The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

( Atari / April 23, 2012 )

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings review
For Xbox 360 (3.5 stars out of 4)
The role-playing game has finally grown up. For years, the genre has been dominated by fantasy stories that closely resemble the sexless, good-versus-evil universe of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" where a small band of noble adventurers take on an unfathomable evil. But "The Witcher 2" takes place in an unglamorous, scuzzy medieval world full of power-hungry nobles, drunken soldiers, and racist attitudes and stars an anti-hero outcast named Geralt. There are a few nagging problems with the game--the inventory system is a slog and the interface is clumsy--but the combat is top-notch and you likely won't find a better mature story in video gaming this year. Ryan Smith for RedEye