Polish developer and publisher CD Projekt plans to release The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings for PC in Q1 2011. Console versions are planned but the details are yet to be revealed.

On whether the console versions will be released after the PC game, Pakulski added: "I can't say right now, but please stay tuned for information coming in the near future." Various engine details are being announced soon, he said.

Atari will publish The Witcher 2 in North America, CD Projekt will handle the game in mainland Europe and 1C will do the honours in Russia. No publisher has been announced for the UK.

According to the site's first-look, The Witcher 2 will see mutant hero Geralt campaigning against an evil elf called Lorveth and a shady character called Kingslayer.

And Geralt won't be alone. This time he'll be joined by Triss Merigold, the red-head sorceress from the first game, and bigot Vernon Roche. The two don't get on. They'll not be under your control and they'll pipe-up during conversations.

Conversations, incidentally, can include multiple people and introduce new speakers part-way through. Responses will be timed, and resort to a default answer should an alternative not be picked.

Sexy time returns, but CD Projekt has done away with the porno-playing-card solution and instead made cinematic sequences to titillate its mature audience - providing the right dialogue choices are made. In GameSpot's demonstration, Triss Merigold uses her magic to strip naked and dive into a pool. Geralt, a slobbering wreck, eagerly follows.

The next portion of the demo showed Geralt fighting a tentadrake - a large squid.

Combat this time will not rely on round-based strikes, which means Geralt can hack and slash like Kratos in God of War, capping a chain of three or four lighter strikes off with a big smash. There's mention of more detailed character advancement and a multi-layered clothing engine.