“The first thing they’ll see, almost literally, will be a completely redone and visually enhanced user interface”
The Witcher was one of those role-playing PC titles that was a pleasant surprise when it released. Oh, there was little doubt – having seen previews of it – that it would be fun, but the surprise was the depth of the gameplay and the expansiveness of the world.
But that was back in October of 2007. In 2009 the game will be heading for the next-gen consoles, specifically the 360 and
What does that mean for console gamers who have yet to play the game?
GameZone turned to Jakub Stylinski, senior designer at CD Projekt RED, to answers as to what will make the console version unique.
Question: Rise of the White Wolf uses the same storyline from the PC release, but it has been built from the ground up for the next-gen console systems. What is the first thing that players, who may have played the PC version will notice when booting up the console version?
Jakub: The first thing they’ll see, almost literally, will be a completely redone and visually enhanced user interface. The first in-game features we think they’ll notice will be the highly enhanced camera work on the cut scenes, which makes everything look more cinematic. They’ll also see a new tutorial that will feature movies and audio commentary
In addition, we’re revamping the combat system with more mo-capped animations for a wide range of combat actions (parry-riposte, enhanced evasion, contextual actions/attacks, etc.). We’re also enhancing enemy AI – Geralt’s foes will be more aggressive, perform a wide range of offensive and defensive actions, and generally seem smarter and more alive.
Obviously the combat had to be configured to the console controllers, but how has it changed in terms of game mechanics?
Jakub: Combat will be real time and more immersive, as most of the controller buttons will be assigned several context-triggered actions.
The player will have more control over combat and a whole range of options at his or her fingertips. We believe the system will be easily mastered by casual players, but hardcore players will find plenty of challenges when playing at higher difficulty levels.
Speaking of controllers, does the SIXAXIS controller have any motion functionability in the game?
Jakub: Yes, the game will feature SIXAXIS functionality, but that’s about as much as we can say right now.
Has anything been added, content-wise, to the expansive mission system Geralt undertakes?
Jakub: If you mean additional quests, the core game will not contain any beyond what was in the award-winning PC release. We wanted to retain the same deep story that made The Witcher a success, and we’re focusing our efforts on ensuring the rest of the game plays really well on consoles.
This is a mission-driven game that still has such an open-world feel as to make the overall gaming experience quite deep and rewarding. Is this a single-player experience on the consoles, or are there multiplayer elements?
Jakub: Rise of the White Wolf will be strictly a single-player experience.
How does the story of Geralt, in your opinion, differentiate itself from other RPG-style fantasy games?
Jakub: Most RPG-style fantasy games simply stay clear of adult themes and mature social issues like racism, political intrigue and genocide. The Witcher is also much less fairy-tale-like than typical fantasy. It is set in a grim world where nothing is clearly right or wrong, forcing players to explore moral gray areas and often choose between the lesser of two evils to advance. Most missions can be completed in several ways and the game has three different endings depending on the player's actions and choices throughout the adventure. We’re not planning to add any multiplayer functionality, as we’re committed to making the best single-player game possible.
Why do you think Geralt makes for such a compelling lead character in a book?
Jakub: Geralt of Rivia is the most famous and skilled of all witchers, a guild or caste of professional monster slayers. They’re mutated and have murderous tendencies, so they’ve become social outcasts. Most people think they’re no better than the monsters they kill. Geralt’s just a bit different – he’s known to be a bit more… hmmm… human. He lets his emotions cloud his judgment, though not a lush he loves to have a drink from time to time, and when he does, he’ll rarely pass up a pub brawl. He’s also known to be a bit of a womanizer, and it seems that the girls just can’t get enough of that tough demeanor, chiseled physique and long flowing hair.
The original story, from which this was drawn, was more a series of vignettes involving the Witcher, rather than a cohesive tale. How hard was it to cull a consistent storyline from the writing of Andrzej Sapkowski?
Jakub: A complex issue, but here’s a simple answer. Sapkowski essentially provided us with a hero and a rich, singular world. Though difficult, weaving a non-linear tale using that hero in that world proved possible, as the PC release demonstrates. In addition to the short story collection, The Last Wish, that’s been published in English, other parts of the world have already seen a number of additional novels based on Geralt’s adventures … we really have a rich world to work with.
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