The Witcher 2 - Enhanced Edition Reviews

The first batch of Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition X360 reviews are in - and it's looking pretty good for CD Projekt. The 'flu is getting the better of me, so here are two quick selections.
Eurogamer - 9/10:

The Witcher 2's timing is prescient. As Game of Thrones dominates the television ratings, just as Skyrim has dominated the game charts in recent months, the cultural appetite for fantasy is as high as it's ever been. Despite the competition, however, The Witcher 2 has an air of unique wonder about it. There's a weight and detail to the mythology that is beguiling, but CD Projekt's skill has been in making this relevant and meaningful to the player.

VideoGamer - 9/10:

While it runs on what would have been medium graphics on the PC version, this is a very small cross to bear for a game that brings itself to a mainstream audience - a place it deserves to be. While not necessarily as big a name as the products of BioWare or Bethesda, The Witcher 2 is still one of the most interesting developments in RPGs within the last ten years, and with a combination of additional content and cutscenes its Enhanced Edition on Xbox 360 is one of the most lovingly crafted fan-services you'll find.

More information.

Bravo!

I love how the sites forget to add the pc buyers get the enhanced edition free. Its not just on consoles. Just one little detail I see in every Witcher 2 article lately.

A couple of paragraphs mostly referencing the pc version all on a single page isn't gonna get the attention of consolers, it better get some new video reviews.

"While it runs on what would have been medium graphics on the PC version, this is a very small cross to bear for a game that brings itself to a mainstream audience - a place it deserves to be."

Do you think this Console reviewer could be any more arrogant and dismissive of PC gamers?

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
I love how the sites forget to add the pc buyers get the enhanced edition free. Its not just on consoles. Just one little detail I see in every Witcher 2 article lately.

How to get it though ?

Originally Posted by GothicGothicness
How to get it though ?

http://en.thewitcher.com/enhancededition/

HOW TO ACCESS THE PRE-DOWNLOAD UPDATE:

Click the following link to access the pre-downloader and run it.
Carefully read and follow the instructions in the pre-downloader.
Do not change the directory of the downloaded files until you update your game. Be sure that the additional files, you will download after the 17th of April will be saved in the same directory.

I've completed my pre-load on Thursday! Can't wait!

Originally Posted by Terry
"While it runs on what would have been medium graphics on the PC version, this is a very small cross to bear for a game that brings itself to a mainstream audience - a place it deserves to be."

Do you think this Console reviewer could be any more arrogant and dismissive of PC gamers?

Why? He's saying that the graphics suck compared to what they would be on PC. That's dismissive?

I believe he was referring to the "place the game DESERVES to be" clause there.

I also believe that there's a possibility he's misinterpreting the intended tone of the phrase. It's possible that the author might have placed emphasis on "deserves" as I did in my quote above, which would imply that the whole PC platform WASN'T WORTHY of having such a fine game in the first place.

But it's also possible that there was no emphasis intended at all, and that the author merely believes the game is too good to NOT bring to consoles, to the mainstream audience.

Personal feeling was that the author was going for the latter (and I would agree: the game IS good enough that I feel it simply deserves to be seen by a mainstream audience), but I can VERY easily see how someone who already had the PC vs. Console war in their mind would interpret it the other way. That stupid platform war is like a miasma hanging over every single game-related piece of news on the internet, skewing opinions and warping perceptions all the freakin' time (which is ultimately why I believe these articles aren't mentioning too much of the PC side: all it's going to to is spark up the platform trolling on their own boards, and who in their right mind wants that?).

As for me… already preloaded.

I agree Thibbs, just poor word choice from the author. He should have said wider audience or AAA audience or something. Mainstream doesn't have negative connotations in most fields, but to elitists or minority markets it can do, so if the intended audience of the article were either of those then it'd be a problem, but I doubt it is, so no problem.

Platform wars are easier to have when there is a mascot involved such as Sonic or Mario during the 16bit console era. Though, it's also easier just to grow up and not engage in that kind of thinking at all.

Console mandatory COD/BF cover with full body protagonist in the middle and shit blowing up in the background



IGN UK gives it a rather low 8.5 given the 7-10 scale despite the extremely positive review.
http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/122/1222949p1.html

Originally Posted by KapitanUnterhosen
IGN UK gives it a rather low 8.5 given the 7-10 scale despite the extremely positive review.
http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/122/1222949p1.html

Probably because they still consider the PC version to be the platform of choice - as they state in the video review - and so they wanted the console score to reflect that. Still, they didn't need to go a full .5 lower to state that.

Just brings happiness to me when I see this company get praised1

Originally Posted by KapitanUnterhosen
IGN UK gives it a rather low 8.5 given the 7-10 scale despite the extremely positive review.
http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/122/1222949p1.html

8.5 isn't bad. Its ridiculous that developers and publishers think you need a 9 to be successful. That also includes idiot gamers who won't play a game if it isn't rated a 9.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
8.5 isn't bad. Its ridiculous that developers and publishers think you need a 9 to be successful. That also includes idiot gamers who won't play a game if it isn't rated a 9.

Yeah I think the confusion is also partly because they gave the PC version a 9.0. Considering the high-praise and tone of the video review, a full .5 lower might seem like a bit much.

Reading the article , especially the last paragraph before the closing comments I can see where he came up with the 1/2 a point drop.

I don't think reviews will matter as much for this because it's been out already on pc and most people that want it probably know all they need to about it.

Originally Posted by sakichop
Reading the article , especially the last paragraph before the closing comments I can see where he came up with the 1/2 a point drop.

I don't think reviews will matter as much for this because it's been out already on pc and most people that want it probably know all they need to about it.

Yeah it does make more sense from the article; going by the video review it seems strange but I think they focused more on the high points than the specific critiques for the video.

I like that they raised the PC price by $10 to coincide with this Enhanced Edition release. We're in the bizarro world! Maybe next year they'll release another patch and up it to $60 .