The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
| The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings | |||
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| Original title | Wiedźmin 2: Zabójcy Królów | ||
| Studio |
 CD project RED
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| Publisher |
CD project Bandai Namco Games Atari 1C  
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| composer | Adam Skorupa | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
May 17, 2011 | ||
| platform | Windows , Xbox 360 , Mac OS X , Linux | ||
| Game engine |
REDengine with Havok Physics and SpeedTree REDengine 2 in the Xbox 360 version |
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| genre | Action RPG | ||
| Subject | Fantasy | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| control | Mouse and keyboard or gamepad | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
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| medium | DVD-ROM , download | ||
| language | German , English , Polish , Russian , French | ||
| Current version | 3.4 (May 2013) | ||
| Age rating |
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The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings ( Polish : Wiedźmin 2: Zabójcy Królów , German: The Witcher 2: Kingslayer ) is an action role-playing game from the Polish developer CD Projekt . It was released on May 17, 2011 and is the successor to The Witcher . As in the previous game, the player as the protagonist steers the witcher Geralt von Rivia through a varied fantasy game world based on the Witcher novel series by the Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski . The action takes place immediately after the first part. The final part, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt , was released in May 2015.
action
In the Northern Kingdoms there were wars and strife in 1271 , the non-creatures ( elves , dwarfs etc.) lead a miserable life in the ghettos of human settlements and cities. The Nilfgaard Empire mobilizes a new invading army to conquer the Northern Kingdoms after it was defeated six years ago by a force of the Aedirn, Kaedwen, Redania and Temeria kingdoms at the Battle of Brenna.
At the beginning you accompany the Temerian king Foltest in an attack against the castle of the warring noble family La Vallette. King Foltest was almost murdered by an assassin in the first part. However, the assassin was killed by Geralt's blade. Now the defenders are fought several times and the impressive castle is gradually explored. After the end of the attack, Foltest is stabbed to death in front of Geralt by a stranger of large and muscular stature, the assassin flees and Geralt is imprisoned for regicide. With the help of Vernon Roche, an agent working to fight the non-human resistance group Scoia'tael, he manages to escape from the dungeons. Later on, Geralt tries to find the king butcher with the help of various secondary characters such as Roche, Triss Merigold, Zoltan, some of whom are known from the first Witcher. He visits several different locations and does various main and side quests. In the game, many quests can be solved in different ways, the dialogues are varied and set to music, and you can influence them through various actions.
Gameplay
As in the first part, different spells / signs can be cast during the fight:
- Aard : A target lightning spell that knocks down and stuns the enemy.
- Yrden : A kind of "fire trap " that is placed on the ground and paralyzes the enemy when touched.
- Igni : A target fire spell that is particularly effective on creatures.
- Quen : A passive spell that provides Geralt of Rivia with a protective shield. While this spell is active, Geralt cannot regenerate.
- Axii : A time-limited target conversion spell that turns an enemy of Geralt into his friend.
Geralt carries two melee weapons that can be upgraded as the game progresses. A steel sword for human opponents and a silver sword, which is particularly suitable for fighting monsters. By default, a quick attack is carried out with the left mouse button and a strong attack with the right one, and the "E" key is used to block. To evade opponents, Geralt can perform an evasive role. The warfare differs significantly from the first part (e.g. you pressed the attack button at certain moments to carry out even stronger attacks). As usual, the opponents are pretty tough, despite some mistakes in the AI. Potions can be brewed from different ingredients (found in the game world) or can be purchased from vendors. Geralt has to take it before the fight (meditation) in order to increase his fighting strength. The potions have a rather short-term effect.
