Rachel Unboxes: The Witcher 2 (360)

This is the unboxing of the XBox 360 version of The Witcher 2.  For the PC version see the last entry.

My copy arrived late in the afternoon and I imediately took it to my room to unbox it.  To my surprise, I found this delightful, if a bit too big, tshirt inside.  It features a side profile of Geralt's pendant and it looks awesome.

I think it was a preorder bonus or something, but it was still unexpected and still awesome

The box itself, like that of the PC version, is rather large, and it features the logo in the middle.  My first thought was that it was an optical illusion of some kind, but it turns out it's just a moulder plastic insert behind a plastic window.  Still, it does look rather good.

It seems like an optical illusion, so cool

Unlike the contents of the PC version, the contents for the 360 version are in a drawer that is pulled out with the red ribbon tab.  Right on top is the art book.  As far as I can tell it's the same as the book in the PC version but with a different cover.  This one has an old feel to like, like an embossed leather tome.  I think I prefer this cover as it's a fantasy game and it wouldn't look out of place in the game world, except for maybe the full colour pages inside.

I think I prefer this cover to the one that came with the PC version

Under the book is a sticker sheet, a small box, and the regular edition of the game.

A bit blurry but there's not much to see

All in all, there's the book, the game, a bonus DVD featuring making of footage and other bonus material, the small box, and the stickers.

Everything on display

"What's in the box?" I hear you ask, like an overly emotional Brad Pitt.  Why, it's only a replica of Geralt's pendant!  From the front it looks exactly the same but from the side it's clearly flattened in comparison.  This isn't really an issue as it still looks good and still has a good weight to it.  The chain doesn't have a clasp but it is long enough to fit over most heads.

The regular edition of the game has the same map as the PC edition but the quest guide has been updated to include the extra quests that came with it.

A good sized map and expanded quest guide accompany the Enhanced Edition

Unfortunately, this too appears to have sold out everywhere, but the ordinary editions of the game are still readily available.  During the development of the 360 version, CD Projekt Red made a number of changes and added some content to the game.  The most obvious thing is the presence of a tutorial that wasn't in the original PC version.  The 360 version was called the 'Enhanced Edition' and it was made available for PC players as well.  What's good is that if you already have the PC version you'll get the Enhanced Edition update for free.  They did the same thing with The Witcher and it's what I really like about them.

Rachel Unboxes: The Witcher 2 (PC)

This will be the first of two Witcher 2 posts as it got two amazing limited edition.  This one will be the PC version with the 360 version coming next week.

First, the box itself.  It's a rather large and sturdy box featuring the game logo on the left.  It's a highly detailed image of a stylised wolf's head that the main character, Geralt wears as a pendant.

The outside of the huge Witcher 2 box

Inside the box is the sticker sheet, the papercraft sheets, and promo codes.

Everything all packed up neatly

Some nice Witcher 2 stickers

Papercraft, because only crazy people don't like papercraft

Under that is the georgously illustrated art book which features the title of the game superimposed over the mouth of some manner of beast.  Inside the book is a whole host of pictures including concept art and character art for the different outfits.

The gorgeous cover of a book full of gorgeous art

Several of the complete outfits available for Geralt to wear throughout the game

Under the book is the bust of Geralt which shows off his scars and his amazing hair.  This is where the game itself is found.

The bust was bigger than I expected, highly detailed too

Under the game box is the last of the extras.  A pack of playing cards, a rule book for playing different card games, and a bag of die with the game logo containing die identical to those used in the game.

Everything you need to gamble Witcher 2 style

And yet there's still more!  Inside the game box is the game, a map, a note about a beast, a 'cursed' coin, the game manual, a quest guide, and some more papercraft.

The contents of the regular edition

All in all, that's a whole lot of stuff   How much it cost is a bit moot as it was a limited edition and has all sold out now, but it was excellent value for money.

Rachel Unboxes: Gears of War 3 Limited Edition

Gears of War 3 is the last part of the Gears of War trilogy and the Limited Edition is pretty amazing.  Not only is the box chunky and substantial but it contains a lot of stuff too.  Even like this it looks great with the Octus medal in full view.  Take off the outer box and it still looks good.

This is a replica of the Octus medal presentation case that appears in Marcus' room at the beginning of the game.  It looks great in back and silver.  Simple yet effective and stylish.

 

The medal itself is surprisingly weighty and has a solid feel to it.  I was half expecting it to feel cheap and flimsy but it doesn't.  It feels as good as it looks, and I happen to think it looks really good.  Additionally, on the back of the medal is a DLC code for the Adam Fenix character to use in multiplayer (though I prefer to play as Baird because Baird is yummy).

Open the box and you'll see the game case.  It looks almost the same as the data disk that's in the game.  I won't say what's on it but it's important to the game.  It's a nice touch that this resembles that data disk.

Under the game case is the Octus flag which wraps and protects the rest of the content.

 The personal effects of Adam Fenix include the Hammer of Dawn schematics, his Last Will and Testament, two photos, a letter to Marcus, and the Octus medal certificate.  They're interesting more than anything but it's nice to see what the Hammer of Dawn looks like and hold things that are mentioned in the game.

Inside the game box is the manual, some Omen stickers, and a DLC card for two free days of XBL Gold.  Not very exciting but worth mentioning all the same.

What is exciting is that it might still be possible to get this if you look hard enough or are willing to spend a little extra for it.  Game do still have the Epic Edition which contains all this and the statue of Marcus Fenix but it's a lot more at nearly £70.  For me, as I'm not really interested in the statue, it's not worth it, but I definitely think the Limited Edition is great value for money.

Sorry!

Hi, I'm sorry there wasn't a blog post this week.  I've been having sleeping problems and a rather bad depressive episode.  I'm going to schedule the post I was going to make this week so that it'll go up at about noon UK time (BST/GMT+1).  If it works then I'll do this for future posts.