Tomasz Gop, of CD Projekt, has been speaking in more depth about The Witcher 2 and seems eager to stress that “[The story] is absolutely at the forefront of what we want to say is important about this game.”
Gop was talking to RockPaperShotgun about the sequel to 2008’s RPG hit and stated that “Things that happen in The Witcher 2 take much wider scale, both in land and in politics.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean the game will be as long as The Witcher, however, as Gop reiterated that the team are trying to eliminate time-consuming, “fetch me something” quests. As a result “It will take time to see everything and explore everything, especially as areas will be so open for you, but the quests will be more packed. So it will probably take less hours to finish.”As noted previously, CD Projekt are revamping the combat mechanics in order to “show Geralt moving really incredibly fast. That is the goal for changing the combat – it looks faster, and it more dynamic. It’s smoother, and I think hands-on demonstrations will show that.” Although this may appeal to hack ‘n slash fans, Gop stresses that The Witcher 2 is a classic RPG rather than action-based.
Brewing of potions will also be improved, and these concoctions must now be drunk prior to combat rather than chugged down in the middle of a fight.
When asked about DRM, Gop had some calming words. “People know our opinions on DRM … we are not going to allow the players to get hurt by whatever we do.” Perhaps to make this absolutely clear, he stated that “it is not Ubisoft DRM.”
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is scheduled for a summer 2011 release on PC. It may or may not be appearing on consoles at this point, but that is heavily rumoured to be the case.
