“First of all, the combat has absolutely not been dumbed down,” Tomasz Gop, senior producer on The Witcher 2, is keen to assure those of us that have gathered for this online Q&A session. “Nor has the game been consolised,” he continues.
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The ‘fast’ and ‘heavy’ combat styles from the first game are still present and, as before, each works better against a light or heavy-set foes. This time around the styles have been mapped to left and right mouse buttons respectively, allowing you to chain your attacks on the fly without having to switch between one move set and another.
 
There’s also more emphasis on the ‘signs,’ Geralt’s magical abilities that allow him to shoot fire from his finger tips or protect himself from attacks with a shield of electricity. It’s now possible to charge and aim these attacks, giving Geralt limited ranged combat options as well as being able to set traps for enemies.
 
Gop goes on to discuss gameplay details, some reiterated and some new. There will be 16 ‘states’ in which the main plot, which Gop places at some 40 hours of gameplay, can end. 
 
The fist fights and poker dice from The Witcher 1 make a return, though both have been tweaked, with QTE elements added to the former and physics to the latter, allowing you to manipulate the rolling of the dice. A new arm wrestling mini-game has been added and there’s now the chance to take control of characters aside from Geralt, with Gop confirming that Geralt’s bard companion, Dandelion, will be playable for parts of the game. At this stage, it’s not clear in what capacity you’ll play as him, or whether any of Geralt’s other companions, such as spellcaster Triss or the irascible Zoltan, will be available to play. 
 
CD Projekt has built a new game engine from scratch and the appearance of the game has benefitted greatly with some smart lighting effects, but the biggest improvement has been in the character models. The interface, too, has been overhauled, with abilities and magic now accessible from a radial menu that allows on-the-hoof selection and looks to further streamline combat. 
 
Gop was vague when asked about potential plans to bring The Witcher 2 to consoles, stating simply that they would “like to see it happen”. Nor would he confirm what the team might work on beyond this game, stating that CD Projekt were very much a “one-game-at-a-time kind of team”. He did quash rumours that CD Projekt might next work on an MMO, however. 
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