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Fabulous role-playing game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 26 / 27
Date: March 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I spent waayyyyy too much time playing this game, but I just couldn't stop - the variety of quests, the choices one must make, the combination of fighting and magic...it's just a great game overall. I'm a fan of the RPG genre in general, but there are a few really awful games out there. This one truly doesn't disappoint.

The beginning is a bit slow, because there are only a very few creatures you can kill to gain experience. But, once you get a few levels under your belt, and obtain a decent weapon, all is well. There are an unbelievable number of weapons available, and a nearly equal number of magical items and spells. The storyline is complex and very interesting, and is neither too short nor too long, though I was sorry to see it end. I'll assuredly run through it again sometime soon.

The true charm of this game lies in being able to shape-shift, though. Through scrolls and other magical means, you're able to take on the forms of many different animals, and you gain their abilities; you can fly, run faster, slash with teeth and claws, and jump higher. The number of different creatures in the game is really nice, too; it's definitely not boring.

One downside is having to run back and forth long distances between camps, until you're given teleportation runes. Apart from that, though, it's nearly flawless. It didn't crash often, the music was very nice, and the graphics excellent. I recommend it without hesitations!

Excellent

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 25 / 26
Date: August 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Gothic is basically a playable version of Morrowind. You're thrown into an immense island prison fill with warring factions, orcs, mages, skeletons, and any number of other deadly monsters. Beautiful graphics and a multithreaded smooth storyline mean you can easily stay up until 4 am with this game without ever realizing it. Gothic gets just about everything right, from the storyline itself, which is interesting but never onerous, to the vast array of goodies you can loot. Everything from blueberries to a hundred different types of swords can be purchased or tracked down in the wild, and the island is filled with hidden caves, high mountain trails, and other mysterious areas that draw you in and then, well, tend to get you killed. One of the great things is that fights between humans don't end in fatalities unless you activate a special kill command once your opponent is on the ground; so you can mug or be mugged without permanent harm aside from the occasional glare. The 3D engine runs very smoothly, and there are very few bugs or glitches. Voice quality is very high; long discussions often occur but don't grate on one's nerves because they're interesting to listen to, and a robust journal keeps track of and _organizes_ the tidbits along the way so you can find what you're looking for at a glance. Replay value is extremely high given the half dozen exclusive alliances you can pick from, as well as the very customizable nature of your character. Gothic has pretty much everything; if you don't want to be some super mage or killer barbarian, you can be a thief, or a merchant, or some combination of all four. Check it out.

The next level of RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: March 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

One complaint many RPG'rs have about RPG's is the lack of interactivity between the gamer and the action. Not so in this case. Gothic expands upon the classic vision of what a role playing game should be by allowing the gamer to actually engage in the battles which ensue throughout the fantasy world created by Xicat (the company). You are a messenger from outside the realm, which is inhabited by mercenaries, thieves, wizards, and monsters, who have taken over their magically induced prison. Who do you trust? Which camp do you join? Which path will you follow: warrior, magician, necromancer? All of these variables come into play when you must decide who to speak with, where to venture, and who to kill. There are limitless possibilities in this world and many different ways to conquer it.

The only negatives: sometimes the game hangs on a pertinent decision and if you choose incorrectly, you have to start from scratch (which could be construed as a parallel to real life, some decisions cannot be fixed after they are made).

Big positives: Incredible story line, innovative game play, tons of weapons, numerous magic spells, and incredible graphics. This game is one of the best I have seen in this genre. A must own for the die-hard RPG-er. Five stars.

Suffering from insomnia? This is for you!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: December 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Hello Folks,

I've played all day and night but it still took me a total of at least 60h to get through this phantastic game. But I still wasn't cured. I've just finished Gothic for the second time (this time as a magician).

I really must say that I never came across any other game that combined brilliant 3D Graphics with such an exciting story. I never wandered through such a vast, beautifull and living world. Every Stone, every tree was placed by hand and so this game really sets the benchmark for both story and graphics. Another amazing thing is the sound. I don't believe I ever played a game with surround-sound as brilliant as this.

I installed the latest patch and didn't experience any stability Problems at all. But I think Gothic needs quite a lot of RAM to run properly. After all, If you're looking for a game with a huge state-of-the-art 3D-World with meadows, forrests, Rivers, Mountains, Caves, Castles and Towns, that lets you go to where ever you want (or at least to where you will not immediately be killed by beasts or just anyone else), THIS is the right game for you. No "map-change", no "Levels", just you and the story.

The camps are full of people that have their own plans for the day, that talk to each other, sleep at night (at least most of them), go to work in the morning or talk to each other. Funny thing here: The NPCs really do talk to each other. NPCs also can also assess you carachter according to weapon, armor and strenght (yes you can SEE how strong a person is!!). They will act different according to whether they "think" they can deal with you or not....

