E3: Witcher 2 Xbox 360

[Tom Goldman]

E3: Witcher 2 Xbox 360

CD Projekt isn't pulling any punches when it comes to Witcher 2 on the Xbox 360.

When CD Projekt first announced that Witcher 2 was coming to the Xbox 360, fans across the planet exclaimed that the game couldn't be done proper justice on the system. Going by a presentation CD Projekt put together for E3 2011, this simply isn't true.

CD Projekt played through a demo of the game running on the 360 which looked absolutely gorgeous. It runs on CD Projekt's RED Engine, which is cross-platform. The demo was of a prison break situation, with every of its four resolutions still intact. Content is not being cut just because it'll be transformed into a console game. If an area is explorable in the PC version, it'll be explorable in the Xbox 360 version.

The PC game looked like it translated nicely to console. Button prompts appeared onscreen when Geralt needed to perform a stealth attack or another context-sensitive action. Combat is still robust, with strong and weak attacks, ripostes, blocks, magic, and other timing-based abilities.

In what seems like quite a feat, the Xbox 360 version of Witcher 2 will have no loading screens. All of the game's DLC will be as free on console as it is on PC. Even further, the game's boobage will still be intact (believe me, I saw it), as CD Projekt is aiming for the most mature and complex game in the 360's history.

The demo allayed my worries that Witcher 2 would have to be a completely game because it was on a console. CD Projekt is trying to go as big in the console RPG space as it does in the PC RPG space. It's expected for release by the end of 2011, and there's the possibility of Witcher 2 also coming to PS3 if CD Projekt can make it happen.

See all our coverage directly from the show floor. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/conferences/e3_2011 ]

Permalink

 

[chstens]

This is all nice and such, but what about the UI? Will the UI be optimized for console? (It's okay to want a UI that's easier to use in this case, for two reasons: The UI in The Witcher 2 is godwafully complex with little to no explanation already, and it came out on PC first, which means it will be a "PC port", not a console port.)

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Sounds good to me. And they're getting away with free DLC? I'm surprised.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

Sounds good to me. And they're getting away with free DLC? I'm surprised.

The end of times are upon us!

OT: Well, that settles it. I am going to have to buy this game when it comes out, provided it is a good port.

 

[aaronmcc]

Release date please???!!!

 

[bob1052]

with every of its four resolutions still intact.

Gah I got two of them in my own playthroughs and saw a third on youtube and now I find out there is a fourth?

I don't fear that they will have it look gorgeous on the 360's graphics considering how well even the lowest graphic settings look on PC.

 

[synobal]

Sounds good to me. And they're getting away with free DLC? I'm surprised.

The end of times are upon us!

OT: Well, that settles it. I am going to have to buy this game when it comes out, provided it is a good port.

The Free DLC will be on the disk, and it's why they are getting away with it.

 

[bombadilillo]

This is a giant FU to all the PC elitists retards who are banding behind this game as the PC superiority title. I only have ps3 but I dont really care if it comes to that either way. As long as this series leaves PC exclusive it should shut some people up.

 

[Grey_Focks]

Don't entirely care about the Witcher 2, though it coming to 360 is still nice. What I care more about, is MS saying they'll let CD Projekt still give the DLC for free. That's just a nice precedent, and I hope this is the beginning of an awesome new trend.

Hell, I just might buy it now to support all of this awesome.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

woo hoo! I'm looking forward to the release of this on the Xbox.

I was thinking about getting it for PC but was unsure if it would run at max settings (I only like playing my PC games if they run at max settings) then I heard about the console version and decided to just wait for that.

I have plenty of games to keep me occupied until it's release anyway.

I'm also glad that it's going to be just as good on console as it is on PC it just shows that games don't have to be "dumbed down" for consoles when developers put some fucking thought into it (I'm looking at you Gearbox and your bullshit excuse for the 2 weapon limit on DN:F)

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

You know for a game I have asbolutely no interest in at all and know basically nothing about I am extremely excited by this news. Simply because to put it bluntly it is the ultimate fuck you to everybody who uses the phrase dumbed down for consoles.

Agreed.

I will get this game just so that it does well and hopefully opens the way for console games to stop being dumbed down.

 

[Irridium]

So does this mean Publishers/developers everywhere will get the hint that console gamers aren't the idiots who are afraid of the slightest bit of complexity?

Because they're not, and it would be awesome if publishers/developers stopped thinking that way.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

woo hoo! I'm looking forward to the release of this on the Xbox.

I was thinking about getting it for PC but was unsure if it would run at max settings (I only like playing my PC games if they run at max settings) then I heard about the console version and decided to just wait for that.

I have plenty of games to keep me occupied until it's release anyway.

I'm also glad that it's going to be just as good on console as it is on PC it just shows that games don't have to be "dumbed down" for consoles when developers put some fucking thought into it (I'm looking at you Gearbox and your bullshit excuse for the 2 weapon limit on DN:F)

You, my friend, are insane. I wasn't sure I could run it at all until I played the dungeon siege 3 demo which has the exact same specs and I'll be getting it at the end of the week. Oh, thank you valve and steam for your free demos.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

woo hoo! I'm looking forward to the release of this on the Xbox.

I was thinking about getting it for PC but was unsure if it would run at max settings (I only like playing my PC games if they run at max settings) then I heard about the console version and decided to just wait for that.

I have plenty of games to keep me occupied until it's release anyway.

I'm also glad that it's going to be just as good on console as it is on PC it just shows that games don't have to be "dumbed down" for consoles when developers put some fucking thought into it (I'm looking at you Gearbox and your bullshit excuse for the 2 weapon limit on DN:F)

You, my friend, are insane. I wasn't sure I could run it at all until I played the dungeon siege 3 demo which has the exact same specs and I'll be getting it at the end of the week. Oh, thank you valve and steam for your free demos.

I dunno I'm weird, I only like my PC games at max settings. I'm quite sure my PC would run it at max settings, but my PC is a good few years old now and I haven't upgraded anything on it. Maybe I'll try the Dungeon Siege 3 demo to see how it runs.

 

[Gralian]

I love CD Projekt. They really give back to the community and the fans that support them. If the careful handling of source material of The Witcher isn't evidence of this, then GOG, their subsidiary, most definitely is.

Rock on, you awesome Poles.

 

[DethKid]

even though i am not a fan of the series it is good to hear that some are still pushing the capabilities of the xbox 360...hopefully it isnt too buggy

 

[OverweightWhale]

Seems like Cd Projekt pulled off a good translation of the game. I have this on my PC and I'm curious to see how the game will turn out on the Xbox.

 

[Grotch Willis]

I attempted the original Witcher Game for PC at a friends house and it was god-awfully difficult, this coming from a guy whose only PC gaming experience is from TF2 and Portal, as long as they simplify (i.e. dumb down to a level consistent with most RPGs now a days) i will be very interested

 

[Kahunaburger]

This is all nice and such, but what about the UI? Will the UI be optimized for console? (It's okay to want a UI that's easier to use in this case, for two reasons: The UI in The Witcher 2 is godwafully complex with little to no explanation already, and it came out on PC first, which means it will be a "PC port", not a console port.)

Well, that's why I like this. Witcher 2 is one of the best games I've played, but has a terrible, terrible menu system. Hopefully this means they'll fix the menus/UI for consoles and apply those changes to the Extended Edition haha.