The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Expansion Pack
Release Date: October 13, 2015
The first large expansion to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, developed by the creators of the original game, Polish studio CD Projekt RED. The add-on is set in No Man’s Land and the city of Oxenfurt, where Geralt the witcher gets entangled in a shadowy intrigue and encounters a mysterious Man of Glass.
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OpenCritic
The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone is the first large expansion pack to the highly acclaimed action-RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, released in May 2015. The add-on was developed by the creators of the base game, the Polish studio CD Projekt RED, responsible for previous installments in The Witcher series as well. To play the expansion, distributed through the The Witcher 3 Season or sold separately, the base game is required. PC and PlayStation 4 versions received limited retail editions that includes game code and two decks of the gwent card game (154 cards) along with tokens.
Hearts of Stone, once again, puts you in control of Geralt of Rivia. Hired by the Merchant of Mirrors, he has to face Olgierd von Everec, a bandit captain, who, in some mysterious way, managed to obtain immortality. In order to defeat him, you have to complete three difficult tasks and remove the spell that makes him invincible. The story takes place in the territory of No Man’s Land and the town of Oxenfurt.
Hearts of Stone is a mission pack, and as so, it does not alter the basic gameplay mechanics. Of course, apart from new missions, which were designed for level 30 characters and scaled for the NG+ mode, there are also new monsters, tough choices and their consequences, extra items, weapons, artifacts, and even romance options. All of this amounts roughly to additional 10 hours of gameplay. It is also noteworthy that the expansion can be completed before or after finishing the Wild Hunt's main story.
Platforms:
PC Windows
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Developer: CD Projekt RED
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
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15GAMES
A series of action RPG games inspired by a series of novels and short stories by popular fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski. The brand is developed by Warsaw-based development studio CD Projekt RED.
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CD Projekt RED confirmed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is to receive a Game of the Year Edition. Rumor has it that it may come to PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on August 26.
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July 6, 2016
The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone is coming out in just a few hours. CD Projekt RED revealed specific time of release of the expansion in several timezones.
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October 12, 2015
The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone main theme appeared online. You can hear the piece of soundtrack from the expansion on the composer’s YouTube channel.
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October 2, 2015
The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone Steam achievements were put online. While they don’t reveal much about the story, they give an idea of some new content coming up to the game.
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Top s for The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone Video Game:
System Requirements for The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone Video Game:
PC / Windows
Minimum System Requirements:
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3 GHz/AMD Phenom II X4 940 3.7 GHz, 6 GB RAM, graphic card 2 GB GeForce GTX 660/Radeon HD 7870 or better, 40 GB HDD, Windows 7/8/8.1 64-bit.
Recommanded System Requirements:
Intel Core i7-3770 3.4 GHz/AMD FX-8350 4 GHz, 8 GB RAM, graphic card 2 GB GeForce GTX 770/4 GB Radeon R9 290 or better, 40 GB HDD, Windows 7/8/8.1 64-bit.
Game Ratings for The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone Video Game.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Hearts of Stone Review – Almost perfect expansion
The first expansion pack for the Witcher 3, titled Hearts of Stone, features a new adventure of Geralt of Rivia, but it also proves a certain point: a DLC doesn’t have to be sluggish and dull as the competition would have us believe.
Destructoid: 8.5 / 10 by Chris Carter
At 10 hours, Hearts of Stone is rather brief given the sprawling scale of Wild Hunt, but with that brevity, it never overstays its welcome. It melds well with the overall themes of the core adventure even if it feels wholly detached from it, but sometimes all you need is more Witcher-based antics.
PlayStation LifeStyle: by Chandler Wood
By taking Geralt out of his element and changing the course of what we'd expect from a stoic witcher, Hearts of Stone is a must own for anyone that's been hanging on to The Witcher 3. The story alone is enough to warrant jumping back in, but the way it integrates into the existing game just expands the already massive scope of the world. It's not perfect, and there are a few missteps in execution — most notably in the lackluster addition of runewords — but it more than makes up for its faults in the things that it does well. It leaves me feeling very excited for the next expansion, Blood and Wine, which is reportedly double in size.
GameTrailers: 9 / 10 by Daniel Bloodworth
Lasting ten to twelve hours with complex characters, diverse scenarios, stunning new locations, and memorable bosses, this ten dollar expansion stands out in a period when many DLC offerings feel like lackluster afterthoughts. Even though it's an expansion that returns to familiar areas, Hearts of Stone doesn't feel like it's merely piggybacking on the main game, but has its own worthwhile tale to tell.