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Game Overview

Gothic 3 is an action-oriented CRPG developed by German developer Piranha Bytes. The story starts right after the end of Gothic 2, with the Nameless Hero of the previous games and some of his friends arriving on the mainland by ship. The Gothic series of games have always been hailed by role-playing fans as one of the most atmospheric RPG's ever made, with believable NPC's that have their own daily schedule and involving plotlines. In this third part, the Orcs have taken over and enslaved human kind.

Publisher's Game Description

You have saved your home island from the forces of evil in Gothic I and Gothic II. Now it is time to travel to the realms of the mainland.
Invading Orcs have enslaved the human kingdom. There are but a few free humans in the icy north and the southern desert and a handful of rebels hiding in the forests and mountains of Midland. You may either join the rebellion or serve the Orcish Usurpers but you will ultimately tip the scales and decide the outcome of the last war to save humanity. There is no simple linear story in Gothic 3 - every game will be different and unique - but all will ultimately lead to you deciding the fate of humankind. (Courtesy of JoWooD∞)

Reception

Gothic 3 created high expectations. Aside from being one of the most influential role-player games developed in Europe, the previous two games had built up a huge following. The unique atmosphere and love-it-or-hate-it control scheme had set the series apart. Piranha Bytes had to both cater to the existing fans and try to expand their fan base. This time immediately releasing world-wide instead of releasing an English version long after the German one, it was hoped that market penetration would be better with Gothic 3 than with its predecessors.

The release caused mixed reactions. Many German reviewers shot it down harshly when they received a pre-release copy that was, according to them, a buggy mess. People anticipating the release were shocked even more when the gold master was called back in light of a show-stopping bug found in that build. Upon release day, a patch was immediately available, further fixing bugs. Some reviewers consequently focused on the existing bugs, some even without applying the release-day patch.

In spite of this, the ratings have generally been good. After two days, Gothic 3 and Gothic 3 Collector's Edition topped Germany's media Control Charts. More than 150,000 copies were sold in the first weekend. On the UK sales charts, Gothic III was placed 4th. Many fans and reviewers did agree that the developers largely managed to stay true to the original atmosphere. While the revamped combat system, which was supposed to make control easier to swallow, disappointed some, others eventually learned the finer points of the system that has in the predecessors always been different from most other games.

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CategoryGothic3