Witcher 3's First PS4 Gameplay Trailer Arrives

A new video has been released to showcase the actual in-game play of CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 3 in action on the PS4. The trailer gives gamers a look at the combat, some of the physics, the travel, the environmental detail and some of the magic attacks that will be at their disposal.

You can check out the video trailer below, courtesy of All Games Beta.

If you weren't properly paying attention it is possible to mistaken the game for the PC version of the title during the gameplay segments. That's a pretty good testament to the optimization talents of the good folk at CD Projekt Red. However, some draw distance fade-in and LOD loading are visible ever-so-briefly at times to remind us that it's still the home console version on display.

The traveling music is also so well done. This game's soundtrack is absolutely spot-on to the atmosphere and setting. It all melds so well together, especially as players travel across the world.

Speaking of traveling... it's nice to see the organic implementation of animals moving and roaming about in The Witcher 3. It really helps bring the game to life when you see a startled deer take off into the thickets.

The video trailer moves into the combat phase and how it works on the PS4. It's very similar to how things are handled on PC, but it will require some minor micromanagement when it comes to switching around skills and whatnot.

However, my one main gripe with the combat is that the animations have been simplified down to a point where it feels less like a sword fight and more like batting practice. One of the things you expect is that being a Witcher would mean he's a master of combat. The one thing you don't expect to see is that he's swinging swords around like a baseball bat. It is a huge immersion-breaker, for me. For comparison purposes, check out Geralt's sword-skills and technique on display from the first Witcher game.

The combat in The Witcher 3 is still difficult and challenging, but it's no where near as cinematic or fluent as the first game, which is hugely disappointing in my opinion.

Anyway, moving away from the combat... we then see Geralt move over to a boat with some supplies washed ashore. He blows up a barrel to show off how the PS4 can handle physical object particles. It handles it well.

Additionally we also get to see how the environment reacts to physics-based weather changes. As the wind picks up we can see the trees and foliage moving, some swaying even at a distance. IDV SpeedTree had this feature built into its middleware toolset since the mid aughts, but it rarely made appearances in console games due to the limited GPU capabilities of the Xbox 360 and PS3. It's nice to see that the PS4 and Xbox One are now catching up with the times.

The Witcher 3 is due for release for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC starting May 19th.