Alchemy recipes are required to create your own potions. To make weapons or pieces of armor, you need a blacksmith and the corresponding crafting diagram, which can be purchased from merchants or found in the wilderness or in dungeons. Weapons can be strengthened permanently with runes and briefly with oils. Trophies have their own place in the inventory to transfer their effects to Geralt. The witcher receives at least one talent point with each level-up. In the course of the game it can also be two or three points that you get for improving your talents. The maximum attainable level is 35.
synchronization
| Role name | Voice actor |
|---|---|
| Geralt of Rivia | Markus Pfeiffer |
| Letho from Guleta | Tom Jacobs |
| delphinium | Oliver Schnelker |
| Triss Merigold | Susanne Dobrusskin |
| Zoltan Chivay | Dieter Brink |
| Vernon Roche | Philipp Schepmann |
| Ves | Milena Karas |
| Yarpen Zigrin | Frank Bahrenberg |
| Iorveth | Andreas Meese |
| Saskia | Corinna Dorenkamp |
| Radovid | Lars Schmidtke |
| Arjan La Valette | René Dawn-Claude |
| Detmold | Renier Baaken |
| Philippa Eilhart | Michaela Kametz |
| Foltest | Hans Bayer |
| Bernard Loredo | Peter Harting |
| Henselt | Jochen Kolenda |
| Sheala de Tancarville | Susanne Reuter |
| Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen | Gerd Kilbinger |
development
In the game, the specially developed graphics engine Red Engine is used, which provided high graphics performance at the time of publication.
Several patches were released to eliminate the program errors, some of which also added new content. With the patch v2.0 an arena mode and a new tutorial, at the end of which the player is suggested a suitable level of difficulty, have been integrated. With the patch v3.0 the game was upgraded to the several gigabyte Enhanced Edition . The last published patch has the version number v3.4 and may include a. the Redkit, a development software for creating your own content for the game.
reception
| Magazine / website | Rating |
|---|---|
| GameStar | 89% |
| GamePro | 90% |
| Metacritic | 88% (PC) |
| Metacritic | 88% (Xbox 360) |
| 4players | 84% |
| PC Games | 88% |
| Eurogamer | 9 of 10 |
“A really big story is told here, which branches out in many ways and takes you into new, exciting directions in the small and sometimes big things and which is worth experiencing more than once. Elaborated figures, an incredibly dense game world full of mythology and at the same time a lot of panache , dragons and heroes, there is a lot on offer. […] The Witcher 2 is also a wonderful, independent and lasting gaming experience on the Xbox 360. So good that it can easily get over a few losses on the graphics side. "
“Well-told fantasy adventure that stands out from the competition from Japan and the USA. […] From a moral point of view, a world has seldom been as gray as that of the witcher. Your hero is a defined, solid personality and not the blank slate that you are allowed to fill yourself in most Western role-playing games and rarely have more than the choice between angelic saints and cynical villains. Of course, your actions in certain ways never determine Geralt so much that the witcher would suddenly fall completely out of the role. "
“The world of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings has little in common with popular fantasy universes. Political power games, war, racism and violence are just as much a part of The Witcher 2 as prostitution, eroticism and sex. [...] The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is one of the most beautiful role-playing games for the Xbox 360. CD Projekt Red has obviously made an effort to convert the previously PC-exclusive hardware eater into a console. [...] A brilliantly told role-play epic for adults. "
“Pitfalls in the combat system and a control system with many small flaws, plus a comparatively weak conclusion, important evaluation points are lost. Nevertheless, role-players can and should courageously take action: a really cool hero, fascinating characters, a lot of drama, impressive graphics and above all: decisions that have a noticeable effect on the course of the game - this is what the competition will have to measure itself against in the future. Even if everything is far from perfect: CD Projekt is already setting the genre bar quite high [...]. "
“It is a shame that CD Projekt did not seize the opportunity and ironed out some shortcomings in terms of content that were already bothering the PC. [...] The inconsistent dialogue behavior in some situations; or the falling arc of tension towards the end. However, this should not hide the fact that The Witcher 2 is still a really good, sometimes even very good role-playing game with an interesting universe. The adult topics are staged credibly, the characters are largely convincing and the arguments with their already console approaches and multi-level boss fights feel good. [...] Nevertheless: 360 role players can look forward to exciting and entertaining hours. "
- The character Triss Merigold was the 2011 cover girl for the May issue of the Polish playboy.
