It’s nit-picking, I know, but one of my biggest issues with The Witcher 3 is how much of an eye I have to keep on the mini-map. The game’s open world is beautiful, but Roach can sometimes have something of a mind of her own, so I’m forced to pay more attention than I’d like to the roads unfolding in front of me than the delightful vistas.
Sadly, The Continent is rather lacking when it comes to satellite navigation, so my plight continues. The next-best thing, however, appears to have shown up in Euro Truck Simulator 2.
The trucking sims’ developer, SCS Software, has recently added a number of new voice navigation options. For English speakers, the new voices include Doug Cockle, who’s best known as the voice of Geralt of Rivia in all three games in The Witcher trilogy. As well as a charming British accent and a more recognisable American choice, Cockle also offers a ‘raspy’ option, which should sound pretty recognisable to fans of CD Projekt Red’s RPG series.
Starting around the 1:16 mark in the video embedded below (via Kotaku), Cockle instructs players to “get ready to turn left” in a voice that’s genuinely a little unsettling to hear outside the confines of a Witcher game. As well as barking a series of instructions at drivers, Doug tells them that “it’s all over now,” as they reach their destination, which feels a little pessimistic.
Cockle has of course lent his iconic Geralt voiceover to other games since the Witcher trilogy wrapped up in 2016, but in both Monster Hunter: World and Soul Calibur VI, he was actually playing his character, rather than a particularly grouchy sat nav.
Related: Here’s what we know about The Witcher 4
Whether we hear him voice Geralt again in another Witcher game remains to be seen. CD Projekt says it’s working on another triple-A RPG to release after Cyberpunk 2077, and has repeatedly confirmed its commitment to its fantasy IP. Cockle, seems to think that Geralt’s adventures are over, but that doesn’t mean that he couldn’t show up somewhere as an NPC…