Witcher 2 developer strives for "meaningful" player choice

CD Projekt RED is committed to serving up "meaningful" choice and consequence to players - even if that means twice as much work.

Speaking to CVG, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings lead level artist Marek Ziemak said that choice and consequence is the "spine" of the whole game.

"We were looking for a way to make those consequences meaningful and really important for the players. To show that, we sometimes have to kill some characters, sometimes burn places and sometimes make huge changes in the game's world."

CD Projekt RED doesn't mind doing twice the work to ensure the story branches significantly, even though many will never see all the effort that went on behind the scenes,

"It's not always enough to tell you that someone died because of your choice, we want to show you those consequences," Ziemak said.

"We may have to create twice as much content, but then, there's twice as much fun."

Ziemak's comments come at a time when the significance of player choice in narrative-driven games is something of a hot topic, thanks to controversy over Mass Effect 3's ending.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is out now on PC, and an Enhanced Edition is coming to Xbox 360 in April.

Thanks, Gamefront.