MatTheCat
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System Name | Bitch |
---|---|
Processor | Intel i7 2600K @4.6Ghz |
Motherboard | MSI Z68A-GD80 (G3) |
Cooling | Noctua nh-u12p se2 |
Memory | 8GB Corsair Vengeance 1866MHz 9-10-9-27 |
Video Card(s) | POWERCOLOR HD 7970 3GB |
Storage | OCZ Vertex 2 240GB SSD / 2*320GB WDC RAID 0 |
Display(s) | Samsung 226BW 21" 1650*1080 |
Case | Lian Li PC B-25 |
Audio Device(s) | Creative X-FI Professional PCI |
Power Supply | OCZ PC Power & Cooling 860W |
Software | Windows 7 x64 |
I have just posted this on Metacritic. I am posting it here cos I have just had one of the most pleasurable gaming experiences of my life (I am 36 and have been beginning to think I am too old to enjoy gaming properly) with a pretty old RPG which was critically smashed upon its release:
The largely negative reviews that this game received upon its release, were largely justifiable at the time due to the bug ridden train wreck of an unfinished game which Jowood decided to release. First thing to make clear, is the game which I am awarding a 9/10 for, is not the game as it was released back in 2006, but the game as it is now thanks to the Community Patch 1.75 and the Community Mod Pack 2.4. Gothic 3, running smooth as silk on a decent 2012 gaming PC, more or less bug free, with overhauled combat mechanics, is nothing less than a stunning work of electronic art. This blows every other single player RPG right out of the water bar none.
Although the graphics may not be as advanced as the graphics in more recent titles such as Skyrim, the world of Gothic 3 is somehow much more appealing to the eye than that of Skyrim, with the Gothic 3 world having a much more handcrafted quality to it, with huge attention having been paid to the tiniest of details. Whilst the world of Gothic 3 may not be quite on the same scale as the world of Skyrim, it is nontheless massive and distinguishes itself head and shoulders above the world of Skyrim due to the fact that the Gothic 3 world is immensely interesting to explore as opposed to mainly serving as a Bethesda style space/time barrier between the cordoned off towns and dungeons. Whilst the Gothic 3 towns/camps are indeed the main components of where the story unfolds, they blend seamlessly into the rest of the stunning, dark, but majestic world of Gothic 3, in which dozens of hours can be spent immersed in sheer exploration. In addition to the beautiful and captivating landscape, what Gothic 3 masters more so than any other game is providing for an interaction with the flora, fauna, and minerals of the world, in a way that the player is always on the look our for certain combinations of potentially character enhancing resources and facilities. The combination of loot driven kleptomania and danger lurking around every corner and in every nook n cranny of a masterfully crafted world, makes 'exploration' an absolute delight in this game. Indeed, due to the clever placing of some highly valuable objects in various secret and also not-so-secret locations, the course of the game and the decisions that are made can be hugely influenced by the fruits of exploration.
One of the proclaimed weaknesses of Gothic 3 when compared with its predecessors (G1 + G2), was the simplistic nature of the quests, or in otherwords, the sheer volume of 'go there, kill them, get that' quests in the game. Whilst this may ring true when analysing the game close up, if one takes a more macroscopic view of the quests then what emerges is an epic power struggle in which the gamer must ultimately weigh up the pros and cons of some crucial decisions. Whether these decisions reflect the desires that the gamer has for particular individuals or factions in the game or the need for expediency and sacrfice of otherwise favoured characters and units in the Gothic 3 world, as the game progresses the gamer will increasingly find that no decision is to be taken lightly and will have the constant urge to postpone certain things, in the hope of alternative solutions opening up (which they often do). The whole shebang culminates in the Nameless Hero rising to the position of a demi-god, in which his will (and thus the will of the gamer) decides the fate of the entire continent upon which Gothic 3 is based. There are three possible 'Grand Finales' open to the Nameless hero depending on his actions througout the course of what is probably the most open ended RPG game ever made. With that said, the 'openess' of the Gothic 3 world also contributes to one of its potential flaws whereby if the gamer fails to understand the mechanics of the 'in-game poltics', then he can make the game practically incompleteable at a very early stage. This was particularly true in the unpatched version of the game where it was possible to start 'liberating' towns or 'crushing' rebel camps from the very outset. However, with the CP 1.75, the stun-lock click fest combat (which made simultaneously wiping out dozens of human/ork foes possible in the unpatched version) has been completely fixed. Thus it is no longer possible for the gamer to successfully embark on such uninformed rash decisions at such an early stage of the game.
With almost 6 years having passed since I purchased Gothic 3, I have just completed the game for the first time ever and have got to say it ranks amongst my most pleasureable gaming experiences ever.
9/10. Stunning!
