CD Projekt Red shared a few screens for upcoming next generation title The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on Facebook, in connection with their appearance at Gamescom.
The pictures show off the game’s highly detailed open world environments, as Geralt travels around it and has several encounters. CD Projekt Red identifies places such as Ard Skelig, Hindarsfjall, Skellige, and Kaer Trolde. Geralt also faces down two creatures, the ruminant like fiend and the tree creature called leshen.
The capabilities of CD Projekt Red’s latest game engine, REDEngine 3, certainly look impressive, with a level of detail noticeable even in Facebook pictures. The engine itself was designed to run on 64-bit software, and to make the open world environments of The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 possible. Because of this, several graphical effects, such as lighting, human faces and animation, are visibly improved from that of current generation consoles. The terrain itself is created using tessellation.
Some pictures clearly show Geralt using his sword against his enemies, but for the leshen he has a special treat. He hits him with a simple, but effective, fire spell, Igni, and that one shot in particular shows off REDEngine 3’s power. As embers hit the monster, sparks fly, some towards the screen, and the grass around the marsh itself gets lit a fiery orange red.
We still have to wait until next year for The Witcher 3’s release, but given CD Projekt Red’s reputation for delivering on the gameplay, graphics, and story fronts, the wait should prove to be well worth it.
Source: The Witcher Facebook page