Gothic 1 & 2 were very unique RPG games: rather than providing huge world to explore it was more about attention to detail that set it apart from other games. NPCs and quests were pretty well woven into the plot, which gave the game more life-like feel. Chapter system from previous Gothic games was convenient way to make the world even more dynamic: after each chapter NPCs would have different dialogue options and would react to important events. Gothic 3 somewhat splits from this formula and tries to become more like Oblivion; what we get is something in between. While it offers huge world to explore, it also has somewhat “diluting” effect on the quest system and skill advancement. Every Gothic fan remembers how precious skill points were in Gothic 1&2 and how carefully they had to be spent. Gothic 3 offers so many quests and monsters to kill that prudent skill point spending is no longer a concern. Unfortunately, this also renders some skills outright useless, like pick pocketing. Alchemy is much less important here because you have so many skill points that brewing permanent potions and colleting of ingredients don’t feel like worth the effort. There are also some skills that do not seem to be implemented at all. There are resistance to cold/heat/ poison skills that do not make any noticeable difference. And no matter how hard you search you will not be bale to find trainer to attain that master of fire magic skill. Combat is definitely unbalanced: it varies from frustrating experience of being fighter to tedious combat of over-powered mage. Fist time I played I got to be very powerful fighter, yet very easily killed by orc shaman or even weaker goblin shaman. As a matter of fact, since 2-3 three hits by fireball meant death I would run for cover anytime my opponent wielded magic. Second time around I decided to stick with the formula “if you can’t beat them, join them” and become mage myself. Gothic 3 has variety of spell from four schools of magic, but in reality you need only two to be successful in combat: good old fireball and summoning spell (like demon or golem). Once you build your mana level high enough and you get that mana recharge skill, you become close to being invincible. Combat becomes tedious from then on: you pound anything that moves with fireballs, and occasionally summon an ally to “distract” the larger groups of enemies. Summon demon spell is definitely overpowered because demon can take on successfully group of orcs by himself. So, if you are lazy type you can just keep summoning demons to do dirty work for you while you enjoy the show over some popcorn and a drink. It’s been a while since the release of the game and most of the stability/performance issues have been fixed through the patches. Overall Gothic 3 is a good game that could have been great if its numerous bugs and balancing issues were addressed early on. According to information available the developer and publisher of the game parted ways in rather hostile circumstances, no doubt the result of arguing over blame over shape the game was originally released in. Given the fact that developer still holds a lot of rights to Gothic titles, this might be the last game in the Gothic series.
In a word: brilliant. I would highly recommend this to anybody who's a fan of "The Elder Scrolls", especially the older ones such as Daggerfall and especially Morrowind. In my opinion its like playing Morrow... Read Full Review
Gothic III is like a woman who irritates you until the point you want to break up, but who in the last minute knows how to coax you into staying with her. I LOVE YOU when swarming orcs fall around me in an epic comba... Read Full Review
