Gothic 3 Boy, is this game cool!

[Jabberwocky]

I know most of you already have this game, and are probably tired of reading "personal" reviews. But I am posting this on the small chance that someone who wasn't sure about the game before will read it and decide to take the plunge.
I'm not very far into the game, but I just want to tell everyone how much fun I'm having. Why?.. because I have been reading forums for a month now that largely consist of whining and complaining about how "the game's not this... the game's not that"... I was starting to wonder if I should have ordered the CE or not! (And I don't say that to offend anyone, I respect the intelligence of the other contributors of these forums, but after experiencing the game first-hand I am inclined to say most of the complaints are a little exaggerated.)

Glad I followed my instinct... Here's my impressions so far:

Graphics and performance: I haven't downloaded or applied any software tweaks, I wanted to see what it would do straight out of the box. I haven't even adjusted any of the settings through the game menu. They are all set to default which is medium. So far I haven't experienced ANY major problems or noticed any major graphical glitches. No crashes... seems very stable. Load times are long, but not anywhere as bad as they were made out to be. (maybe I'm just really patient) The game stutters and stammers a bit on occassion, but overall the framrate is better than the first two games were when I got them. In fact, the opening fight with the Orcs couldn't have been smoother, I was flabbergasted by the fluidity of the whole ordeal. I think the world is absolutely beautiful, even on medium settings, and I honestly don't know how anyone could say otherwise.

Gameplay and design: I was scared about the voice acting upon learning that it was an all-new cast. My fears have been allayed however, now that I've heard it. I know I'm going to get rocks thrown at me for this... but... I like the hero's voice better NOW. He sounds more confident to me, as opposed to an "unlikely hero" unsure of himself. And his pitch is still close enough to the original that it doesn't seem like an appalling substitute. The one voice that I wish had remained original from G1 is Diego's. You can't help but love his voice in the first game. Still, his current voice is better than G2's, and is therefore STILL an improvement.

I've heard complaints about incomplete dialogue among the "old friends" of the hero. While I admit that it is very brief at the start of the game, it does not seem out of place to me. After all, the hero and his friends have just been sailing for a month together, so what would really need to be said in addition to what's presented? WE may have spent the last couple years away from them, but THEY are in daily association with one another. It would be a little unrealistic for them to say things like "Wow, what a trip! How 'bout that one part when such-and-such happened?" While that might clue some newcomers in on what happened in the past, it would be very out of place and therefore "fake".

I'm playing with the up-to-date version, and didn't experience some of the combat woes that I've read about. There definitely is a problem with stun-lock that needs to be addressed. I got stun-locked to death by a scavenger, and that's just WRONG. Nevertheless, it isn't impossible to work with, and if you keep swinging, it actually makes the creatures EASIER to kill than in previous games. I have mixed feelings about this. As far as story continuity is concerned, it makes sense that my "fresh off the boat" hero is able to easily dispatch lizards, after all, he's been doing it for a while now. As far as gameplay is concerned however, it is not nearly so challenging as the first games, and as a hard-core Gothic gamer, that's a bad thing in my opinion.

The music is the best I've ever heard. 'nuff said.

In conclusion, I think this game deserves respect for what it IS, and less complaining about what it was WISHED it to be. If you can get past all of that, then you will love Gothic 3!

 

[bjon045]

good review, the difficulty thing has me concerned though, as a gothic veteran am I going to find it too easy? I hope there is some kind of difficulty switch.

 

[Wulf]

And once again Jabb's (we must be on the same wavelength) i echo the same words. To me the game is perfect, stun-lock included, i wouldn't want any further dumbing down but PB have to keep some of the whiners happy and i respect their standpoint.

Currently in the game, i am somewhere northwest of Geldern and the landscape is stunningly beautiful, there is so much to appreciate that there is little time to sidetrack over niggling faults - any true gamer worth his salt knows he lives with life's little innacuracies that occur in pc games.

I will be playing this game for ages to come, i have no other gaming plans just yet. I played for one week then started again, then after five days started yet again, such is the unsure and diversive path which nameless must carefully choose...a deviant yet brilliant concept. Sure there is an easy path through the game - but i sense there is also a steep and rocky path that few players will choose.

The appreciation and beauty of G3 will happen over time and such will the gothic series be able to consolidate it's position in the 3D gaming world.

