Destructoid Review: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

"The Witcher was an interesting little game, at once strangely compelling and pointlessly tiring. It had serious potential, but the slow pace and backtracking held it back. Still, it was something of a triumph, especially for Polish game development.

With The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, CD Projekt Red has another chance to prove itself, an opportunity to build upon the promise of the original and deliver something spectacular.

Or it could just make most of the same mistakes again while adding some new ones to the mix. These things can always go either way."

[RIPSKATEDESTROY]

''My biggest problem is that the rewards are disproportionately small compared to the immense struggle it takes to enjoy the game -- a struggle in which Assasins of Kings will fight you every step of the way.'' REALLY?? man..

i got 99 problems but the witcher 2 aint one!

[morganfell]

Agreed. I smell a DA fanboy writing this review.

[Active Reload]

Ah, Jim Sterling, never the one to be considered "vanilla", lol.

[evrfighter1]

I like sterling but a troll is a troll is a troll is a troll.

A shame his hit piece is going to discredit it's meta. Like someone else said he's not even trying to hide it. The only purpose for this article is for hits and hits alone.

If you see it for what it is it shouldn't bother you. I mean we all know what sterling is about. He's the original hhg. At this point we should know by now to take his reviews with a microscopic grain of salt

[sack_boi]

Is it true that this guy gave Sh1t Age 2 a better score?

Now come on, he's not even trying to hide it anymore, he's openly trolling now.

EDIT
@LOGICWINS

I've played Shi.. err.. Dragon Age 2 and I've been playing The Witcher 2 since Friday. The Witcher 2 is definitely better.

[joydestroy]

i played a good bit of DA2. i'm somewhere in Act 2. stopped playing it a while ago and moved on to something else.

the Witcher2 is down right addicting to play in comparison. i'm sorry to say this, but i think it's the better RPG.

[OhMyGandhi]

did you just say Sh1t Age 2?

[Raider69]

What did you expected from a guy that haves DW 3 has is reference game lol.This guy simply does not like RPG's.He dont want to think.

[reznik_zerosum]

dont ever forget - PcGamer : Dragon Age 2 - 94%
Witcher 2 - 89%

[joydestroy]

destructiod fails again lol
a 6/10 is simply ludicrous. game deserves nothing less than a 9. this is all opinion, of course, but i'm pretty positive that any gamer who's played this wouldn't give it a score of 6/10

[Raider69]

From a guy that haves DW3 has a reference game what do people expect.This guy its a joke and simply does not like RPG and the thinking required to play them. JIM I guess CDP will not send you a review copy of Witcher 3!

[GameGambits]

It should seriously be illegal that he can make outlandish, made up, and insane bull shit like this. This isn't even an opinion piece or a review---it's trolling and garnering for hits and nothing more.

The worst part about it is that in this industry, since it's so young, this jack ass is given attention, where if it was the movie or music industry no one would blink an eye.

Guys like Jim Sterling are holding any journalistic integrity within the game industry to be taken seriously. This douchebag is a turd that needs to get flushed.

[starchild]

The best RPG I have ever played deserves a 6? Sorry, but no way.

IF Jim Sterling didn't have such a history of this kind of thing then it wouldn't really bother me, but it's just ridiculous and sad.

[Organization XII]

Jim is a PC hating fanboy, what do you expect from a fat attention troll! <- SEE what I did there !!

[cyborg]

Lame

[Neckbear]

Honestly, his review is pretty valid.

God forbid he actually points out the game's flaws!

[shayol33t]

Yeah except he points at the proverbial elephant and says it has stripes. Clearly not true.

[Wolfie]

Terrible review! They gave DA2 7/10! The Witcher 2 is miles better than DA2! Better story, graphics, gameplay, characters, combat system, more open world, doesn't feel rushed and downgraded! The Witcher 2 is the one of the best games i played this year! Seriously, a must buy not only for RPG fans but for players who loves mature games with a great story! Any The Witcher 2 review with the score below 8.5 is BS! Go Poland!

[LOGICWINS]

YAY! Lets attack other people for having opinions different than our own =D

[Wolfie]

i'm not attackin anyone you freak, oh wait...

[cyborg]

we're just saying his review is terrible and isn't something which we believe the game to be. He has his own opinion and that's fine but it's completely another story that it's equivalent to trolling and doesn't account for the actual experience derived from the game.