Believe me, this game IS highly addictive so I better stop gushing or I will immediately start playing gothic again....

JUST GO AND BUY IT!!!!

Gothic truly is worthy of classic status

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 12
Date: July 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I picked this game up on a whim. I had no idea what it was about or even what genre it fit into. All I knew is that it was old. After spending an hour or so getting over the counter-intuitive interface, I was gripped. This game beckons back to the days of open-ended consequence RPGs like the early Ultima's and the Krondor series. You are a nameless hero and have been thrown into this prison camp with only a message and a prayer. It is up to you to try to find a way out. Choose your allies, choose your martial path. Your are your own creator.

Gameplay:
As stated, getting used to the controls is tricky. The game was primarily designed as keyboard only. The mouse was only added in on the recommendation of a magazine, and it shows. This, however, is only a minor fault as a little gameplay will easily get past this design decision. The game is fairly open-ended, especially towards the beginning, when you spend your time learning who is who. It's also fairly challenging, in the beginning you can go anywhere, your only limitations being the strength of the wildlife around you. As you get stronger, your world thusly enlarges until you have free reign of the prison camp. This allows for hours of fun for those who like to wander and explore. The game also has little niceties that add to the worldly flavor like being able to cook your meat, mine ore, make stew, blacksmith some swords, etc. Days cycle, and they take their time doing it. The day-night cycle takes around 72 minutes, which is long enough to 'feel' right. The NPCs have daily routines, so at midnight, they'll be in their homes, while daytime will find them hard at work. This level of detail is hard to find nowadays. The only gameplay problems that occur have to do with the complexity of running a storied game in a freeform world. Since you can kill anyone you want, you might find yourself killing someone that advances the story. This problem is easily solved by the old RPG mantra: save now, save often.

Graphics:
This game is starting to show its age. Sure there are low polygon counts, and sure the textures look bland, but hey - that's what 8x AA is for. This game is one that ignores the prevalent trend of graphics first, content second. The game's engine is still complex enough to allow for amazing vistas with its far horizon and sundry landscape. The 4 year-old graphics will be the last thing on your mind once you get into this puppy.

Sound:
The sound is nice; it's your standard pre-EAX ditty. No noticeable environments, but again, no one is complaining. The ambiance is well thought out and I can swear more modern games have stolen Gothic's soundtracks as the music seems very familiar. Everything is voice-acted and done quite well. The weapon, magic and enemy sounds are varied enough to keep you interested and there was never a time when I ever wanted to play on mute.

Overall:
I highly recommend this game to anyone and everyone who enjoys a good, well-thought, RPG. The decisions you make in the beginning and the sheer pleasure of the game will even allow for substantial replays as you go after the stories threads you had to pass on your first time through.
The only thing keeping this thing from 5 stars is the glitchy-ness caused by an engine at the engineering maxes of its time. But keep in mind, all other things considered, this game is perfect.

Gothic at a Glance

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 14
Date: January 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Gothic is a game developed for what seems to be a fast dying genre. It's tough anymore to find a good, solid storied, good looking 3DRPG. That's what Gothic aims for, and certainly doesn't miss by much. The story of you, as the main character, being thrown into a medeival jail (created by a magical barrier) seems to be a bit lame at first. However, once you get into the game and figure out all the controls, you may find yourself completely into the environment. You must kill certain creatures, interact with several dozen NPC's, and play the game according to the choices you make early on. You can strive to be a warrior, a mage, or a rogue, each with it's own weapons, armors, advantages and disadvantages. This provides a high replay value, which is good, as the game is only about 25 hours long. My only complaints are the lack of patching, as there are a few rather annoying (but generally minor) bugs, and the lack of an official website. ... ..strongly recommended!!

