Finally! So happy to see it here!

This release is making some news channels

https://techraptor.net/gaming/news/wheel-of-time-finally-launches-on-gog

What's uhhh "proper release"?

Like only a limited release. Maybe I'm remembering wrong.

You might be thinking of the demo, the full game was released.

I dunno about limited releases but it's an Unreal engine game from when Unreal was the top thing, from a veteran developer, under a reasonably big publisher. Licensing a popular fantasy books series even.

As for its length it's a standard shooter length. It sure is longer than Red Faction 1, it's about as long as Half-life, maybe a bit longer than that. Not as long as the OG Unreal, although that one's lengh was probably stretched by a couple of massive and confusing levels here and there.

Question to those who played it before:

Would it spoil the books for me if I only read the first two?

I think it's a separate side story.

"The game's setting in respect to the novels is ambiguous; the storyline was said to precede the novels by some 150 years. Although Robert Jordan was consulted, the game's storyline is not considered canonical for the Wheel of Time setting."

is what wikipedia says. I haven't read those books.

I'm guessing GOG only had access to the English version. If I remember correctly, German, Spanish, and Italian were each separate SKUs, because trying to fit fully voiced video and audio for multiple languages on the same CD-ROM wasn't realistic. An unofficial patch seems reasonable if someone has the original media available.

The game uses the classic Unreal Engine, It supports D3D, Software, 3DFX and probably OpenGL, the GOG version comes bundled with two different wrappers, NGlide for the 3DFX version and the homemade dx 1-7 wrapper for the D3D version and maybe for a functional softawe version.

It apparently also comes bundled with some kind of Quicktime fix for the movies. It was also a problem in the past.

The D3D version allows widescreen resolutions, apparently aspect corrected, the NGlide version only accepts 4:3 resolutions or stretched screen, but the performance appears to be slightly better. The graphics seem to be exactly the same but not really sure about little differences.

What I have noticed is that in some places with the volumetric effects on, the framerrate drops noticeability. specially in D3D mode. The rest is very smooth.

EDIT: I have also noticed that when I run the game directly (no galaxy) the intro logos movies play as expected, but when ran under Galaxy those logos skip themselves to the main menu. The proper intro movie run well from the main menu, though.

The game uses locations and objects and terms that will be familiar to those who have read the books, but that's about the extent of it. No prior experience with the books is necessary, as everything is explained within the context of the game and nothing from the books will be spoiled.

That is Bethesda's court. Nightdive was contracted and Bethesda calls the shots. If it is not here it is because Bethesda does not want it here yet. Or maybe ever. IDK

Though some one from GOG did say it was coming to GOG.

I cannot believe!!!!!!!!!!!!1 THAAAAAAAAAANKS!

It was a welcome surprise to see Wheel of Time here. I was even more surprised to see Nightdives name attached to it since there has not been a peep from them about working on it. haha

They do this a lot. :D