14 DAY TRIAL // It was last week when Adam Kici?ski, head of CD Projekt RED, announced a "pretty big" surprise regarding their hit RPG The Witcher and everybody started to speculate. Most of the people were expecting an expansion pack, while others were sure the developers were going to announce the sequel. Unfortunately, none of these are true. Instead, we get a pretty big patch and a new, Enhanced Edition of the game (you can call it a Collector's Edition, if you want to). But don't start crying right now - we'll get about a ton of new things with it.
Regarding the game itself, the new version will reduce the loading times by no less than 80% while increasing the stability of the game on different systems, as well as a bunch of smaller fixes that will increase interactivity and precision in combat. Also, the English version of the game will be enhanced, so we should expect a whole lot of new text that will have an overall impact over the immersion and atmosphere of the game. The other language versions will be slightly improved, too, with the German one coming with a re-done, re-recorded voice acting.
However, the most important changes are the ones suggested by the fans themselves. 50 new supporting character models will be introduced, so you will no longer run into the "same person" too often. The inventory panel will be revamped, re-designed and improved and some elements on the main screen will be polished, too. The dialog screens will come with over 100 new animated gestures that will make all the characters seem more natural and more real, exactly as you would expect them to be. Additionally, the facial animation and lip-sync system will be re-created.
Maciej Szcze?nik, Project Manager at CD Projekt RED, spoke about the content provided in the new edition: "The Witcher Enhanced Edition will be a completely polished product, something rarely found on the PC market. Of course, it would have been best if the original edition could look that way. There were a few ways the original game didn't quite live up to our high expectations, but now we're trying to make up for it."
The Witcher Enhanced Edition will not only bring better graphics and changes in the game's mechanics. For those who want to tell new stories, create new adventures or simply modify something within the game, a mod editor called D'jinni will be available. Also, two brand new adventures from the game's developers will be waiting for you. The first adventure, entitled "The Price of Neutrality," tells the story of Geralt coming back to Kaer Morhen and finding a mysterious camp near the stronghold (3 new quests), while the second one focuses on Geralt's close friend, Dandelion, and his troubles in Vizima City (5 quests). So you could say, if you are extremely generous, that we have an expansion pack, too.
Now, as we said, this Enhanced Edition will be available as a downloadable update for everybody who alreadt has the game. Those who will choose to buy it, will get a few bonuses, though: a video DVD with extended material detailing the making of The Witcher, two music CDs - one with 29 tracks from the game and other with 15 tracks inspired by it, an 80-page instruction booklet and an 112-page official guide written by the game's developers. Also, a short story written by Andrzej Sapkowski and a huge map of the world will come with the new retail version. And everything, as the producers say, will not be more expensive than the original. But we'll get to see and test everything starting the 16th of May.