'The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings' revealed by internal video leak

by David Hinkle on Sep 18th 2009 11:44AM

An internal video showcasing The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings has emerged on YouTube (we've got our own version above). The footage, introduced by CD Projekt CEO Marcin Iwinski, is quite impressive for an alpha-state project, especially when it comes to the combat. By adding Havok physics, CD Projekt has increased the game's range of offensive spells and the ability to destroy things spectacularly.

CD Projekt RED CEO Adam Kiciński offered this statement to Joystiq in response to the video leak:

"Of course, we can't and won't try to deny the facts. The movie that appeared on the various sites yesterday presents our newest project, The Witcher 2, which we've been working on for some time. We made something about half year ago, to present the first playable version of the game. Currently we are looking for a potential publisher (or publishers) for this title, and this leak is an uncontrolled side effect of that process. For today, we are not commenting on anything that concerns the game itself.

"More information about The Witcher 2 will be unveiled alongside the official announcement."

[Thanks iHavePants!]

Source

Tags: assassins-of-kings, cd-projekt, leak, rpg, the-witcher, the-witcher-2, video

Reader Comments (51)

I guess I should play the first one.

I seem to really be missing a gem here.

For those interested in trying out the first one... make sure you get the enhanced edition. They completely re-recorded most of the voice-overs for it, and fixed a ton of graphical and game-breaking or crashing glitches.

The controls felt a little weird to me at first, but it was definitely a gem that I think a lot of true RPG fans out there missed.

Yeah, I played through the first Witcher for the first time when the Enhanced: Uncensored: I Think We Got It This Time: Deluxe Edition was released a couple months ago. Hopefully the sequel arrives in something more closely resembling a finished form so they don't have to go through that rigmarole again.

Quibbling aside, it's a really solid RPG experience in the vein of Gothic, but with a much friendlier UI and control scheme. The inventory's still a bit shit, but it's hardly a show-stopper. One thing I will say for those looking to try out the original: Be very aware that the game wants you to "pick a side" in the overall story, and your early actions in the first chapter will have an impact in every chapter which follows, the relationships you have with allies and enemies, and the options presented to you in later decisions. The game does a pretty decent job of presenting a "moral dilemma" without the usual brick-to-the-head/candy-for-orphans evil/good decisions you see in games like Fable or KOTOR.

Wow, looks great!

I may just pick up the first game from Wal-Mart today. I heard the special edition has boobies in it? Maybe I'll go for that one.

Awesome, I loved The Witcher. I'm really glad to see the company is still doing fine after Atari went under and I can't wait to play this.

1st one was awesome

That looks really interesting however they really need to fix the voice acting. i stupidly wrote the first one off after watching yahtzee's review of it.

I'm sure those are just temp voices since it's an alpha. For instance that definitely was not Geralt's voice from the the first game.

You should never use a Yahtzee review to decide on buying a game. It's for entertainment purposes only.

Screw them for not letting me buy the first one on steam.

The first one is on steam.

http://store.steampowered.com/search/?term=The+Witcher

I'm not really sure what you are talking about. The Witcher is available on Steam. I bought it myself a while back.

If you are unable to buy it for some reason then it is likely something on your end, not theirs.

What I meant was they region locked it. I cant buy it locally and I wanted to give them money. So fuck em.

Then you should be upset with your government, not CD Projekt. If the game is region locked for your country then it is because of your countries laws. No game company is going to refuse to sell a game in a particular country.

You are upset with the wrong people. Lobby your government officials if you want to buy the game. Getting angry at CD Projekt isn't going to do anything.

Its not because of my country. I have over 100 games on steam bought from here (Bermuda) no problem. Its the publisher. Same thing with Xcom and Bioshock. Only way around is to gift and i hate having to ask nice people all the time. So once again: fuck em.

I fucking knew it. You weasels try to tell me it was my home country. It was CD Projekt doing the restricting.

"The sale is apparently to celebrate the fact that the game is now available via Steam worldwide instead of just the US"

http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/10/27/steam-has-the-witcher-on-sale-for-50-percent-off-until-thursday/

Internal leak my *@#.
The game is looking great. The voice acting is horrendous though, that better be temporary.

Hopefully they make a bundle of cash on it. The engine is more evolutionary than anything else, so they probably have kept budgets down. Except in the case of the quicktime events, blah, why does everyone take puffs from the quicktime events glass cock?

The biggest problem I had with the first one was the swordplay, it was a pretty simple affair and it really doesn't look like they've done to much with this. I'm still waiting for a sword fighting game where all the weapons and attacks actually feel like they have weight and characters don't just clip through each other and play their "injured" animation. Seems like that would be a far better use of a physics engine than some raindrops or leaves flying around in the wind.

Oh look, Assasin's Creed 2! Yay!

POST FAIL on your end!

I bet if you saw gameplay of any of the previous Thief games you would be saying the same thing as well.

Quick time events are hardly an innovation... But the game will, no doubt, be as great as the first.

The funny thing is the combat in the whole game is practically a one button quick time event...I don't know why they'd need to take control away from the player to do those close ups, the way the combat system works you'd think they'd be able to keep the player in control.

So what if you have to interrupt the dialog with an 'oof' because the players threw you backwards...

