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Witcher, The

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9.3 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 50 critic reviews
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Based on 384 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: CDProjekt

Developer: CDProjekt

Genre(s): Action, Role-Playing Game

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: October 30, 2007

Summary

The Witcher combines spectacular and visually stunning action with deep and intriguing storyline. The game is set in a world created by best-selling Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The world shares many common features with other fantasy lands, but there are also some distinguishing elements setting it apart from others. The game features the player as a "Witcher", a warrior who has been trained to fight since childhood, subjected to mutations and trials that transformed him. He earns his living killing monsters and is a member of a brotherhood founded long ago to protect people from werewolves, the undead, and a host of other beasts. It's an action oriented, visually stunning, easy to use, single player RPG, with a deep and intriguing storyline. [CD Projekt]

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What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

ActionTrip

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

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GameShark

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

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Just Adventure

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

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PC PowerPlay

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. [Jan 2008, p.53]

PC Gamer

The Witcher is a fantastic RPG, and an amazing achievement for first-time Polish developer CD Projekt. [Jan 2008, p.82]

Gamers' Temple

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

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PTGamers

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.

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GamePro

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.

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GamingTrend

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

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GameSpy

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.

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2404.org

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.

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Digital Entertainment News

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

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GameZone

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.

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PC Zone UK

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.

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Pelit (Finland)

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. [Nov 2007]

AtomicGamer

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.

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YouGamers

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.

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Worth Playing

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.

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Computer Games Online RO

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.

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GameTrailers

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.

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Play Magazine

An excellent first effort from CD Projekt Red. [Dec 2007, p.97]

GameSpot

New battle mechanics, a fantastic storyline, and a gritty setting make The Witcher one of the most engrossing, mature RPGs to arrive on the PC in years.

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IGN

It combines some entertaining and fast-paced combat with a well realized world and pretty decent story that branches and can end in three different fashions. With a load of choice in character creation on a point assignment and morality level, there’s plenty of reason to want to come back and play the 40-50 hour game again.

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Gamer's Hell

If you are an RPG fan, don’t hesitate for one hour, minute or second about buying this!

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RPG Fan

This intangible attribute of the game is difficult to put into words, but Geralt's personality, the mature humor, the bizarre characters, and the sex and drugs combine in odd ways to create a game better than the sum of its parts.

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Just RPG

Its adult themes might raise eyebrows amongst some players, but after the world of Temeria draws them in to its clutches they’ll find a riveting storyline in an immersive world that creates one of the most memorable RPG experiences of recent years.

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Jolt Online Gaming UK

The Witcher is actually one of the best RPGs we've come across in a long time. It may not quite be Oblivion in scope and all-round greatness, but it earns the right to call itself a must try RPG that will immerse you in its dark and mysterious world.

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Total Video Games

The Witcher's quality emanates from the understanding CD Projekt have held on Sapkowski's work. Engaging and thought provoking throughout with a rich gameworld that is effortlessly layered, The Witcher matches the style and substance typically associated with a Bioware RPG - perhaps the finest recommendation we can make.

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Game Informer

Complaints aside, a much larger portion of your time with this title will be spent enjoying the combat, story, and side tasks than making doomed decisions. The satisfaction of leveling up, expanding your abilities, and unraveling the mystery is enough for The Witcher to pick itself up when it stumbles.

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VideoGamer

with solid marks in terms of combat, characterisation and plot, coupled with a first rate graphics engine (a version of Bioware's Aurora engine that's completely unrecognisable from its original incarnation in Neverwinter Nights), a fine orchestral score, high production values and a willingness to tackle adult themes, The Witcher's strengths outweigh its few flaws (long loading times and the aforementioned translation issues) by a considerable margin.

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GameTap

The neat tweaks to the basic mouse-click combat gameplay, plus the interesting world and the fascinating moral decisions to be made, make The Witcher an extremely good export for PC RPG fans.

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AceGamez

If you can pull yourself to look past its clunky interface and occasionally sporadic dialogue, there really is quite a lot to love here.

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G4 TV

It hits the right notes in so many ways that it would be a shame for the game to go unnoticed. So go bulk up you PC, install this game, and get ready for a dark, gritty, and very engrossing ride.

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PALGN

The Witcher provides some deep, interesting and reasonably mature RPG action. A touch more maturity, complexity in choices, and polish could have taken the game a little further, but overall, if you're looking for a great title in this genre, you would be doing yourself a favour to investigate what The Witcher has to offer.

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Play.tm

The Witcher is a bit of an oddball. Genres exist, over many years defined and redefined, but successful games rarely detract so heavily, while still claiming to be a part of one genre. The Witcher is an RPG is spirit rather than in practice. It'll suffer because of this.

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Play (Poland)

Excellent role-playing game, if at places it seems unpolished. It’s hard not to recall the hours spent in Fallout with its difficult ethical choices strongly influencing the storyline...The Witcher owes more to the story, excellent dialogues and the setting than to the combat system or the abilities development, the latter two being the weakest points of the game. Also it’s a pity that the Aurora engine forces frequent and very long loading times. [Dec 2007]

Game Over Online

So if you’re looking for a dark and moody role-playing game that is different than everything else out there, and if you have a reasonably powerful computer that can handle the engine, and if you don’t mind adult themes that are more than a little male-centric, then the Witcher is certainly a game to consider.