 

[Thaurin]

It's always cool to read the positive opinions after so much negative. I do think another gig of RAM would help me out considerably. But really, I could play just fine with a few tweaks and after all is said and loaded. I guess it's also up to your play style. That is, if you want fast-paced action all the time without getting to know the NPC's and exploring the area at a leisurely pace, some may be somewhat disappointed. I've also heard people freak about a little drop in frame rates in other games when it doesn't detract from the gameplay one bit.

 

[HiddenX]

Gothic 3 is not a bad game - but like Oblivion I have to say :
"What could have been with some more technical polishing and more dialog to present the main story better ?"

 

[Jabberwocky]

good review, the difficulty thing has me concerned though, as a gothic veteran am I going to find it too easy? I hope there is some kind of difficulty switch.

Thanks for the compliment. And to answer your question: Yes, there is a changeable difficulty setting in the options. Being very afraid of all the stun-lock and combat nightmares I've heard about, I set my game to MEDIUM difficutly. I assume that the settings simply change the amount of hitpoints for NPC's and creatures, but I'm not entirely sure.

 

[curious]

i guess most people were/are unacustomed to the use of the right mouse button for a quick attack. a pack of any beasts are a problem but that is rightfully so in my opinion.

even before patch 2 i never had a problem from the start, with the boars. i guess there was no manual with the demo, so those people have an excuse. they should have made some screens in the installation of the demo that gave a quick rundown on attacking. not only are there 5 attacks but they can also vary greatly. for instance when i started my mage i didn't even try out the hold right, quick left attack which with a staff is great for getting a beast with a wide twirl. i was level 25 before i even knew about that one. much different than with my block with a shield and quick thrust, something i rarely used.

i love the melee combat in gothic 3. to me its right up there blade of darkness's combat - which you have to admit wouldn't work at all on 4 legged animals. thats the inherent problem with 3d combat in an rpg, its like having a 5'x5' strike zone in baseball. i seem to remember being able to hit anything in oblivion as long as it was in front of me- quite silly- at least gothic 3 address the fact that a sword weilding warrior is going to have a tougher time attacking beasts that are a couple of feet of the ground, where as a hunter or mage would have no problem. but in close combat a swordsman can by far do more damage and take less of a beating. which is why so many people are complaing about orcs being to easy. is this not balance?

 

[Dez]

I'm glad to read such a delightfull review.

Personally I'm so hooked in the game. I don't know whether anything else than gothic 1 comes remarkebly close to this experience . And like the first poster neither have I experienced much of crashes and never found combat boring like few others... I don't remember playing ages such a masterpiece, maybe gothic 1, maybe outcast, maybe fallout 2 or maybe deus ex 1, but certainly its been awhile! Nearly impossible to quit the game. Unfortunely I have my studies and other priorites in life too. However when i'm not busy and not sleeping, i'm playing gothic 3 non-stop .

Its impossible for me to understand how people can't see the greatness of this game. (Although I understand that people get pissed of crashes and memory bugs and then quit playing)

Btw one of my favorite places in g3 is the pass where you can see the desert of Varant in it's fullest glory. Not to mention the beautifull landscape near Silden. Hunting wild animals there with other hunters...WOW! Whats yours?

 

[Corwin]

There's a little waterfall bubbling on the road to Silden that is just stunning to see. I love this game!!

 

[JDR13]

I'm not trying to bring anyone down here, but I just can't agree with the game being that good. I've been playing the US demo for 2 days now and I have a major complaint. The A.I. is terrible in this game! Right from the opening battle I have seen npc's just standing around watching their allies get slain. This goes for both Orcs and Humans. On one occasion Diego just stood there with his bow drawn and watched an Orc warrior beat me senseless.
I'm hoping that maybe this is just a demo issue and that the A.I. is better in the full game.

 

[Corwin]

You mean you've found a game that has really great AI? I thought that was the stuff of fantasy!!

 

[JDR13]

You mean you've found a game that has really great AI? I thought that was the stuff of fantasy!!

I know you're trying to be funny Corwin, but seriously, Gothic 1&2 had excellent A.I.

 

[Thaurin]

Gothic 1/2's AI was pretty basic as far as I can remember (with the exception of the scripted 24/7 behaviour ), but it worked great. There are a few problems with Gothic 3's AI that have the NPC's and beasts getting stuck, but I seem to remember that this will be addressed in a future patch.