And I would like to end up my comment with what I had stated once before.

LAME!

[Mystickay86]

But Destructoid's opinion sucks regarding witcher 2 review.

[Jacks_Medulla]

The thing is, this isn't his opinion; Jim Sterling is known for baiting hits by giving games disproportionately low scores. The Witcher 2 deserves far more than a 6; just as Assassin's Creed 2 deserved far more than a 4.5. I don't enjoy the Assassin's Creed games, but I concede that they are well made games games that give a person a lot of bang for their buck. Jim Sterling is a troll and a poor excuse for a game journalist, and anybody who takes his reviews seriously is an idiot.

[awiseman]

Troll review?

[wallis]

Better than a 6/10. Much much much much much better than 6/10.

[reznik_zerosum]

best rpg since Planescape:Torment

[Tikicobra]

Oh, Jim. You never fail to annoy me with every review.

At this point it's clear that he just wants attention. I get that people have different opinions, but no one can possibly hate almost every high profile game that comes out.

[admiralthrawn87]

yeah i wish metacritic would stop taking these douches into account. anybody who is interested in the witcher 2 doesn't need this stupid ass review to help them make a purchase. they can just go back to playing the clunk fest dragon age and roaming the 16 square mile gamebryo glitch fest that is the elder scrolls. dragonborn yaaayyyy

[LOGICWINS]

"I get that people have different opinions, but no one can possibly hate almost every high profile game that comes out."

Apparently you didn't read his L.A Noire review.

Now go edit your comment like a good boy :)

[Tikicobra]

The key word here is "almost". Now stop being a condescending jackass.

[LOGICWINS]

^^Calm down, ull pop a blood vessel kid.

@Red Dead- Yeah, I know. I just wanted to see how he'd react. The reactions to Jim Sterling reviews on N4G are hilarious. They take it so seriously lol.

[RedDead]

He did say "almost"

I have not and Cannot play Witcher 2 with my Pos pc. But I REALLY REALLY want to. I will upgrade over the summer for these few games, skyrim, BF3 and this.

[Tony P]

"The reactions to Jim Sterling reviews on N4G are hilarious. They take it so seriously lol."

You're on N4G too, buddy.

[solidjun5]

Can someone ban this kid, LOGIC aka deadreckoning666? Be a good boy and stop being immature.

[admiralthrawn87]

damn it. an elder scrolls fanboy reviewed another open rpg....

[Tony P]

Someone always has to be different. Everyone's scoring Witcher 2 well so someone has go "maverick" by accentuating the game's flaws to the point of ridiculousness.

Being different however, does not automatically make one "right".

[LOGICWINS]

"Being different however, does not automatically make one "right"."

Just like following the crowd doesn't make someone "right" either.

[Tony P]

Kind of like band-wagoning with the rest of the Sterling Defenders.

I'd have to agree.

[sarlucic]

Well, at first i was gonna get upset, cuz this is not a valid review, but then i saw who reviewed it.

PEOPLE! IT'S NOT REAL! He is just trolling, like always, no person can be as wrong as Jim sterling is all the time, if he really is serious, then we have the ultimate proof of evolution on our hands. The missing link.

[admiralthrawn87]

unfortunately this troll gets to lower the metacritic score from 92 to 91

[TheLastGuardian2010]

No offense but some of you guys get WAY bent out of shape over a review score.

It's just another persons opinion. That's all. If you disagree with the score then that's perfectly fine. But to say he's a hater, or a troll makes you look sillier than the reviewer.

[dc1]

you're failing to acknowledge the joy of N4G.... or why they go through the trouble of allowing their user base to set up accounts and post their responses and opinions.

I love the diversity on this site. Folks are passionate because they care.
And all common sensed gamers loath the tribal fanboyish behavior of the vocal few.

[Bimkoblerutso]

I've had the same problems with the game. I think the difference is that I think the rest of the game is so good that these "gaping" problems are just minor annoyances in what is otherwise an excellent game. It deserves all the praise it's getting.

Seriously though, people. Calm the hell down. The score may be lower than you agree with, but it's not as if he didn't outline his reasons. A score contrary to an aggregate average does NOT equal trolling.

[CrzyFooL]

Sometimes Jim Sterling likes video games and sometimes he doesn't.

[Veeger]

Maybe he is a woman. Sounds typical for those creatures.

[dc1]

This is the best comment by far!!! + bub!!! .

