I have to admit that Gwent, the optional card game that is rife around the world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, confuses the hell out of me. Perhaps it’s because most card games in general confuse me but getting to grips with the game is crucial if you want to play it as you travel the game world.
If I’m honest, the in-game tutorial is not the best in helping you get to grips with the game so developer CD Projekt Red has provided a handy 12-minute video tutorial on how to up your Gwent skills and start winning.
OK, so I last night I used nVidia’s Shadowplay video capturing software to record just under 10 minutes of game play from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. I just wanted to show you how the game looked on what is considered the minimum specced GPU for the game.
As I said yesterday, I’m running the game on what I consider to be an ageing GPU: A Geforce GTX660Ti but it seems to handle the game OK.
Every thing is set to medium and I have locked the frame rate to 30FPS so I can ensure a consistent experience. Things look nicer on medium settings than on low, especially the grass and other foliage. It’s just a pretty game, to be honest.
Sadly, I forgot to activate the FPS counter while I was playing so can’t see what the frame rates were doing but everything seemed smooth and very much playable. There was no combat so I can’t see what happens during heavy combat but if I get the chance over the next day or so (work commitments dependent) I’ll record some more footage with the FPS counter running.
Any questions, post a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer. Thanks for watching.
While my PS4 copy of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt hasn’t materialised yet (it was mailed out on May 15, apparently), I was lucky enough to get a PC code from the game’s distributor in Australasia (clearly my annoying him with emails worked).
I’m nowhere near a review yet – nor impressions – but I thought I’d post some screen shots taken using Fraps. My PC is has the CPU grunt – it’s running an Intel i7 – but only meets the minimum for GPU: An nVidia Geforce 660Ti.
I was expecting it to struggle but, frankly, it hasn’t, posting frame rates in the high 50s on low settings and the mid to high 40 frames per second on medium settings. Imagine what a more recent GPU will do!
In the meantime, feast on these images (low graphics settings) and I’ll post more impressions as the days follow.
I’m excited about The Witcher 3. I’ve even pre-ordered the game from nzgameshop.com – that’s how excited I am for this.
May 19 can’t come soon enough but to help pass the time here’s another developer diary from CD Projekt Red.
This one’s about the monsters in the game and how the developer wants them to be as believable as possible (believable as monsters can be) and not be impossible things that can defy the laws of physics.
British actor Charles Dance will be known to many people these days as the man who plays Tywin Lannister in the rather wonderful Game of Thrones TV series but he has branched out and lent his rather remarkable voice to CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Voicing Emhyr Var Emreis, the emperor of Nilfgaard and one of The Witcher 3’s most formidable characters, Dance admits that this is the first time he’s been involved in a video game and he found it “quite exciting, actually”.
In the latest hype blast on the game, Dance says that the rise in popularity of fantasy [as a genre] was quite extraordinary and was no longer the realm of “children’s entertainment … the whole thing now appeals to quite discerning adults”.
I’m seriously starting to regret cancelling my pre-order of the game’s collector’s edition now: The game is looking superb.
I think I’d better start saving some pennies so I can pick it up when it’s out next month.
You’re probably sick to death of me going on about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (“Oi, stop going on about The Witcher 3,” you’re probably muttering), and you’d think I was paid by BandaiNamco Games given the amount of information I’m posting about it (I’m not, by the way, but I’m always open to the possibility of receiving mystery bags of cash in the post … joking) but a 35-minute game play video has been posted on The Witcher 3, and it’s left me kind of wishing I hadn’t watched it.
Not because the game looks like it won’t be any good – it looks as though it’s going to be an amazing experience – and not that I won’t enjoy it, but I can’t help but wonder whether I’ve learned a little more than I want to about things before I play the game.
Apparently the video is set several hours into the game, but part of me wonders whether just a little too much information about three witches called The Crones and the ashen-hair woman being sought by Geralt of Rivea is revealed in the video.