 

[lostnumber]

Doesn't anyone see a problem with the fact that all enemies kindly wait their turn to get their arses stomped? I can liberate the entire castle and surrounding area by getting a pack of orcs to follow me somewhere to patiently wait for their turn to take on my endless chain of clicks. There are points where I can take out about 8 orcs with nothing more than clicking my left mouse button about 200 times. Really the only thing that stopped me from doing this everywhere was stun-lock. The friggin AI in Pac-man was better than that, the ghosts worked together sometimes. The AI in G1&2 wasn't about find the cure for cancer, but it was good enough to figure out that when one guy was getting his arse handed to him his buddy should step in. Really though, I think the problem here is that the combat system is designed so poorly that fighting more than one guy at a time would be too difficult. I think the AI had to be crippled in order to accommodate the unresponsive combat design.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Doesn't anyone see a problem with the fact that all enemies kindly wait their turn to get their arses stomped?

Doesn't anyone see a problem with the same thing happening for the hero in an action film?

I'd have to say my favorite part so far is right at the end of the beginning intro. When the band of heroes strolls into Ardea and the Orc leader spots them. Right there the wonderful music goes into the main Gothic theme with an electric guitar. It sounds AWESOME and IMHO is a defining moment for the series.

 

[Thaurin]

Doesn't anyone see a problem with the fact that all enemies kindly wait their turn to get their arses stomped? I can liberate the entire castle and surrounding area by getting a pack of orcs to follow me somewhere to patiently wait for their turn to take on my endless chain of clicks. There are points where I can take out about 8 orcs with nothing more than clicking my left mouse button about 200 times. Really the only thing that stopped me from doing this everywhere was stun-lock. The friggin AI in Pac-man was better than that, the ghosts worked together sometimes. The AI in G1&2 wasn't about find the cure for cancer, but it was good enough to figure out that when one guy was getting his arse handed to him his buddy should step in. Really though, I think the problem here is that the combat system is designed so poorly that fighting more than one guy at a time would be too difficult. I think the AI had to be crippled in order to accommodate the unresponsive combat design.

Heh-- your way of putting it is of course quite trollish, but the AI is bugged sometimes where some NPC's will not follow you. I hope they fix this in a patch, but most of what you say I cannot help but laugh at a little.

 

[JDR13]

I don't think lostnumber is trying to be trollish. I agree with most of the things he's pointing out. There's no need to sugarcoat things here, the A.I. could use some major improvements in this game.

I hope they release a patch that improves the combat A.I. as well as the strength of npc's. It shouldn't take 5 rebels 40-50 seconds to kill one goblin.

 

[curious]

imagine that they are actually fighting with real weapons, would you stand up next to your mate and swing a sword or large polearm at your foe possibly cleaving off your own allies arm because you were both engaged, or would you surround the foe and take turns waiting for a chance/clearing as they stumbled in you direction so you could take a whack. do not forget that in gothic 3 they gave you the ability to actually swing your weapon and hit more than one opponent- something that i think is realistic and some would say and improvement from not being able to do that in gothic 1 and 2. so there really is a reason why you don't have more than one person attacking at once. i think this was intentional as i don't think beast have any problem ganging up on you. i think what does need tweaking is the npc's hit points so sword fights would last longer...but then you could argue how many hacks with a large sword could a human/orc really take?

 

[curious]

actually JDR13 it might be benifical the way it is because that 'weakness' only applies to npcs not in your 'party' (joined) .because if the npcs were scaled when you weren't fighting them a lot of npcs would die quickly as there are some towns and camps that have beasts very close to them. and the 'world' only interacts when you are in a certain radius, but that doesn't mean npcs have to be visible. many npcs once in this range will start walking or fighting a hostile if close enough. many npcs would get killed off rather quickly if the damage done wasn't low. even with the low level many people have experience npcs getting killed in nordmar because there is so much height there that beasts are attacking npcs but you can't for the life of you find them. a problem that i would be interested in knowing if it can be solved.

 

[Corwin]

I have actually been killed by allies several times. If you join a fight with a group of allies, one of their swings can hit you. (and vice versa which turns them hostile) Now, when fighting with allies, I stand well back and avoid melee.