We have an announcement when it comes to our gaming rig. It has received a ‘slight’ upgrade, who are we kidding, it’s a massive graphics upgrade. The new system configuration contains an Intel i7 4930k processor, 16GB of DDR3 quad channel memory, Intel 180GB 540 Series SSD, PNY GTX 980 XLR8 Pro OC, and a Samsung 2560 x 1440p monitor.
Since we made this graphical upgrade we were able to play the game on Ultra, with all the settings set to maximum. The only thing we turned off was nVidia’s Hairworks(Review of Hairworks found here), it was barely noticeable by us when enabled, and with it on it would give us the odd performance hit for average and minimum frames. You can also read our review about nVidia’s Hairworks revolving Witcher 3 with the in-depth testing and reasoning behind whether it is worth having it on or off. We turned off the framerate cap but left V-sync on as it seemed to help smooth out the odd hiccup Hairworks did have before we turned that off.
The Witcher 3 definitely looks like a AAA (triple A) title that has had a lot of time and effort put into it to make it look like eye candy for 2015. We were a little disappointed that CD Projekt Red (CDPR) was not able to deliver the original higher quality of graphics they had been previously toting, though we assume they had to keep within certain specifications across the PC and the console versions. Now we can be all up in arms that CDPR has lowered the ‘quality’ of their graphics for this, instead we are happy they were able to deliver the game to other platforms, allowing more people to experience the Witcher series that we’ve been able to from the beginning. Indoors and outdoors hair is usually moving, which can be distracting. The same goes with grass, tree branches; sure it can be windy out, but it isn’t windy all the time. We know this has to be tied in with Hairworks, and as the first developer releasing a game with it they are breaking new ground, though they should be careful about when doing that. Looking at gameplay footage for the consoles it suffers this same slight ‘annoyance’.
Load times are fairly well hidden, usually with an audible ‘summary’ of whatever main quest line Geralt is currently on. Some people have been complaining about facial animations being off, we didn’t see anything that was ‘hey that looks really weird’. Comparing it to Dragon Age: Inquisition, The Witcher 3 looks a lot more polished and better looking, though we have to give it a similar score to its competitor due to the distracting wind blowing nearly everything outdoors (and even sometimes indoors) all the time.
