It's got 'adult' themes... so that'd be swearing then.
Now whilst the ‘timed click’ combat is something a bit different from just hammering the mouse button, it does have its drawbacks, based more than anything else on the animation sequence that Geralt goes through after a click. Sometimes you’ll click again because Geralt doesn’t appear to have done anything, but it was just the animation warming up, so you interrupt the attack. In a similar vein, clicking to attack a bad guy a short way off see Geralt run over and then just stop... so you click again to attack but he does nothing as he was just squaring off and now you’ve sodded up the timing. So, unusually for a RPG combat, patience is the watchword here.But The Witcher’s niggles don’t stop with just the combat. As I’ve already mentioned, the dialogue can range from perfectly fine down to cringe inducingly bad and the conversation mechanics can loop needlessly around as you ask the same questions to get to the point where the conversation branches in a different direction. The next on the list is the looting you seem to be able to do wherever you are.
Click for larger imageIn Morrowind you could loot as much as you liked, but had to be careful or you’d get caught. This was a nice touch of realism and could yield some tasty rewards if you pulled it off. The Witcher goes about looting in a completely different way. Just help yourself to whatever you fancy, no matter where you are or who’s nearby. Feel free to stroll into a peasant’s hut, have them say hello to you and then help yourself to the contents of their cupboards without them so much as batting an eyelid.
Yes, I know that there’s a million RPGs before The Witcher that do the same thing but shouldn’t we be past that now? It makes The Witcher feel as if these items are just scattered around for you to collect and then either use or trade as part of your overall quest. And for a game that’s squarely aimed at adults, can’t we have the more realistic option of risking being caught thieving? Seeing as the first part of The Witcher, and several sections after it, are based around you building up the trust of the locals, this free-for-all looting with no recriminations kinda takes the edge off of the realism.
Click for larger imageAnd yes, The Witcher is very much aimed at adults. Although you might think the subject matter is perhaps suitable for your average 12 year old, CD Projekt have clearly made this as mature themed game. Just strolling around and clicking on random NPCs elicits a fair few grumbles about what’s going on but occasionally you get some rather bawdy and vernacular comments about an NPC’s sexual liaisons… And speaking of sexual liaisons, you’ll find that Geralt, although being a mutant, has human urges too and often there’s a more than willing barmaid ready to accept his advances. Ok, the sex scenes amount to nothing more than a blurry bit of cut scene and the reward of an anime style collector’s card with the object of your attentions in a topless pose, but it’s worth bearing this in mind if the missus happens to stroll in while you’re chatting up some tart.
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