The Witcher, on the other hand, is almost on the complete opposite end of the RPG scales (Final Fantasy and other Japanese-style linear RPGs would be the actual opposite end). Running a heavily modified Neverwinter Nights Aurora engine, the Witcher is quite possibly the most engrossing traditional RPG we've ever seen. Though many questions remain unanswered, the developers, CDProjekt of Poland, certainly have some fascinating ideas in mind.
The most tantalizing, something that's been hard to find outside the long-gone Fallout games, is that of ambiguous morality. There's no clear-cut good and evil. It's not necessarily always particularly well obscured, but often the decisions are much more complicated than they seem. An example from the demo was that a king sends the player out to hunt down a monster in the sewers beneath his castle before granting him an audience. The player hunts his way through various minor monsters, encounters the final beast itself only to learn that it can talk and used to be a human being. OK, standard-enough fantasy fare, right? Well, the problem is that the player needs this monster's head before he can see the king, and to make matters even more complicated, the monster was actually someone that many of the townsfolk are glad to be rid of - because when he was a human being he wasn't exactly the nicest guy in town.
Story quests can also move on by themselves. Going back to the king example, after the player has the monster's head he arrives at the castle only to find out that there's been some sort of disturbance within, perhaps assassins. He can rush in and try to save the king, or let the guards handle it. If you chose to spare the monster, perhaps it's best to let the assassins do their job. Depending on player actions, not only will quests be affected, but the game will end one of three ways - and it counts cumulative actions, not just one final choice at the end.
The game engine has really been updated, with spectacular weather and background effects. The tile-based nature of NWN has been replaced with a standard mesh and 3D objects, making it more like Gothic than Neverwinter Nights. The outdoor environments are truly haunting, especially at night time or when a storm passes through. NPCs have schedules, which helps make the environments even more realiastic.
Character leveling and customization is skill-oriented. The player can not only improve the level of many of his skills, but also add customization qualities to those skills. An example would be from sword combat, where improving the level of the skill chains together more moves, but the customized attributes can add special abilities to a certain move in the combo, like extra damage or a stun.
The Witcher looks like it could be the best traditional RPG to hit the PC since Baldur's Gate 2, if it lives up to the promise.
Gigabyte P55 Lynnfield-ready Motherboard Roundup
If you're in the market for a new P55 motherboard to go along with your new Lynnfield CPU you'll definitely want to check out today's article. Inside we've devoted over 7,000 words to four different Gigabyte motherboards. From high-end to low, it's all covered here!
Left 4 Dead 2 PC Review
Valve says Left 4 Dead 2 contains so much new content, it's worthy of a sequel rather than DLC. Is this true or false? Judge for yourself in today's review!
ATI Radeon 5970 Performance Preview
After a 10-month hiatus, ATI's once again got the world's fastest graphics card. The Radeon 5970 fuses two RV870 chips onto one board for max performance, and is built for OC'ing. See how this board fares in the latest games including Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and DX11 titles like STALKER: Call of Pripyat in this article!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 PC Review
With no dedicated servers, no lean, and 18-player cap for multi, does Modern Warfare 2 for PC live up to its predecessors? Most of the reviews online have praised Infinity Ward's latest shooter but those reviews were focused for console players -- how does the PC port fare? Find out in today's review!
Sapphire Radeon 5870 Vapor-X 1GB Review
With its custom vapor chamber cooling+heatpipes and factory OC'ing, Sapphire's 5870 Vapor-X is targeted towards gamers looking for a 5870 card with a little more oomph than the stock 5870 card can provide. Best part of all is that the card sells for just $10 more than the stock Radeon 5870. See how much cooler and quieter the Vapor-X card runs inside!
Phenom II Gets A New Revision: 125W AMD Phenom II X4 965 Performance Preview
Promising lower power consumption, lower temps, and most importantly for enthusiasts, more OC'ing, AMD is back with a new CPU revision for the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, which now boasts a 125W TDP. Is AMD able to deliver on their promises though? Find out in today's article!
Shattered Horizon Review
FutureMark, well known for their popular 3DMark benchmarks, is venturing into new territory with Shattered Horizon. This multiplayer shooter is perhaps best known for its system requirements -- the game supports DX10 only -- but there's more underneath the surface of this game than fancy visuals. Is it worth its $20 price tag though? Read Vandy's take inside!
Borderlands PC Review
Is it an RPG or is it an FPS? Borderlands blends the best elements of both in one entertaining package. Vandy has spent the past week playing the PC version of the game and came away rather impressed. Read his full thoughts on the game in today's review!
AMD Athlon II X3 435/Athlon II X2 240e Performance Preview
Today AMD is introducing 8 new Athlon II CPUs intended to service different segments of the budget CPU market. For HTPC users, new 45W dual, triple, and quad core offerings should deliver good performance along with low power, while performance junkies on a budget will want to look at AMD's new Athlon II X3 CPUs. See how the new chips stack up in terms of performance and OC'ing in this article!