14 DAY TRIAL // The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the upcoming RPG from CD Projekt Red, uses a short slow-motion effect when engaging in battles on a horse, according to the studio, so that players can line up attacks and focus on their targets.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is finally set to debut next month across the PC, PS4, and Xbox One platforms worldwide, so developer CD Projekt Red has started sharing more and more details about the role-playing experience and how its mechanics will deliver the most comprehensive title in the series.
One key area that's improved in The Witcher 3, as opposed to the previous titles in the franchise, is the combat. Main protagonist Geralt of Rivia now boasts refined fighting moves, while secondary character Ciri is described as a much faster combatant.
Horse battles use slow motion for more precision
One aspect of the improved combat system in The Witcher 3 is fighting on horseback. According to CD Projekt Red, which goes into detail via DSOG, when closing in on an enemy and holding the button for a fast attack, the game enters a short slow-motion period.
Before fans worry about this aspect, the studio mentions that the slow-motion window is quite short and wears off as soon as you get too close to the enemy.
Apparently, the team came to this solution after testing showed that it became quite hectic to try and fight on horseback against ground targets or enemies that are also on top of horses.
"Consider this: horse combat without the slow down didn’t play too well, since the horse movement is quite fast. The high speed, when testing, got even more problematic on horse to horse combat, so the short slow down window (again, only activated when holding the button within a certain range of an enemy) helps a lot here," the studio explains.
As such, The Witcher 3 players should expect some responsive horseback combat when the new RPG debuts next month.