is definitely something we are looking forward to. Here’s why:
1. The gameworld is big. Really big.
The Witcher 3 features an open world, which is all the rage in the gaming industry right now and offers hundreds of hours of gameplay. There will be three main locations: the city of Novigrad and its surrounding lands; a swampy area called No Man’s Land; and a harsh, cold, mountainous tundra. CD Projekt Red beckons:
Sail through open seas, dive in search of long lost artifacts or gallop your mount into combat—the world of the Witcher beckons to be explored. Visit the luxurious and corrupt city of Novigrad, face the frigid cold of the wind-swept Skellige islands, and challenge the dark forces roaming the forlorn, war-ravaged No Man’s Land. While on the road, use your special witcher senses to hunt down ferocious monsters and earn gold. Do anything you want, anytime you want!
Yes. Yes, I will.
2. There is a new, playable character.
This is SO MUCH YES. And for two reasons. First of all, she is a woman – and just some hollow character with sexy outfits who serves to fulfill Geralt’s kinky sex fantasies. She’s central to the plot and is interesting in her own right. Bethesda’s Robert Malinowski tells IGN :
She’s a living weapon… and everyone wants to control her. This, plus she also has her own will and agenda, so it’s not just finding her that counts. I think that is the most important aspect of this character. Geralt knows Ciri since she was a child. She’s Geralt’s apprentice and they have a close emotional bond – he trained her so she could become a witcheress.
Second? She is the descendant of elves. ‘Nuff said.
3. Overall, it will feature better combat visuals and a brand new weapon.
Combat is still Witcher-style difficulty, but animations have increased. If you're good with your trusty swords, then you can expect to see some decapitation sequences.
Lead programmer Grzegorz Mocarski tells PC Gamer :
"This time you're having many possibilities for the fights as well. You've got signs, swords, crossbows, bombs, different moves you can use. Not all features will work in all situations. We wanted to give a little more control to the player and make the fight a little more tactical."
Also, Geralt has a new weapon ... sort of. It's a teeny little crossbow.
4. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
So there isn't much to be excited when we talk fantasy action adventure role-playing games. The Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age and The Witcher series all feature the same Tolkien-esque worlds to explore and fight your way through. Wild Hunt however, is all about choice and story. Dan Adams at IGN reports:
The Witcher works as a narrative and a game. The first couple of chapters of the adventure will offer up some moral decisions that may seem a little more cut and dry but when chapter three rolls around, the choices offered up are many shades of gray and it's hard to ever know that what you're doing is "right" by the video gaming standard of black and white right and wrong.
5. The hair. It's awesome .
There are some mighty fine looking coifs in Wild Hunt thanks to NVIDIA's HairWorks, a rendering technology for hair and fur. This ensures that while you're fighting, Geralt's hair will always be well-conditioned and, if you have a good imagination, soft to touch.
Here's your trailer. Just a warning: this eye-candy is so good, it's almost painful. And keep an eye on the hair.
Editor's note: This article originally stated that the game was developed by Bethesda, not by CD Projekt Red. We have corrected it to reflect the correct developers, CD Projekt Red.