(Repost - from Druski99 in the forums) I live in europe and played G2 quite a while ago now so my memory of it isn't entirely fresh, but if I'm not mistaken I don't believe the Gamespot reviewer payed much attention to the game. I don't want to come off as a fanboi either, the games actual score (8.1) is pretty much what I'd give it; it had some problems but overall it was a good rpg. However I'd like to point out the following inconsistencies: 1) There are hotkeys for your weapons and spells. User definable ones too. I don't remember exactly how it goes but you do something like go into your inventory and press the number key you want to correspond to that item. Veeery basic gameplay element. 2) There is instant transportation in the game, once you progress farther in the game. In fact it comes with perfect timing once you are pretty much done with Gothics initial enormous area allowing you to quickly teleport around it. 3) I find it difficult to believe that the reviewer prefered to play this game in first person mode, first person mode was miserable and it is very difficult to engage in melee combat in first person. (Note Jedi Knight2/Academy switches to 3rd when you use a lightsaber even though its a FPS) 4) Why is the review only 1 page long when most other GS reviews are 2-3 pages long? This is a game that has at least 20-30 hours of gameplay in it. 5) The combat system is slightly awkward, but once you pick it up its very easy, since its not that complex. There simply aren't that many combat options open to you to learn. You just swing your sword and if something is nearbye it gets cut. Monsters however, are not impossibly difficult throughout the game, in fact I would say that towards the middle to end of the game the monsters are too easy. Especially if you are a paladin with the Holy blast spell (or whatever its called). The monsters are really only very dangerous in chapter 1 of the game. 6) There is no mention of a feature which I find to be a very appealing one about this game: The extremely large size of the maps, which are densly packed with stuff to look at, kill, and do. The map designs are excellent in that they make you feel that you are in a real breathing environment. 7) There were no very typical review items pointing out that players can cook food, skin animals, and forge their own weapons and spells. I'm not remarking on the quality or necessity of these features, but on the fact that it is the kind of stuff that reviewers like to mention (virtually all other reviews of G2 mention these) mostly because they are characterstic of the detail of the worlds in the Gothic series. In short I think the review was a rushed job by someone who wasn't very interested in the game and didn't play it very long but thought that it had potential, or that he should like it, or simply looked at other sites review scores for his review number. Not quite up to the quality I have come to expect from Gamespot.
Here is a quick history lesson for everyone who is new to the series: Back in 2001, a German company called Piranha Bytes released the first title in the series adequately named "Gothic". While not a perfect game, Gothic... Read Full Review
The things that get critiziced the most here are the control scheme and the trial-and-error system. Now, I don't have anything against easy games, don't get me wrong. But this game takes a realistic approach to RPG. R... Read Full Review