Am I the only one incredibly (and pleasantly) surprised with how they reacted to this leak? Rather than the typical "we don't comment on rumors" or flat out denying it, they came right out and said "of course". There need to be more publishers and developers that act like this.

The game looks awesome so far. The first one was one of my favorites. I hope they get a good publisher so the game gets the time and money it deserves put into it. Hope someone big picks it up, like Bethesda or EA or something.

I should hope not. I'm fine with CD Projekt publishing this. The first game has had good sales. And if this was an EA/Bethesda game they would have charged for the enhanced/director's cut patch. CD Projekt know how to treat their customers right unlike...other developers *cough* Activision *cough*.

Sorry I gots a virus.

My only problem with the first one was the optimization. On my previous computer (Core 2 Duo, nVidia 9-series.. can't remember the specifics) I could run fine at highest settings... for a time. Eventually the framerate would end up being terrible even if I was walking down the same corridor I had walked down three times that play session. Alt-tabbing usually fixed it, but there was definitely something wrong.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to pick it up with my new computer sometime.

I don't want a Witcher 2... Just revive the console version of The Witcher, please...

I would imagine this is probably coming to consoles.

Witcher (One) was first a PC exclusive, then was supposed to come to the consoles, but never did. Main reason? Console gaming is not that big in Poland where the developer is from, everybody and their dog on the other hand, owns a PC.

I'm with you Archon they need to revive the console Witcher. I was really looking forward to finally playing it on a home console as well and was sad that they scrapped it after it had already been in development a while. It's a shame too because I'm sure the game would have been awesome on PS3 or 360. I hope this one makes it over to the consoles with a chance the first one will somehow be revived as well. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Epic!! The enhanced edition is the best RPG this gen IMO. Don't worry about those lame voices, they are placeholders.

The Witcher is fantastic. I'm playing through the first one right now after starting over a few times. I'm probably about half way in, it's got me hooked.

I'm torn on the first game. I could see how a lot of RPG fans liked the first one, but it just didn't flow right with me. It seemed to be mainly a problem with the pacing of the game (lots and lots of dialogue followed by a few minutes of running around and boring combat). I might give this a try though if they improve on the flaws of the original.

Oh, by the way guys. It's a great time to remind you all that this is a game BASED ON A BOOK SERIES and it's amazing and you should all read it.

That looks stunning. It's too bad their combat is so floaty or this would be a really excellent action rpg.

The footage is from an alpha build. They haven't even found a publisher yet.

Still disappointed the first was canceled for consoles, I really wanted to play it. I guess it is about time I upgrade my PC anyways.

This trailer makes me long for more Project Offset info :(

This surprise announcement made me very happy. The first game is an excellent Action RPG, similar in a lot of ways to KotoR, with a lot of depth and variety. I also really like a developer that comes back after a year and gives everyone a free update that adds new missions and enables you to use the game without having the CD in your CD drive.

I hope this is exclusive to PCs. : )

Why? Why the fuck do people think like this? You just wanna hoard it to yourself, dont wanna let any console plebians get their grubby hands on it? This kinda shit is retarded, people should want great games to be experienced by everyone no matter what system they use, not pridefully gloat it's only on their machine

While I am not fully certain for the reason behind RKN's comments, I can say that his comment reflects my sentiments as well. For me the reason being that I hope they don't dumb down the PC controls for this. However considering that the first game was PC exclusive, I don't foresee that being an issue.

In regards to other games being ported to pc...you would think it wouldn't be that difficult to make solid PC controls. I mean after all games are made using PC's anyways. Plus if you don't wanna use kb/mouse then just get a usb controller.

Considering that I have a solid gaming PC (which DOESN'T have to mean expensive...contrary to popular internet console fanboy beliefs) I would rather play the PC version for the simple fact of better visuals & most likely lower prices than the console counterpart.

I should have been more clear on my short comment. : )

The PC needs more exclusives for that particular platform, especially big hits like this one, the consoles have enough exclusives I wish would come to PC but never will. If I could, I would "give away" Witcher 2 to consoles in exchange for an exclusive.

Come on Bats, consoles get exclusives, PCs can't?

And if it is PC exclusive, there is a great chance it will not be "dumbed down" as already mentioned, as sadly so many games have been because of consoles, its hard not to say "no offense" to them. ; )

Although there are many dumb titles in video games, because this one is a foreign game, I truly believe that the subtitle is actually supposed to be 'King of Assassins'.

Also, just discovered OCRemix last night. That shit is awesome!

Ummmm it's not like people in FOREIGN countries can't translate a title... think about it: assassin of kings = one who assassinated a king. King of assassins = wtf?

Does it make more sense for him to be a leader of all assassins or capable of assassinating multiple kings before their respective kingdoms caught on to him? Either way, Assassin of Kings just sounds dumb.

Come back and complain about the title after you've beaten the first game. The title makes sense if you have.

It's literally been a month. Why the hell are you people still commenting?

I don't like this new voice for Geralt, it doesn't sound as badass as the last on.

I have mixed feelings on the QTEs -- I don't really mind them, but I could also do without them.

The rest of the game looks fantastic. I loved the first one.

The last thing any RPG needs is Quick-Time-Events.

CD Project, read this:
STUPD IDEA.

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'The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings' revealed by internal video leak

Reader Comments (51)

Posted: Sep 18th 2009 11:56AM StormEagle said

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