Gothic 4 the next waited release..... shame the hype wasn't matched in game. I am heart broken.
So came the time for me to move away from my usual PS3 gaming world. Dust off my old looking keyboard and pick up the trusty mouse for some good old RPG pc gaming. Feeling excited? You bet I was! It was like an old girlfriend who had just come back into town looking for some fun loving action. So I installed Gothic 4 and what did I find....?
NOTHING...
Just emptiness, like the old ex girlfriend had put on 200 pounds and taken up nasty crack habit.
So why this sudden change of heart?
Let me tell you why:
Gothic 4 tries its hand at populating the world with all manner of objects to interact with. The problem here is a lack of moral code and repercussions for stealing anything that isn't nailed down. Like in the old games of Gothic (in which you would get a spanking by the barmaid or a clip round the ear with a sword) So, what this means is that you are never lacking items to resell or use.... This really takes away the realism and immersion of the old world that Gothic had created previously. Walking into a store and simply looting chests, cupboards with no anger, fights or a telling off is just unreal. There is no repercussions, no shouting, no spitting, no towns Guard hitting you over the head with an axe.. nothing. Its SHOP LIFTING HEAVEN! So trying to get that extra buck to buy a sword or potion is now just too easy to come by.
And this is what got to me. Gothic 4 feels very simplistic and almost bleak at times. There is no depth to the people/animals or monsters you face. Walking through the forest you very randomly see wild life grazing/sleeping etc..
Only a few times does the quests deviate from the "fetch me the apples" quest'; you're given a few options on how to resolve but its nothing as versatile as the last games. Even years after Gothic 3 we would have expected better AI. In-depth story telling and a "Sand Box world" that would have put the last three games to shame. Instead it looks to be its pilot... something that was created 12 years ago!
This slimmed-down approach likely stems from a smaller team and tighter budget, but surely the main concepts that took non mainstream RPG players like me away from shoot-em ups and strategy fondling should still have been included!!
Next is the hopeless scaling of walls/rocks and even water. Haven't we moved on from the walking into invisible walls? Instant death because my character has touched the "ever so dangerous water" COME ON!!
Give us a lovely environment to live in, at least allow us to move around the landscape and be a part of it. If I wanted to hang out in rivers/lakes and hang my head in the water fall, then let me! If I want to attempt to scale a wall/tree then let me do that too.
The last gripe for me was the absolutely terrible voice acting. I have watched some old Jet lee films with better English dubbing then what we find in this game. The Big nail in the coffin for me was when I met the witch (this point i just shut-down my pc and threw the CD into the bin)
I feel lost for Gothic 4 as Gothic 4 feels lost for Piranha Bytes.... such a shame that a good franchise like Gothic could not continue on to shine... so I guess I will loose my favourite characters and story lines and take on the new crowd when it comes back into town when the mighty Risen II comes out...
RIP Gothic, you will be sadly missed....