Originally released in 2008 on the PC, The Witcher: Enhanced Edition offers a complex solo role-playing experience, made all the more engrossing by the rich, dangerous world it takes place in. It tells the story of Geralt of Rivia, a gifted warrior who belongs to an order of magic and alchemy-aided monster-hunting mercenaries known as Witchers. While on a mission, Geralt is seriously wounded. He wakes years later in the Witchers’ fortress, with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Before his compatriots have time to give him the most basic of information, the fortress is attacked by a group of bandits who steal the secrets to the Witchers’ inhuman powers.

Despite his amnesia, Geralt is forced to leave the fortress to hunt the bandits down, and recover the secrets of his order before they can be used for evil. As Geralt progresses through the game, he’ll learn new spells, improve their combat capabilities, and come into possession of powerful new armor and weapons. Players can choose from a number of difficulty levels, and three different camera angles--over the shoulder and two distinct overhead views—to make surviving the game’s frequent and robust combat sequences as easy as possible.

Sounds pretty good, right? Well, it is—provided you can get it to run. I downloaded the game to my 13-inch, mid-2010 MacBook Pro and was unable to get the game to launch; on the other hand, it ran like a dream on my late 2010 11-inch MacBook Air…until it suddenly didn’t. My playtime was marred by frequent crashes, and Steam’s forums are full of similar stories, including those of failed installation attempts. This is a huge disappointment and a big surprise, given the quality of the PC original and games typically released on the Steam platform.

The bottom line. If it wasn’t so crash prone and unreliable, The Witcher: Enhanced Edition would earn top marks. But in its current state, it’s hard to recommend.