The Witcher to be re-released
Completely polished this time.
CD Projekt has revealed plans to re-release PC role-playing game The Witcher in May.
It will come in an Enhanced Edition that claims to be completely polished and address all of the complaints you had with the original release last October.
Those of you who bought it back then will be able to download the changes in an update, but those of you splashing out for the first time will be treated to a lavish bundle of goodies at regular game price.
The Enhanced Edition package has a game editor and two new mini-adventures, a making-of DVD, a CD of game music, a CD of music inspired by the game, an enormous instruction booklet, an official guide and a 50-page story by Andrzej Sapkowksi - author of the inspirational Witcher novels.
"The Witcher Enhanced Edition will be a completely polished product, something rarely found on the PC market," said Maciej Szczesnik, project manager for the game. "Of course, it would have been best if the original edition could look that way,"
Loading times will be reduced by 80 per cent, stability improved across different PC configurations, and an "array" of smaller fixes made to the combat system.
The English version will be re-done to increase the amount of text in it, because it had significantly less than other languages, and the German offering will have many of its voices re-recorded.
CD Projekt is also adding more than 50 new supporting character models to keep things varied, as well as re-designing the inventory panel and elements of the game screen.
Over 100 animations are being added to both Geralt and non-player characters to make it all a bit more believable, which means re-doing the facial animation and lip-sync systems as well.
This will all be complemented by lots of less drastic changes to tidy up some odds and ends.
Despite the rather long list of changes, The Witcher still managed to review well last October. We gave it 7/10 for its well crafted story that tackles all sorts of issues from religious fanaticism to sexual promiscuity.
Pop over to our The Witcher review to see what it's all about.
The Witcher Enhanced Edition is aiming for a 6th May release in Eastern Europe, and CD Projekt is confident it can make that a worldwide date - or be as close to it as possible.