EDIT:
SCREENS:
Fields around Kap Dun looking on towards Ardea (Lighthouse on Cliff):
Merchants in Faring:
Orc Patrol Attacks Liberated town of Ardea:
Bridge at Faring:
Waterfall at Faring:
Slave Labour Excavation Camp Site near Trelis:
Farm Outside Montera:
Montera Town Walls:
King Rhobars Castle Courtyard:
Cliffs at Myrtana looking across to Desert land of Varant. 'Swampweed' growing village of 'Lago' can be seen on coast, trading centre of Mora Sul can be seen on far horizon:
Market Street of Mora Sul:
Temple at Mora Sul:
Nordmar 1:
Nordmar 2:
The largely negative reviews that this game received upon its release, were largely justifiable at the time due to the bug ridden train wreck of an unfinished game which Jowood decided to release. First thing to make clear, is the game which I am awarding a 9/10 for, is not the game as it was released back in 2006, but the game as it is now thanks to the Community Patch 1.75 and the Community Mod Pack 2.4. Gothic 3, running smooth as silk on a decent 2012 gaming PC, more or less bug free, with overhauled combat mechanics, is nothing less than a stunning work of electronic art. This blows every other single player RPG right out of the water bar none.
Although the graphics may not be as advanced as the graphics in more recent titles such as Skyrim, the world of Gothic 3 is somehow much more appealing to the eye than that of Skyrim, with the Gothic 3 world having a much more handcrafted quality to it, with huge attention having been paid to the tiniest of details. Whilst the world of Gothic 3 may not be quite on the same scale as the world of Skyrim, it is nontheless massive and distinguishes itself head and shoulders above the world of Skyrim due to the fact that the Gothic 3 world is immensely interesting to explore as opposed to mainly serving as a Bethesda style space/time barrier between the cordoned off towns and dungeons. Whilst the Gothic 3 towns/camps are indeed the main components of where the story unfolds, they blend seamlessly into the rest of the stunning, dark, but majestic world of Gothic 3, in which dozens of hours can be spent immersed in sheer exploration. In addition to the beautiful and captivating landscape, what Gothic 3 masters more so than any other game is providing for an interaction with the flora, fauna, and minerals of the world, in a way that the player is always on the look our for certain combinations of potentially character enhancing resources and facilities. The combination of loot driven kleptomania and danger lurking around every corner and in every nook n cranny of a masterfully crafted world, makes 'exploration' an absolute delight in this game. Indeed, due to the clever placing of some highly valuable objects in various secret and also not-so-secret locations, the course of the game and the decisions that are made can be hugely influenced by the fruits of exploration.
One of the proclaimed weaknesses of Gothic 3 when compared with its predecessors (G1 + G2), was the simplistic nature of the quests, or in otherwords, the sheer volume of 'go there, kill them, get that' quests in the game. Whilst this may ring true when analysing the game close up, if one takes a more macroscopic view of the quests then what emerges is an epic power struggle in which the gamer must ultimately weigh up the pros and cons of some crucial decisions. Whether these decisions reflect the desires that the gamer has for particular individuals or factions in the game or the need for expediency and sacrfice of otherwise favoured characters and units in the Gothic 3 world, as the game progresses the gamer will increasingly find that no decision is to be taken lightly and will have the constant urge to postpone certain things, in the hope of alternative solutions opening up (which they often do). The whole shebang culminates in the Nameless Hero rising to the position of a demi-god, in which his will (and thus the will of the gamer) decides the fate of the entire continent upon which Gothic 3 is based. There are three possible 'Grand Finales' open to the Nameless hero depending on his actions througout the course of what is probably the most open ended RPG game ever made. With that said, the 'openess' of the Gothic 3 world also contributes to one of its potential flaws whereby if the gamer fails to understand the mechanics of the 'in-game poltics', then he can make the game practically incompleteable at a very early stage. This was particularly true in the unpatched version of the game where it was possible to start 'liberating' towns or 'crushing' rebel camps from the very outset. However, with the CP 1.75, the stun-lock click fest combat (which made simultaneously wiping out dozens of human/ork foes possible in the unpatched version) has been completely fixed. Thus it is no longer possible for the gamer to successfully embark on such uninformed rash decisions at such an early stage of the game.
With almost 6 years having passed since I purchased Gothic 3, I have just completed the game for the first time ever and have got to say it ranks amongst my most pleasureable gaming experiences ever.
9/10. Stunning!
EDIT:
SCREENS:
Fields around Kap Dun looking on towards Ardea (Lighthouse on Cliff):
Merchants in Faring:
Orc Patrol Attacks Liberated town of Ardea:
Bridge at Faring:
Waterfall at Faring:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/716/gothic3exea.jpg/]
Slave Labour Excavation Camp Site near Trelis:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/444/gothic3exe5.jpg/]
Farm Outside Montera:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/543/gothic3exe8.jpg/]
Montera Town Walls:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/528/gothic3exe7.jpg/]
King Rhobars Castle Courtyard:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/692/gothic3exe6.jpg/]
Cliffs at Myrtana looking across to Desert land of Varant. 'Swampweed' growing village of 'Lago' can be seen on coast, trading centre of Mora Sul can be seen on far horizon:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/98/gothic3exe3.jpg/]
Market Street of Mora Sul:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/208/gothic3exey.jpg/]
Temple at Mora Sul:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/256/gothic3exex.jpg/]
Nordmar 1:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/534/gothic3exe9.jpg/]
Nordmar 2:
[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/844/gothic3exe10.jpg/]
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