I’m sure, though, in a game as large as The Witcher 3 a 35-minute video is nothing, and, of course, things will change depending on the decisions you make, but I’ve decided that from tonight I’m likely going on a Witcher 3-free diet for the next few months until the game is out in February: I don’t want to spoil my enjoyment of what will no doubt be a strong contender for one of 2015’s best games.
Anyway, here’s the video: Let me know what you think in the comments section.
I’m excited about CD Projekt Red’s The WItcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Hell, I’m so looking forward to it that I’ve pre-ordered the PS4 Collector’s edition that has a 2kg, 10-inch polystone sculpture of hero Geralt of Rivea slaying a Griffen, one of the many beasts from the game. It’s the first collector’s edition of a game I’ve ever bought since I started gaming 300 years ago. I’ve no idea where I’m going to put the sculpture, though: I doubt my wife will let me put it on the coffee table in the lounge.
In anticipation of the game’s release, BandaiNamco Games have released a couple of new trailers which will no doubt send the hype level through the roof.
Watch them and tell me the game doesn’t look wonderful. Go on.
This first one has CD Projekt Red people talking about the game world:
While this one is a game play trailer, which features werewolves and a ghostly voice:
The latest trailer for The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt has me wishing it was 2015 now: That’s when CD Projekt Red’s third game featuring Geralt of Rivia is due.
I’ve posted the trailer on this post. Watch it and tell me you’re not impressed. Apparently it’s in-game footage. If that is the case, then the current generation starts with that game (what I call the current generation means Xbox One and PlayStation 4).
The new trailer is also the reason I’m seriously considering getting the Collector’s Edition, even though it’s $300 in New Zealand. Yes, $300 and I think EB Games is the exclusive retailer for it. To be fair, I’ve got $288 credit at EB Games so it’s not really going to cost me much overall, and I’ll likely get the PC version if I get it, but that’s an insane amount to be paying for collector’s edition.
If I didn’t have the EB Games credit I wouldn’t even be considering the CE edition and frankly, I can’t understand how the NZ version of the same package costs so much more than the Australian version: It’s $AU199 for the PC version as opposed to $279 in New Zealand. How can EB Games in NZ seriously justify this pricing? It just seems unjustified. If only I could use my NZ EB Game credit on the EB Games AU site!!!
Perhaps someone at EB Games will read this and post a reply.
Pricing aside, if I do get the the CE edition it’s the figurine of Geralt battling a griffin (its in the image below) that has me interested.
CD Projekt’s Red’s head of studio Adam Badowski has this to say about the polystone collectible: “Behold, the Collector’s Edition of The Witcher–over two kilograms of the most badass monster slayer, ready to bring your desktop figure collection to a whole new level.” Here’s what’s in the CE edition: All the contents from the standard edition of the game– A giant, 33 x 24 x26cm (10”), 100% hand painted, Polystone figure of Geralt of Rivia battling a Griffin– An exquisite, collector-grade Witcher medallion– A one-of-a-kind SteelBook™ box– A two-hundred-page artbook, containing breathtaking art from the game– Huge outer and inner Collector’s Boxes you can store your Witcher merchandise in!
That’s what I call a collector’s edition: a polylstone figurine of Geralt of Rivea slaying a griffin is the centrepiece of The Witcher 3’s collector’s edition. I want it now.
And if I don’t spring for the collector’s edition, I’ll look at getting a digital version straight from GOG.com. I got an email today telling me I could pre-order the game for $AU80.99 – and while it doesn’t come with a badass polystone figurine it comes with a tonne of extras. I’ll contemplate over the next few days.
I’ve played the previous two Witcher games and while not totally taken with the first, I enjoyed the second but didn’t finish it: I just couldn’t find the time. And I’ve actually just re-downloaded in on Steam in anticipation for The Witcher 3. The Wild Hunt.
It’s out on February next year. Finger’s crossed I can wait that long.
