Witcher... here we go again.

[jester]

Let's hope you mean the Witcher. BTW I wonder why there isn't a single Guantanamo game around. Flee from Guantanamo in a mixture of Die Hard and Duke Nukem. At first you get nothing, but a loincloth and a beard. :-P

[Lord Ernie]

I wonder if more games will be released using Aurora Engine(I know it's been improved and polished, but essentially it's still NWN1 engine). Curious.

Actually, considering the designers completely unplugged the graphics engine and replaced it with their own, and pulled out most of the D&D rules system since it just wasn't apropriate, I'm not sure that statement is in any way true. In their own words, they rewrote about 90% of the engine. Makes me wonder why they chose to use it in the first place... publicity?

[Domi]

Five years ago when they started it probably did not look quite so hopelessly outdated as it does nowadays. I don't think there will be games using 'proper' Aurora except for the fan-made mods. The graphics makes it look like Arcanum compared to the Infinity Games.

[Nythrun]

BTW I wonder why there isn't a single Guantanamo game around.

 

I feel a sequel to The Broken Hourglass coming on.

[NiGHTMARE]

The Witcher certainly looks graphically impressive to me, and is actually one of a very small number of games that lags my system (Athlon XP 64 6000+, GeForce 8800GTX, 2GB DDR2-800 RAM) with everything turned up full.

[Avenger]

BTW I wonder why there isn't a single Guantanamo game around.

 

I feel a sequel to The Broken Hourglass coming on.

 

 

I'm just clueless about mentioning a sequel to TBH when there is no sign of the first version coming out soon. I really have big hopes in JC, Weimer and Co. I didn't join their team just so i could really enjoy every bit of the game! The bits they occasionally publish on their homepage make me wanting it more than DA.

[Jab]

I'm dissapointed with well known characters like Marigold. Just because he is not there. ;-) Instead there is other bard with the same personality... strange.

And the second name of Triss is Merigold (instead of Ranuncul).

Also a green what-is-she is using a nickname of Ciri - Lady of the Lake.

 

Authors should made either a new game or sequel (to books). The game is using even many sentences from the book. Where is the originality? :-P

[Avenger]

Flee from Guantanamo in a mixture of Die Hard and Duke Nukem. At first you get nothing, but a loincloth and a beard. :-P

There was some escape from a nazi camp game earlier, so the genre is not new.

[NiGHTMARE]

There was some escape from a nazi camp game earlier, so the genre is not new.

 

Do you perhaps mean The Great Escape, which came out way back in 1986?

[Avenger]

Yes, but i recall slightly better graphics. I thought it was an early PC game.

Anyway, the concept isn't new.

 

With the leaked Guantanamo layouts one could work out a game easily

Though i wouldn't want to play it, somehow i don't feel like playing a terrorist (even if not all of those guys are terrorists).

[NiGHTMARE]

The original version was on the Spectrum, but it later came out for the C64, Amstrad, and DOS. Due to the Spectrum's infamous graphical limitations (there are only 15 colours available, and sprites have to be the same colour as their immediate background), I expect the DOS version did indeed look better .

[Dee]

Hey guys, my first post here.

 

From what I see: this game is a mixture of very innovative features:

 

- the sword styles(just sounds very kickass and well-researched)

 

- the way combat forces you to think instead of doing hack and slash(definitely very strategic)

 

- ability to influence others' decisions and affect the gameworld around you(something which I've dreamt of since a few years ago)

 

- solid character development

 

- real consequences

 

- grey situations which dare to mention/talk about sensitive topics(there are less than 10 pc games which I can think of that dare to attempt this. A few were published like 15 to 20 years ago while many are more recent.)

 

But alas, I just can't stand a game which assumes that your character wants to sleep with anyone who's red hair.

 

Imho, in terms of sex, the Geralt in this game(I know nothing about the books) sounds more like a male version of some powered-up, ultra-cool heroine where most of the males will do anything to sleep with her.

 

To be frank, I'd have preferred an in-depth exploration on how sex affects your psychology and the aspects of your relations with others, instead of "free for all sex". And to trivialise many of the females by depicting them as "sex-hungry machines" is quite a damper: I wonder what people would say IF the roles were reversed.

 

Oh and I can take a guy(Gabriel Knight) who's a bit of a Geralt in the way he treats females but I definitely don't want to be "pushed" or "influenced" or "encouraged" into sleeping with someone. And no, I do not want to look at nude cards. And I can't take a picture of a woman close to shoving her privates into my face as non-offensive. This is all subjective, yes but... it's just frustrating how the Western game industry seems to assume that females don't play computer games, the exception being adventure games.

 

I also feel the "lesbian sex" in this game revolves more around rather phallic themes from the perspective of a over-hormonal heterosexual male than an understanding of making love in a lesbian relationship. Maybe some might accuse me of being over-sensitive but that's really disgusting and reminds me of how lesbians are portrayed in the US at times and it puts the males in a bad light too.

 

And there's all the vulgarity. Oh no, there's nothing wrong with cursing but a lot of the characters sound so childish: like 7 yr old kids who've just discovered "curse words". And that sorta makes the characterisation and dialogues rather sub-par: just 'cos I might be Mr. Mafia Honcho doesn't mean I'm going to start yelling swear words for hours. There're ways to provoke and instill fear in others without using really colorful language. Besides, would you always garner the respect of your men if you started behaving too much like them?

 

It's a pity though since it sounds like a lot of work and thought went into this game and my mind keeps fluctuating as to whether I should get this game.

 

Btw, I care not whether the main character is male or female. It's the character development which is the huge factor for me. Besides, I find a lot of female characters to be too submissive: they're supposed to wear nice clothes, have gorgeous curves and spend their time pleasing the audience. I want a real character, not a cutout!

[Domi]

Imho, in terms of sex, the Geralt in this game(I know nothing about the books) sounds more like a male version of some powered-up, ultra-cool heroine where most of the males will do anything to sleep with her.

 

It's called Mary-Sue Or, in case of a male - Gary-Stue.

 

Overoll, I think your comments boil down to the same "you play as a pre-def character, who exists in the novels" problem. The developer and the novel writer sees Geralt this way, hence you can only play him this way. If the character is not predef, they have to at least consider different PC options.

[Avenger]

Well, the game was a funny one-time experience.

Despite the many choices, it still felt a long railroad trip.

I feared that the combat will be tough and complex. But actually, it very simplistic, and not overly tough either.

The graphics and music were nice though, this game will live on as an .ogg album on my machine

 

Domi, you didn't read the novel. (Me neither). But i read, that in the novel Geralt isn't staking all women who comes arms distance. This is something specific to the PC game. And yeah, sometimes it was annoying or unexpected.

[Dee]

Domi, you didn't read the novel. (Me neither). But i read, that in the novel Geralt isn't staking all women who comes arms distance. This is something specific to the PC game. And yeah, sometimes it was annoying or unexpected.

 

Yep, that's what I've heard about the game too.

 

*sighs* If this is the path many future games are going to take... it's disappointing. That's 'cos while you can objectify a specific gender, there must be a good reason for doing so. And what works in a book doesn't always transit well into a game.

 

Does the main character really evolve in any part? From various impressions, I feel it very disappointing that the devs set him up to be a lean, cold killing machine which might work in a book but in this game, that seems to hint that ANY kind of worthwhile character development is going to be stunted: that is, whatever choices you make, Geralt is still going to be a lean and cold killing machine at the end of the game.

 

To me, while learning skills and stuff is counted as statistical development, I'm also looking for something more worthwhile.