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Strategy Informer

Perhaps not one for the hardcore role player, but an FPS gamer or MMO addict might well find The Witcher to be a great alternative to watching a DVD during the evening.

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Game Revolution

Trading more traditional, menu-drilling RPG “depth” for sheer style, action, mechanical elegance and what might be called a refreshingly grim mood, The Witcher is one of the most compelling - if not the cheeriest - fantasy excursions to come along in many a moon.

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NZGamer

If you can deal with the clunky combat, the terrible script and the quirky, unreal animation, there’s a game and a story underneath that RPGers will enjoy. Just don’t expect the world’s most polished game - you won’t find it here.

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GameStar

The Witcher could have been a much better roleplaying game if it wasn't for it's long loading times, unnecessary traveling, uncomfortable handling and bugs.

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Boomtown

The one aspect that does feel out of place though is the game’s approach to sex. Geralt can basically one-night-stand his way through many of the world’s female NPCs, with the game issuing incredibly tacky “sex cards” of the women in each encounter.

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Eurogamer

One for those who value story and character over technical innovation then, but definitely a game worth trying if the concept has tickled your fancy.

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1UP

Graphical foibles aside, The Witcher demonstrates the growing creative energy of European game designers, who continue to take chances with ever more innovative games, even as American developers obsess over the next "Halo."

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games(TM)

It’s important that The Witcher doesn’t take itself too seriously, because that’s what helps it stand apart from the rest of the pack. [Chrismas 2007, p.134]

Thunderbolt

Newcomers to the genre may be put off, but the ethically ambiguous questions faced do present a certain kind of draw.

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PC Gamer UK

An RPG in poor action-game disguise. [Christmas 2007, p.90]

PC Format

An amiable enough RPG, once you escape the first two hours, but it's let down by an appalling translation and glitchy combat. [Christmas 2007, p.58]

GameDaily

The game provides a decent alternative to average hack'n-slash role-playing games, but it doesn't take long before it becomes tiresome and boring.

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Edge Magazine

The game fumbles its potential with unanticipated incompetence. [Christmas 2007, p.94]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 384 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Christian R. gave it a10:
Firstly let me just say that I actually disliked this game when I first played it, I had the slowest computer on the planet (well not exactly...XP) and stopped playing it because of the 10 minute load times. After a month, i realized i could fix the graphic settings... and when i did, the game played brilliantly! I i was glued to the screen for 5 hours just on the first chapter and i've never had so much fun in a game before. Oblivion doesn't even compare in terms of RPG material. Geralt is probably one of the most amazing characters in any game. Period. Too point out the flaws...maybe the load times and the slight language problems. However, if you can look past all this... then this is the best RPG on the market, Graphically & Entertainingly.

Peter M. gave it a10:
Awesome storyline, beautiful graphics and alluring music mixed together to create an outstanding cRPG game. Something that can only be compared with Wizardry 8th and Baldurs Gate 2.

Josh gave it a7:
Combat: Takes a step back, autotarget fighting isn't fun or challenging, why do people like to have less control over their characters? Clicking at the right time isn't even hard and it still doesnt change teh mechanics of I don't control how I attack etc. Graphics: Are good for an RPG, but Oblivion is older and still has better graphics, so I can't say I find them great, the environments arent very interesting to look at either. Linearity: Your following a chapter by chapter sequence, but you can choose to do whatever during the chapter which is okay, but the main quest is just what your going to do anyway with a couple side quests, and the world is NOT open, actually I found each level pretty small. Progression: It's okay, their aren't that many spells, u can just get additional effects to spells, other than that its alrite. Storyline: When I first heard the general idea for teh witcher it sounded cool, some guy taking down monsters etc. But when you get the world revealed to you, you realize it's a completely fantasy world so its not like its any different from any fantasy game, the monsters are just monsters like any other rpg, and there's elves and dwarves. Just a standard rpg setting with a more minor key tone. Also as for environments etc, its just terrible imo, nothing changes, your in the same setting type throughout the game for the most part, a village, a city, a different quarter of that city, a forest... The general storyline is kinda stupid, Some guy steals some mutagens so you track him down, you see him several times wherever you go, at one point you could have had him like seriously, you wlak outside to see him and several thugs you hide behind the door until he leaves and u still face the thugs anyway.. like wtf... I don't blame the critics at all, I enjoyed mass effect much more, Mass effect watered down? a laugh considering as much as mass effect lacks in progression content, it has more spells, more attributes, and actually a choice of classes, the storyline is also so much better, like not even worth an argument, there's also a lot different environments.. the witcher is maybe worth a play through for an rpg fan that's about it.

April B gave it a1:
This game has a lot of love put into it, but the fact remains that this game was basically released unfinished. The enhanced version will be out later and should offer what the original didn't.

Rob gave it a10:
I've not enjoyed a classical rpg this much since 'Dungeon Master'. Quirky, a little rough around the edges, but an essential play for anybody who is a fan of rpgs. Shame on you PC gamer reviewer, maybe you go back to playing peggle?

Jessica A. gave it a10:
OMG Geralt's so HOT! Too bad it's only for boys. Great...I feel left out!!! My brother loves this game so a 10 it is.

Colin R gave it a10:
Absolutely brilliant. One of the best games I've ever played. A refreshingly different RPG.

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Witcher, The

Game Info

Summary

What The Critics Said

What Our Users Said

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