[F4sterTh4nFTL]

...fanboys as well and the opinions are just as valid as any other persons who has played the game. Just because reviewers are working for game websites and magazines does not make them smarter than a normal gamer like you and me and they are prone to make the same fanboyish judgement as everyone. But in the case of Jim Sterling he tends to just give low scores just to piss people off.

[JonnyBigBoss]

I know little to nothing about The Witcher 2, but if user acclaim and popularity is anything to go by, this review is pretty inaccurate.

[dc1]

Yes. It's that good. If you're into RPGs and have the bandwidth to play this on your PC. ...do it. It’s an absolutely fantastic experience. CDP Red did a bang-up job.

[Tony P]

Basically, the Witcher is a nice game with a lot of time invested in making it a quality experience for the PC.

A lot of love for the game also has to do with the developers who consistently give their fans the red carpet treatment for supporting them.

If you have any interest in the Witcher, I'd advise going to GOG.com and grabbiing the first one for $4.99. Eight GBs of RPG goodness plus extras for about five bucks. Although I don't think it will stay that price for long.

[pandehz]

Have to remember to never visit Destructoid's website.

[BeastlyRig]

yes this may help u!
- https://addons.mozilla.org/...

Hate to see a site do anything just to stand out from the rest..

& I hope it won't be on metacritic it would totally F@#k the score! & bring it to 91!

I wonder why do we need reviewers? I'll just go buy customer reviews!

[BeastlyRig]

I respectfully disagree.

That is all.

[ATiElite]

I'm gonna bookmark this review and save it for oh i don't know....when Modern Warfare 3 comes out and see what they score that.

I'm all for opinions but sounds like the editor was expecting some easy ass casual game that holds your hand through the whole experience.

I like The difficulty and challenge of the Witcher 2. This game is an easy 9.5 or 10. Truly an amazing game.

[bjh089]

wow i saw this score and was get the f outta here. this game deserves nothing less than a 9/10 everything about it is amazing.

[telekineticmantis]

I don't care about the score, but from what I read it seems the game has problems. Wow I really want this game, I'll read the rest of the reviews, if no one else mentions this, I'm getting it. I'll believe it more if multiple people say it.

[mobijoker]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttt t?????
The witcher 2 is getting lower scores than it deserves because some people just aren't liking the idea of Bioware getting beaten by a small Polish dev.I can't think of any other game that gave Bioware such a beating.With industry against it,witcher 2 still has got metarating of 90 in both critic and user score.
If it was from a bigger publisher who can beef up scores by sending free copies to reviewers,witcher 2 would have been in 95+ region.

[Miacosa]

This guy is horrible at reviewing games, I wish the site would use someone else and have Jim just write editorials.

[hano]

I don't really agree with his review, but it's his opinion and he didn't like the game, so grow up guys. I didn't like Halo or GTAIV but millions of people love em so that's that.

[BigTwitchy]

All I got to say is while yes it is opinion, an opinion can be based off of bad facts/information or out right lies, and when it is an opinion can be wrong. Anyone agree with this? If you don't then please say why.

[led1090]

Something tells me IGN and Gamespot are going to drag this game down by giving similar reviews

[Amiroo]

how much did he get from bioware to destroy this masterpeace ?

[BigTwitchy]

What I want to know is... why can't Anonymous hack and take down sites like these? At least that would really being doing something that is only good for the gaming comunity.

[MARKUS_MAX1MUS]

Sterling is a great guy, I do disagree with the review score but its one persons opinion, why should everyone have to conform to like the Witcher 2.

yes I love it but does that mean my next door neigbour and his cat should? just because I do?

There is going to people who dislike it simply because they DONT LIKE IT, not because they are looking for hits or are looking to dislike it just because everyone else loves it.

Jim gives his honest opinions and I respectfully disagree with this interview but im not going to moan and complain about his opinion....He said so himself its ludacris that he gets paid to give his opinion and people consider that a selling point but its awesome at the same time.

As for the people who are slating one demographic for praising a certain game and enforcing that everyone must hate said game i.e Dragon age 2

Its astonishly hypocritical and ignorant that you have your own demographic that everyone should hail the witcher 2 as the greatest thing since sliced bread.

For some it isnt, For some it is.

Thats opinion

DEAL WITH IT

Or go live in a communist state were your opinion is controlled because that seems to be what most want.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Helpful Video^