The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

"Indeed, naught is more repulsive than these monsters that defy nature and are known by the name of witcher, as they are the offspring of foul sorcery and witchcraft. Unscrupulous scoundrels without conscience and virtue, they are veritable creatures from hell, capable only of taking lives..."

So sayeth the intro to The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. Sounds good too right? RIGHT?

Right!

The Witcher 2 sees the return of Geralt, who at the opening of the game awakens in a Temerian (the locals) prison and is interrogated by Roche, an officer of the Temerian Special Forces, about the assassination of King Foltest of Temeria. As you begin to recount events to your captors, this is when you jump head first into the action packed world of The Witcher 2.

It does help if you've played the first game, as you are, quite literally, flung straight into the story as it was left. The Witcher 2 makes leaps and bounds on the first outing, with some truly stunning graphics and epic storytelling, which must be concentrated on in order to get the most out of, but manage it and you will definitely be rewarded.

Combat is good fun, and incredibly difficult to start with, but much like certain other RPG games of this ilk, once you level up an ability past a certain level it's too tempting to just continually use that instead and overpower everyone within range.

There are a couple of other little irritants, such as the menu system where you level up your character traits not being as smooth and simple as it should be, and targetting can occasionally go completely tits up.

Overall though, this is a game intended for an adult audience. It doesn't hold your hand or shy away from the very mature themes presented, be it sex or violence. If you've been waiting for a real challenge, look no further!