Gothic II

The Good
All the good things from Gothic 1 are still present: a tight storyline with many optional side quests, an (almost) realistic world to explore with many unique characters to interact and challenging enemies to fight.

The Bad
Although Gothic 2 looks exactly like Gothic 1 and the same graphics engine was used I had to upgrade my 3D-Adapter and RAM (512 MB is a must!) to get it running with acceptable performance - and even then some areas are reduced to slide shows. Some magazine reviews claim the game's world to be three times as large as in Gothic 1. I only found a part of the original playground and one new area of the same size, so twice as large would be more fitting. The last chapter of the game is a bit disappointing: a rather small and hastily designed dungeon with a quite weak final enemy and undeveloped storyline.

The Bottom Line
If You liked Gothic 1 You would love the sequel as well. The mechanics and environment are almost 1:1 with some enhancements. The Gothic series offers a unique type of role playing and virtual world.

The Good
The game begins where Gothic 2 ended, with a recap of events in the first game for beginners. The enigmatic Xardas the necromancer is the first character you meet, one of a plethora of colorful people who will play parts in the surprisingly long main quest.

The dialogue and interaction with NPCs really stand out immediately. All the dialogue is voice acted and there's loads of it, thousands of lines; in the first main game area, the city of Khorinis, you'll find dozens of characters with their own personalities and unique branching conversations, and every one of them is involved in at least one quest or job which you can take up or turn down. This isn't just for show, either; unlike linear 'RPG's like Neverwinter Nights, the things you say to people will really have a big effect on how the game plays.

The NPCs aren't just believable when you're interacting with them, though; they each have schedules which they will attend to, carrying out conversations with one another, sleeping, eating, working, et cetera. They react realistically when they encounter hostile NPCs or wild animals, sound the alarm if they see you committing a crime, and refuse to talk to you if they don't like you. The priest in Khorinis preaches to a crowd of citizens that gathers, and if you want you can stick around and listen to his lengthy prose as well. It's overall among the most lifelike, immersive game worlds yet brought to a computer screen.

The main quest is pretty slow to pick up; you have to gain several levels and complete a load of odd jobs before you'll be powerful enough to start on the road to the second chapter. This is a blessing and a curse, because while it introduces the open-endedness of the game world well, it's also pretty slow-paced.

The graphics are beautiful. Textures are of low detail in some areas, but this is more than made up for by the excellent character animation, lifelike creatures which inhabit the world, and most of all the verdant world itself in which you can see for miles around if you turn the view distance up high enough. Other fancy effects such as particles blowing in the wind, leaves falling off of trees and (semi-) reflective water are thrown in for good measure, but it's the artwork and level design that really stands out.

Sound is excellent, the best in any RPG I have played. Hitting a creature makes a meaty thunk or a bony crack, feet crunch on pine needles, swords clash off of each other with sharp retorts, and trolls let out fearful battle cries with vivid clarity. The voice acting also stands out; it is flawed because the foreign actors don't always get English inflection right, but all of the actors have character and most are skilled, which really brings the characters to life.

Gothic 2's nonlinearity really stands out. It manages to have a complex main plot and lifelike characters while still allowing you to do pretty much anything you want in the game world. There's a vast world to explore, over a hundred side quests to take care of, creatures to kill (and skin), plants to collect (and turn into potions), swords to forge, dungeons to loot, books to read, et cetera.

The Bad
Gothic 2's difficulty level is very steep for beginners. It actually gets easier in the last third of the game, as some of the creatures are pushovers and a wise player will have saved up enough gold to buy anything by then, but before then, novices will have a hard time getting by.

As mentioned, the voice acting's inflection is off at points. This is rarely a problem, but when it is it damages the immersion.

There are also a handful of glitches in the scripting, messing some quests up if you approach them the wrong way. This is an unfortunate issue, although it never, to my knowledge, gets in the way of the crucial quest.

It also bears noting that Gothic 2 does not manage to evoke the spooky, mysterious atmosphere of Gothic. Since you're playing in a more civilized area, the game just doesn't have that same dark, creepy mood to it. It's a small step down from the first game, but still superior to most others.

The Bottom Line
While Gothic 2 certainly isn't a game for everyone, it is one hell of an RPG. It's slow to pick up, very difficult at the beginning, and marred a little bit by glitches, but is otherwise a largely flawless gaming experience.

The Good
I absolutely loved Gothic. I played that game from beginning to end three times, only to be able to see all three camps. When I was done with it, I was sure it couldn't be surpassed by any other new game. Well, it has. Gothic 2 took everything that Gothic had and tripled it! The game world is now much larger, there are more guilds to choose from, more professions, more people, more quests (believe me, this game has hundreds of quests!), more enemies & monsters, and more equipment. And it all adds up to more fun! The graphics has gotten even better and the viewing distance is still unbelievably long (compared to Morrowind..). The story is even better than in Gothic and this time around the game didn't run out of funds halfway through production. It even contains the entire world from Gothic, but remade in such a brilliant way that you only want to see more of it and never feel like you're treading in the same footmarks all over again.

And, of course, this time around they have women. All sorts of women. Lovely!

The Bad
The voice acting is a bit repetitive at times and there are still a few bugs in the game, although Atari will have them sorted out before the game is released in North America.

The Bottom Line
One of the few games out there that combines great graphics, fantastic surroundings, gorgeous landscapes, well written stories and quest and an open ended gameplay. Add some actoin elements and adult material to that and you've got Gothic 2. A true soon-to-be classic.