For only eight, yes count them, eight short months of development: 'the Witcher' looks incredible. Modeled after a skeleton of the NeverWinter Nights engine (Aurora) and developed by a team of fifteen people, 'the Witcher' is shaping up to be a promising new title.
Standing at the water's edge.
Based solely on single player, the game seems to be set in quite a non-linear fashion. A quest system attempts to diversify your character's path, and allows you to choose your responses wisely. This can also change your characters faction in certain areas of the world (evil, neutral, good). Alternate endings can also be triggered, depending on which paths you take and how you interact with NPCs.
The combat system slightly resembles NeverWinter Nights or Diablo, but brings in a customizable combat queue to allow variation in attacks. Finishing moves display attention directly to gore, but allow even more diversity in combat. Following a battle, your health and fatigue bars consistently rise. Meditation also helps in speeding up this process.
From what I've seen, the interface looked quaint and easy to use. Your mouse will control everything, but you have the option to use default keyboard controls or setup your own. DirectX 9 is used in conjunction with the original engine to improve the particle, lighting, and water visuals. The game is set to please the eyes.
CDProjekt also wins my 'best press kit' of 2004 award, with amazing artwork and a short story for later reading. The Witcher has an estimated play time of 40-50 hours, and a 2005 estimated release date.