The Witcher Critic Reviews

Take notes, Obsidian. This is how stuff should be done.

It’s a nice tall bottle of liquid awesome. So grab a glass from the bar and give it a shot.

As good as this game is, there is room for improvement in several areas.

The Witcher simply works -- its refreshing setting, engaging combat and potion system, and long, well-conceived campaign is a recipe for single-player greatness. It's the kind of game that actually makes you want to track down some of Sapkowski's stories to learn more about this refreshingly bleak world.

If you’re looking for a RPG that has most of the same components as other games but with a deep and intriguing storyline, then I would highly recommend this game to you.

Come for the role playing and story, but as soon as someone speaks, please turn down the volume to save your ears some distress.

I would love to see this title moved to a console, where the controls could be streamlined and hopefully the load times reduced. As it stands, The Witcher is an extremely fun game with the nasty habit of succumbing to narcolepsy at the most inappropriate moments.

The Witcher is a fantastic RPG, and an amazing achievement for first-time Polish developer CD Projekt.

If most RPGs were as interesting as The Witcher, I would spend a lot more time playing RPGs.

The Witcher is a fantastic RPG, a perfect recreation of the world imagined by Sapkowski. Being focused in a complex story as it is, the many hours of play will make us completely disregard the absence of multiplayer of any kind.

It rises above its problems to provide the kind of RPG that reminds you what made the genre so great in the first place. This game was a labour of love for CD Projekt and it shows.

One of the better offerings in the genre and worth picking up.

Takes a normal fantasy world and turns it into a refreshingly interesting place. Geralt is an excellent main character. The story moves along nicely after the boring old amnesia start and there are lots of things to do. The only major setback is the unresponsive combat, which doesn't give enough feedback to the player about what's really happening and if the commands are accepted or not.

To be fair though, it's something of a novelty to have room available in a list of negatives to be able to castigate a game's misogynist overtones - because in every other department The Witcher is an intelligent, adult and thoroughly compelling adventure.

While just about every RPG out there has lots of dialog, The Witcher is unique in that the dialog becomes one of the more compelling reasons to play. Yes, the combat is good, and your character does gain new tactical options and cool abilities as he improves, although the lack of new gear will turn off those for fans of games like Diablo.

The game is immersive and while you can pause it, consider choices and the like, this is a game that will ask you to think and make choices, not just hack ‘n slash your way to glory. The leveling system and alchemy elements are very nicely done.

To stay on top of this great game or to enjoy it as intended, you need to pay attention and think before committing yourself. A far better game than the sum of its parts.

But what prevents The Witcher from entering the gallery of truly great titles is what pretty much plagues other diamonds in the rough: lots of crashes, long and frequent loading times as well as an artificially limited freedom of movement.

Despite its faults, The Witcher is a diamond in the rough as a mature, gritty and atmospheric RPG that heads into territory not often explored.

The Witcher, in all its facets, screams quality. There are a few places where ambition exceeds feasibility, and it’s quickly becoming apparent that there’s not a lot of wiggle room left within the genre, but The Witcher delivers one of the most intense and rewarding role-playing experiences this year.