Gothic II Preview
The US version of Piranha Bytes' free-form first-person role-playing game is receiving an extra layer of polish, courtesy of Atari.
It's not often that a game released in Europe is later picked up by a major publisher, and then released in the US. But Atari is in the process of doing just that with Gothic II. JoWood released the game in Europe last year, and it has done quite well, selling more than 200,000 copies in Germany alone. Developer Piranha Bytes had already localized the game, but the version that reaches US shores will be somewhat different, and it should benefit from the additions that Atari is making. The publisher expects that it will be worth the wait for this role-playing sequel, which builds on the action-oriented melee combat, free-roaming adventure, and epic story that defined Gothic.
Gothic II will expand on the previous game in a number of ways. For instance, your initial choice of one of the game's three characters has far-ranging consequences throughout the game, not only affecting the obvious things like your abilities, but also affecting how the story unfolds. The three careers--militiaman, magician, and mercenary--basically fit the old fighter, wizard, and thief archetypes, but character development won't strictly be linear. Each character will start out in a different location in the world, encounter different people, and be presented with different missions. As a militiaman, you start out in the city of Khorinis and eventually become a multitalented and righteous paladin. By contrast, the magician starts out in the monastery that houses the local order of mages and works toward becoming a fire wizard, and the lawless mercenary calls a rugged encampment home and has a career path that leads to becoming a dragon hunter.
No matter which profession you choose, the overarching story and main quests will be the same, even if you see them from a unique perspective. As the opening of Gothic II reminds you, the first game ended with the defeat of the Sleeper, but surprisingly, his minions continue to threaten the land. In a bid to deal with the evil's source, your wizard mentor Xardos sends you on a quest for an ancient relic, which in turn will help you fight a group of dragons and later discover the mysterious power behind them. Fortunately, you won't have to worry about reading long passages of text to get the gist of the story, since the designers have gone through the trouble of recording every line of speech in the game.
The first chapter in the game takes place in the temperate land near the city of Khorinis. All three of the game's maps are massive, seamless environments, and we watched as the camera flew through the variety of forests, canyons, dungeons, and urban areas that make up the adventure's first and most picturesque location. As in the original game, Gothic II makes the world feel more immersive with a day-night cycle that the world's inhabitants follow as they go about their daily business. These other characters aren't just standing around waiting for you to save them, either, and those in outlying areas will take it upon themselves to guard their lands by attacking any creatures that encroach. But if you do help them, you can improve your reputation with them, which may later open up new dialogue or quest options. Naturally, you'll also have plenty of motivation to slay creatures just to improve your own abilities.
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- GameSpot Score8.1great
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