Most Believable RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: March 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Gothic was one of the very few games I've played that plays like an interactive movie while still allowing for character development and storyline as individual as the person who plays the game. This game was a welcome relief from the usual routine of creating a party of fighters, mages, a thief, and a healer. I like getting tied up in one character much better. One can get through the game with his or her favorite style of play. You can either clobber everyone in your way with the biggest sword, pick your enemies off from a distance with a bow, dish out damage with offensive spells (Fire! Fire!), or get by your enemies using teleportation or shapeshifing. The story itself avoids many of my usual video game annoyances through good writing and plausible explanations for limits of the videogame world. First of all, you can explore in any direction you want to, but the world does come to an end at the magic barrier that contains the prison your character has been thrown into. The flexible storyline depends on which of three different factions you choose to join in the prison (just like Oz on HBO!). One of the nicest touches of all is how skills are learned. You don't just automatically level after X amount of experience points, you need to find a skilled teacher who likes you enough to teach you for a favor or the right amount of ore. Then, the NPC actually tells you things about what you're learning how to do! You also have to work your way up through the heirarchy of the camp before you meet the most important NPCs. Access to significant parts of the game world is not limited by waiting for someone to tell you about a quest so that it suddenly appears on your map, but only by the presence of guards who won't let you in to see the boss or by monsters you are not yet strong enough to fight. The joy of this game is not the destination, but the 50 hour journey. The main character begins as a wimp who could be devoured by the dinosaur babies in the land before time and ends up to be a powerhouse who can truly declare to the guard at the gate "I'm here to take on the whole camp", which by the way I did. Before completing the game as a templar from the swamp camp, I slaughtered the guards from the old camp who were so rude to me at the beginning. The weaker members of the camp ran away in terror as I threw fireballs and swung a magic two-handed sword. But I believe whoever plays this adventure will work their own personality and gameplay preferences to get an experience a variable as the person playing the game! I don't give out five stars too often, but the graphics, fully explorable world, and well written, branching plot make this game a rare experience. I want more single player character RPGs (like Gothic and Wheel of Time)!

A game that feels alive

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: April 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I just finished Gothic and was impressed by the story line and character development in the game. The story has a beginning, middle and end - each of which is satisfying. As the story moves along, so does your character, both in power and in recognition in the world. NPCs treat you differently depending on how powerful you are, and they change their stance toward you during the course of the game. When I first tried to take out the bandit camp by the Troll Focus I was rudely rebuffed. When I came back later the entire camp ran away from me - a reasonable course of action considering my powers at the time. Furthermore, Gothic does not suffer from some of the flaws that made me dislike Neverwinter Nights and Morrowind. Both of those games suffer from my pet peeve: thousands of NPC's, all of whom say exactly the same thing. While there is some of that going on in Gothic, the variety of the NPC's personalities make the game a pleasure to play. The combat is good (another problem with Morrowind, if not NWN) and the controls become second nature. I played as a mage and was able to use my magical abilities to win the final battle - I never raised my sword once during it - something most other games of the action/adventure set have tremendous trouble with. There are some things I wish the plot had done differently. For example, I wish we knew more about the protagonist - why was he put in the prison colony in the first place? Also I would have loved for him to have some sort of love interest. They sort of teased you, having him show some concern for the woman sent in with the shipment in the first scene. Overall, this is easily the best game I have played all year, and I echo some of the other reviewers in wondering what the Gamespot people were smoking when they rated this in the sevens? I can't wait for Gothic II to be released in the US.

A RPG marvel with some downsides

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: May 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I sat at a friends computer one night and checked out his games, the next day I was at the store buying Gothic.

This is a great game, the storyline is well done allowing you to pick a fairly non-linear path. And in picking your own directions you can sometimes make mistakes that cost you in the end. The NPC characters are interesting (if somewhat annoying ie. MUD) but they help you along and you get some limited interaction with them.

The interface was hard to learn in some instances, combat was difficult till I customized and changed my keys, after that it was smooth and easy to maneuver and fight. The problem I found with is is a result of the translation of German keyboard layout to english.

The graphics are very well done with attention to small details, when you roll on the ground the little tuff of grass/dirt that you kick up, the current of the water, the lighting changes etc.

The sound is like the graphics showing attention to small things, not overwhelming to the ears and with a decent speaker system you can hear movement and nature distinctly.

One problem with the game is that if you circumvent some areas (ie. not walking in the front gate of the swamp camp and walking into huts talking to people). It is possible to have unfinished quests and other things to do. As of now I have played the game for my third time and I have not "locked" myself out of the end of the game. And I made quite a few shortcuts in the last time I played.

Gothic Surpasses most other games...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: June 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Gothic is one of the most complete games ever made. Nothing is left out of the immense and interactive world. Although at the beginning many players have trouble with the somewhat unusual game controls, you get used to them after a few minutes of exploring the world.
You play the game as a convict scentenced to life imprisonment in the world the game takes place in. The fantasy world involves hundreds of characters, landscapes, monsters, and the usual orcs. Because your character remains anonymous throughout the game, nothing is divulged about why the man is in the prison colony in the first place. Because the guards have all been killed by the convicts, the only thing keeping them in is a magic barrier around the valley. This leaves you with plenty of decisions, weapons and locations to explore, more or less freely.
I won't give away too much of the plot, but I will go so far as to say that the game Gothic is worth getting, and that I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys RPGs of any kind.
A 'Gothic II' is set to come out on october 7th, the last time I heard, but it keeps getting delayed, so that may change. I do know that it will be three times bigger and even more well put together than the first, so that it will probably be worth buying, as well.
I say it again: IF YOU ARE GOING TO BUY A GAME SOON, BUY GOTHIC! IT WON'T DISAPPOINT YOU!

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