The Witcher gets 'completely finished' version in May

by Jason Dobson { Feb 18th 2008 at 5:45PM }

The Witcher, Atari and CD Projekt's love letter to traditional (read: click happy) PC role-playing, is getting an upgrade this May in the form of The Witcher Enhanced Edition, which project manager Maciej Szcze?nik thankfully describes as "a completely finished project."

Szcze?nik openly admits that while it would have been great if the original game was not riddled with issues, the team has apparently subscribed to the old adage of the second time's the charm. The tune-up will include a number of enhancements over the original release, from load times that are 80% faster to fixes to other stability and gamplay issues. The game's English version is also getting a major overhaul, with text that is said to have been "completely re-done," while all versions will get an additional 50 new supporting character models -- no doubt helpful in keeping the game world from feeling like it's populated by Sludge Vohaul's community of clones.

No price has been announced for the new version, though the developer has said that it's packing in content such as the D'jinii Mod Editor, soundtrack, 112-page guide, two new adventures and more to help make being asked to buy the game a second time around easier to swallow.

[Update: The publisher has confirmed that those who have purchased The Witcher will get access to the new content and improvements via a downloadable update.]

Tags: atari, cd-projekt, cdprojekt, enhanced, the-witcher, thewitcher, witcher

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Agathos @ Feb 18th 2008 5:51PM

RE: "make being asked to buy the game a second time around easier to swallow."

They've already stated that this will also come in the form of a patch for users who already own the game, so you don't have to buy it twice contrary to wannabe new source hyperbole.

My thinking is that this will be a rather large patch, so may as well whip up a new box with the patch preloaded aand add a few physical extras like the guide book and put it out on shelves for the same price.

GI-Joe @ Feb 18th 2008 5:56PM

Ah point taken. Please ignore my post then.

Jeff @ Feb 18th 2008 7:10PM

Seriously. Joystiq, can you get some journalistic integrity and/or reading comprehension? Every other gaming blog was capable of mentioning that this would come in the form of a FREE patch.

GI-Joe @ Feb 18th 2008 5:53PM

Well thats cute and all, but I see no point in buying the same game twice. My roommate has The Witcher and I was going to play his disc until I heard how crappily made this game was.

So you're not going to put all that work into the game the first time and not patch it? You'd rather resell a 'new version' of the game? No sir. Not the kind of mentality I support.

Toast @ Feb 18th 2008 5:59PM

It has been patched, 1.2 got rid of nearly all the flaws, even the insane loading times.
And the upgrade will be absolutely positively for free when you've registered your game.

BigD145 @ Feb 18th 2008 8:55PM

1.2 got rid of nearly all? It didn't get rid of the frozen status after a load screen that required me to save, quit to the main menu, and then reload my save. Time wasted after EVERY new zone? 3+ minutes.

ComicShaman @ Feb 18th 2008 5:57PM

Could they make a patch for the name of the game as well, and upgrade it into something that doesn't sound completely idiotic?

FidliousWong @ Feb 18th 2008 5:58PM

Could we get it uncensored like Europe?

Geist @ Feb 18th 2008 11:08PM

No dryad nipples for you! Arse! Fark!

Seriously though, I bet there's something you can get online that'll allow you to remove any censorship.

doom saber @ Feb 18th 2008 6:10PM

Nice Space Quest reference (points to Sludge Vohaul)

Geist @ Feb 18th 2008 11:09PM

Ahh I knew that name sounded familiar.

Einhanderkiller @ Feb 18th 2008 6:22PM

Nice.
Epic, take note. If you put out a flawed product, go the extra mile to fix those flaws; don't diss gamers because they don't want to buy a broken game (UT3 and, to a certain extent, Gears of War).

Jeff @ Feb 18th 2008 7:14PM

XD. Well said.

Hopefully Epic is too busy working on patches to take notes.

MOT @ Feb 18th 2008 6:51PM

Actually, there has been a price announced, or at least talked about, in the press release:

"Especially considering it will not be more expensive than the standard edition of the game!"

michael @ Feb 18th 2008 11:37PM

Even though I bought it on release day I've yet to open the damned thing ... with all the performance and bug issues looks like a better deal for me to wait until May.

Sorta silly, but this seems to be the best way to buy and play PC games ...

eight @ Feb 19th 2008 1:14AM

At least this version of this story tells it like it is. Doesn't gloss over the blatant incompleteness of the original version of the game and goes right in for the truth. That The Witcher wasn't a finished product when it came out.

My favorite part of the press release was "precision in combat." Stating that you would hit things but it wouldn't register... must be an awesome game that Witcher....