The Witcher 3: 8 Reasons It's The Game Of E3

Move over Skyrim and Warcraft, there's a new RPG king in town.

Phew, Microsoft really brought out the big guns this year at E3 didn't they? After a year of annoying gamers and seemingly distancing themselves from their console roots and branching out into wider entertainment, MS really got their act together and delivered an E3 presentation that had game after game after game. There's plenty to be excited about in there ranging from Rise of the Tomb Raider to Insomniac's Sunset Overdrive, but the real star of Microsoft's presentation this year was a game we already know a lot about; The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. We already knew this one was shaping up to be something exciting, but CD Projekt RED stepped it up a notch when they confidently strode out onto the stage and delivered in-engine gameplay footage that made all the CGI trailers shown so far look tame in comparison. Unless someone else really steps up to the plate and shows something amazing, the Witcher 3 may well walk away this year as the undisputed king of E3. Here's ten reasons why it's incredibly deserving of that crown.

8. Those Graphics!

We've had tasters of what next-gen looks like in the smattering of games released so far, but the Witcher 3 looks like it's going to make those look pathetic in comparison with its stunningly realised world. Packed full of foliage and incredibly scenery, spectacular facial animation and stunning special effects, the E3 gameplay footage showed us that sheer scale can still look amazing and that CD Projekt RED has packed as much detail as possible into every cranny of the Witcher 3. Alright, it doesn't look as shiny as the super-duper PC graphics we saw in the last trailer, but only those with more money than God can afford such setups anyhow. Did you see the section where Geralt climbed up the side of a cliff face/hill and a waterfall cascaded down from the cliffs above with insanely realistic effects? If that's not enough to make you swoon when it comes to next-gen graphics, we really don't know what is. How about seeing him pelt after the Griffin through the amazing landscape as it flew away into the distance, with the mountains and beautiful sky stretching on forever? We just hope that this isn't going to pull a Watch Dogs on us and end up looking nothing like the final product when it finally comes out. We want to believe, CD Projekt RED, don't pull an Ubisoft!
Contributor
Contributor

Dan Curtis is approximately one-half videogame knowledge, and the other half inexplicable Geordie accent. He's also one quarter of the Factory Sealed Retro Gaming podcast.