public perception
In June 2014, US President Barack Obama mentioned the game during a state visit to Poland. In his speech, he referred to The Witcher as a symbol of Poland's economic development:
“The last time I was here, Donald gave me a gift, the video game developed here in Poland that's won fans the world over, The Witcher . I confess, I'm not very good at video games, but I've been told that it is a great example of Poland's place in the new global economy. And it's a tribute to the talents and work ethic of the Polish people as well as the wise stewardship of Polish leaders like Prime Minister Tusk. "
“The last time I was here, Donald [Tusk] gave me a present, The Witcher , a computer game developed in Poland that has won fans around the world . I confess that I'm not good at computer games, but I've been told that it's a great example of Poland's place in the new global economy. And it is a recognition of the talents and work ethic of the Polish people, as well as the wise leadership of Polish leaders like Prime Minister Tusk. "
Political magazine Salon.com was amused when the quote indicated that the president never played the game. The game is directed through its moral ambivalence, a main character in the style of the fantasy film Game of Thrones and through age classification features such as "Blood and Gore", "Nudity", "highly sexualized content" and "depiction of drug use" specifically at an adult audience. A high rating for the age rating is readily accepted. The way it is presented would therefore meet with rejection or even outrage in conservative circles. With his statement, the president provided political opponents with material for a robust headline. At the same time, article author Garrett Martin attested to the series that its classification as an "adult game" was not achieved solely through "slipperiness". Thanks to her literary background, she stands out from the low standard of computer game scripts because she is - although not exactly subtle - smarter and more nuanced than the competition. As a character, Geralt is "more complex and fascinating than most other game heroes", a "tragic hero in a drama that could be more bloody and far more sex-filled than a Jacobian play" (meaning the age of the English King James I ).
Sales figures
By August 2011, CD Projekt had sold 940,000 copies of The Witcher 2 , including 200,000 via digital distribution , and was thus within the forecast sales target. In November 2011, CD Projekt released a breakdown of its digital sales. According to this, 200,000 copies were sold on Steam , 40,000 on the in-house platform GOG.com and a further 10,000 copies combined via the providers Direct2Drive, Impulse and Gamersgate. In May 2012, total sales reached 1.7 million copies.
Together with its predecessor, the series sold over five million copies by February 2013, and by September 2014 the sales figures rose to eight million copies.
literature
- The world of The Witcher. Videogame compendium , Panini Verlag , Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-8332-2894-0 .
Web links
- Official website (English)
- The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings at MobyGames (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael Graf: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings in the test. In: GameStar. May 17, 2011, accessed August 8, 2019 .
- ↑ gamestar.de
- ↑ gamepro.de
- ↑ metacritic.com
- ↑ metacritic.com
- ↑ 4players.de
- ↑ pcgames.de
- ↑ eurogamer.de
- ↑ eurogamer.de
- ↑ maniac.de
- ↑ gamepro.de
- ↑ pcgames.de
- ↑ 4players.de
- ↑ 2.bp.blogspot.com
- ^ John Teti: President Obama informs Poland that he is bad at Poland's video game. In: AV Club. Onion Inc., June 3, 2014, accessed June 9, 2014 .
- ↑ Garrett Martin: That video game Obama praised in his Poland speech is full of blood, gore, and sex. In: Salon.com . Salon Media Group, Inc., June 4, 2014, accessed June 23, 2014 .
- ↑ 'The Witcher 2': nearly 1 million copies sold. (No longer available online.) In: Warsaw Business Journal . August 30, 2011, archived from the original on November 6, 2013 ; Retrieved December 28, 2011 .
- ↑ Owen Hill: GOG release The Witcher 2 sales stats. Steam dominates all competitors combined. In: PC Gamer. Future PLC, November 10, 2011, accessed December 28, 2011 .
- ↑ Fred Dutton: The Witcher 2 sales top 1.7 million. In: Eurogamer . Gamer Network, May 30, 2012, accessed October 25, 2013 .
- ↑ Eddie Makuch: Witcher series sales hit 5 million. In: GameSpot . February 13, 2013, accessed November 15, 2013 .
- ↑ Mark Labbe: The Witcher Franchise Sales Now at Over Eight Million Units Sold. In: Playstation Lifestyle. September 4, 2014, accessed January 29, 2015 .