Developer CD Projekt Red took to the stage at Game Developers Conference 2015 during Nvidia’s presentation to show off a brief gameplay demonstration of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, its upcoming action role-playing game based on the gritty fantasy stories of Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski.
Being part of Nvidia’s presentation at the conference, much of the focus was on the game’s impressive visuals. Protagonist Geralt’s shadow is perfectly cast by the dynamic, early morning sun, distorting accurately across the grass and shrubbery as he runs by. The developer is quick to point out that it’s not even running on the highest graphical setting: “We’re saving this for when you buy the game; we want you to get a bit of a slap across the face. That’s not even the highest.”
After panning around the massive, open environment, Geralt trots off into a valley to fight off a few wolves and bandits. Combat is a tense affair in the Witcher games, relying on fast reflexes to dodge and land blows. This is especially important when multiple foes are involved, as Geralt can be quickly overwhelmed. The demonstration includes Geralt casting a magical slowing trap as one means to help him control the flow of battle.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt comes to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows on May 19, 2015.
