A huge step upwards in terms of presentation, writing and roleplaying complexity, The Witcher 2 takes the RPG fight right to the big boys. Assassins of Kings? If the kings are BioWare and Bethesda, that sounds about right.
While commenting on a game's graphics can become a one-way ticket to dreary SuperlativeVille, it would be a critical disservice not to nod at just how great The Witcher 2 looks. Sporting the developers' custom engine, it's one of those now all-too-rare games that are designed explicitly for those honking great graphics cards inside a gaming PC.
Arrestingly good-looking even at the lower settings, when whacked up all the way to Ultra it's an explosion of detail and colour, a long way distant from the blurry textures and depressing browns we've perhaps come to expect of late.
Characters are robust and distinctive, high-tech and careful design working in harmony. If you've thought, even for a second, that 'Polish' must mean 'cheap', you've got it all wrong. This looks nothing short of spectacular, whether it's facing off against vast monsters such as dragons and kraken or simply wandering a forest at sunset and cooing at the pretty lighting.