Gothic 3 - Shipping to NA
 

Gothic 3 is on its way to North American stores. Here's Aspyr's announcement:
More information.

I for one are very curious about the American reviews. I've always read Gamespot's reviews and I'm looking forward to what they've got to say about the game.

I wonder what the status of the repairs are in the US release.

I'm guessing the reviews will be one collective comparison to Oblivion. That will get old fast.

If the game is patched to 1.09, I'm guessing the reviews will average around 80%. And Oblivion will be the main comparison, unfortunately.

I have two reviews to write for this one … keep telling myself "don't compare to Oblivion, don't compare to Oblivion" :D

Yes, I believe that it is 1.09 patch that is shipping to NA - I preordered through my local EBGames, and their system shows it 'available' but not in stock … hopefully that means I get a call this morning …

Wow. Only $39.99. Incredible value. Reminds me of why I love PC gaming. :)

What remains to be seen is if any reviewer has the balls to call the game inferior to Gothic 2 Gold (NoTR). I predict none of the reviewers will have played that one though - while all will have played Oblivion to some extent.

Well, since my Gothic 2 Gold review awarded it 5 stars, Gothic 3 will have to be pretty masterful to equal that task. My reading to date indicates that isn't likely …

Realistically I predict the game will be reviewed at around 75% in NA.
Most will note that true system requirements are outrageous when comparing visual quality to the obvious benchmark (insert Oblivion comparison). The controls will be declared "fixed" compared to its predescesors (all true fans roll eyes at this one) but combat is still lacking (insert Oblivion melee comparison). Most will like the bow however (insert Oblivion comparison) but will fail to even evaluate the magic system at all. The bugs will be a pretty substantial point hit (insert Oblivion comparison). Even with the current patch the game has stability issues, quest bugs etc.

Most will conclude, of course, with a final Oblivion comparison as well as a recommendation that you play Oblivion instead - at least until all the bugs are fixed and performance is substantially tweaked.

Heck, you should sell that template - sites could save thousands on freelancers ;)

NA reviews will summarize with something like this:

"Now Gothic 3 is a great and deep RPG. Buuuut….Oblivion had Patrick Stewart!! And, um…….pretty landscapes! So we give Gothic 3 - 79%." :p

Sorry, I like Todd's template better - and it mentioned Oblivion more! I give your post 66.25% :D

OK we can use Todd's template.

Can we just use my review for 1up.com? :)

So long as your score is between 4-6 (the new 7-9 scale) ;)

My template is public domain - as we shall see!

And the Nostradamus Award for Clairvoyance goes to… sorry, will go to ToddMcF2002.
I usually refrain from quoting entire posts and usually I don't like QFT-posts, but this time.. this simply must be The (Ugly) Truth (tm) and deserves being stressed.

You're all probably correct, but I wish WE got some of the thousands being paid for reviews!! :)

Me too! I wrote more than a dozen this week …

You mention a very important thing Todd - all reviews fail to mention the magic system, even in comparison to Oblivion. Playing characters with at least a bit of magic, such as healing, light and a few summon spells, makes the game so much easier and more enjoyable, so I find it hard to believe all those who "reviewed" the game actually completed it without ever coming across magic..