E3: The Witcher 3 – Wild Hunt Preview
E3 2014: GERALT OF RIVIA DOMINATES HIS FOES IN THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT
For E3 2013, CD Projekt Red and Warner Bros. Interactive provided another special, behind-closed-doors demo of the upcoming sequel to The Witcher video game franchise, based on the books by Andrzej Sapkowski. The presentation at the Warner Bros. Interactive booth focused more on techniques, exploration, and the game’s role-playing elements rather than any big story revelations or developments. Much like Rocksteady Games with Batman: Arkham Knight, it appears as if CD Projekt Red is pulling out all the stops for this installment of the franchise, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Wild Hunt will be the conclusion in the Witcher video game trilogy.
The demo featured the gryphon sequence that debuted at the E3 Xbox Media Briefing earlier in the week. However, the developers went more in-depth about the game’s features and gameplay, specifically for Geralt of Rivia’s hunts against monsters and beasts of legend. The developers established Geralt’s “Witcher Sense,” which is basically this game’s version of Detective Vision from the Batman: Arkham franchise. The Witcher Sense allows Geralt to detect monster tracks and seek creatures out like a bloodhound. The developers stressed that before each monster hunt, players must have Geralt perform his meditation ceremony. Geralt sits in a meditation trance-like position in front of a fire, and the inventory opens. Geralt needs to carry the right potions and weapons for the hunt. For the gryphon hunt, the developers opted for a special crossbow with a triple-bolt shot. Geralt was also loaded with special healing potions and another potion that amps up Geralt’s Witcher abilities to 11. However, the developers warned that the enhancing potion will raise Geralt’s toxicity level, which has some nasty, unpredictable side effects.