My initial review of The Witcher 2 for Xbox 360

   Ok, after having had some time to play the game, I can honestly say that it is truly one of the best games I have ever sat down with.

   The graphics are amazing. From the opening cinematic, to actual gameplay, and the way they incorporated a "Samurai Jack" style for the flashback sequences (and you can't forget the first scene with Triss, we did mention that this was for mature audiences right?)

   The tutorial is wonderfully crafted in such a way that you quickly learn what you need to, and get some practice putting into immediate use. The arena at the end of the tutorial was a stroke of genius for gauging what difficulty level you might want to start at (and that they still leave the option for you to change the difficulty is a really nice touch).

  I love the way the intro/prologue chapter is played out, interspersed with the interrogation scene, and how the cut scenes flow into the gameplay sections, it feels more like an interactive movie than a video game (a really long enjoyable interactive movie).

  At this point I'm still working on Act 1 (I did mention that I'm a casual gamer right?), but I've skimmed through the game guide that came with the bonus pack when I bought The Witcher 2 for the PC from GOG.com (not that I need to plug their sister company or anything, but they are a fantastic site for DRM Free games, and they always include bonus stuff with every game!), and it's great to see that the decisions that are made in the game have an impact on the story, giving it some serious replay value.

  Having mentioned that I purchased the game for the PC about a year ago, let me take a moment to thank CDProjektRed in how they don't leave their customers hanging out to dry. The Witcher 2 released for the PC 11 months ago, they continued to work on additions to the game, and rather than making their players shell out more money for DLC, they gave it away for FREE! I love that they value the customer. I imagine that they will keep this up for the new Xbox players that they have just introduced to one of the best franchises ever.

  Ok, back to the review...

  The audio score is a great compliment to all those stunning visuals, I especially like the "For A Higher Cause" track, with it's driving rhythm and beat, but the entire score is great for listening to anytime (in fact, I'm listening to it as I'm writing this).

   All in all, The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings Enhanced Edition is a fantastic addition to such a great franchise. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys epic rpg style video games.

For those wanting more of the White Wolf, check out the original books by Andrzej Sapkowski.
Also, for full disclosure, I received a review copy of the game.

The Witcher 2 Assassin of Kings Enhanced Edition for Xbox 360

I just received an email from the awesome folks at CDProjektRED letting me know that I have been selected to review The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition for the Xbox 360.

I have the PC version of the Witcher 2 (not the enhanced edition yet, although I have pre-downloaded the 95% that they'll let you download, the last 5% will have to wait until the release date 4/17), and love the story, graphics, music... heck, everything about the game.

I'm not a hard core video gamer by any definition. I am a casual gamer who enjoys browsing the content, and playing through on the easiest setting, and if I really like the game, play through again on "Normal" mode... it's the rare game that I even attempt on any of the harder settings, because it usually involves more time than I have to master the game to be enjoyable for me at that difficulty (and by enjoyable I mean not getting splattered all over the place every 5 minutes).

I am really looking forward to reviewing the latest addition to this awesome franchise, and hope that my review will be of help to those out there who may be wondering what this white haired, scarred hero is all about.