Thursday, January 14, 2016

Game of the Year 2015 - The Witcher 3: Wildhunt

The video game awards kicked off at 9 pm ET on December 03, 2015 and ended with the Witcher 3 taking home the big prize of the night, the much sought after Game of the Year award. Many were upset with the fact that the Witcher 3 beat Fallout 4 for game of the year, and therefore ruining Bethesda’s long running Game of the year award winning streak, spanning to 2002 that started with the Elder scrolls 3: Morrowind.
However, this year there were some key elements that allowed the Witcher to topple the big giant and win game of the year. In previous years, Bethesda was ahead of the race by releasing their biggest titles in key stages of the previous generation of gaming. By doing so, Bethesda set the bar for what a true next generation game should be like. Bethesda started in 2002 with Elder Scrolls 3 at the dawn of generation 6, and again with the Elder Scrolls 4 at the dawn of generation 7. Releasing titles early allowed them to gain grown on the competition, and put them years ahead in terms of visuals and graphics. Finally, the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released 2011, around the end of the previous generation. This gave Bethesda the closing statement of the argument and as previously mentioned, set the bar for the current generation of gaming. All of these games won Game of the Year by setting the bar exceptionally high as to how a real open world RPG should play.
This was not the case this year when CD Projekt RED released the Witcher 3 at the dawn of generation 8, months before Fallout 4, and therefore setting the bar for the next generation of open world RPG’s. For the first time in a very long time, Bethesda saw themselves competing, instead of leading the way. Also, Fallout 4 released only a few weeks before the awards took place, giving gamers and critics alike little time to play the game, while most people waited until Christmas day to even play the game itself.
This is not to say that the Witcher did not deserve the win. The Witcher 3 was a beautifully done and well organized. It boasted one of the most powerful visual generators of the current generation of gaming. When visually necessary, the Witcher 3 is capable of reaching up to 1080P resolution and 60 FPS for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC.  CD Projekt RED outdid their previous work with the Witcher 3, making the game over 30 times larger than any of the previous Witcher titles, and according to GameSpot, the Witcher 3 is 20% larger than the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The Witcher 3 also features dynamic weathering and lighting, as well as advanced artificial intelligence.
From the very beginning the game was engaging, and soon the player found themselves with an entire continent to explore. CD Projekt RED aimed to include roughly 100 hours of total gameplay, being divided evenly between side quests/ Witcher contracts, and main quest story line. The game also maintains the player informed as to what’s going on in a particular instance in the story line, and at no point does the player find themselves with not knowing where they left off once they pick the game back up. The quests are well organized in order to maintain a sense of structure in gameplay. As mentioned, the game included the main quest, which guided the player through the storyline, the side quests that helped advance the main quest and helped get allies, Witcher contracts that earned money, rare items, and experience points, and finally the treasure hunts, which gave access to Witcher gear, considered to be the best gear in the game.
The Witcher 3 did a tremendous job at storytelling and finishing the story of The Witcher Geralt of Rivia. Its landscapes are mesmerizing, and the monsters are fearsome. If you have yet to play the Witcher, NerdSplash highly recommends you to grab yourself a copy, you will not be disappointed.


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