Review IGN rips Gothic 3 a new one

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Tags: Gothic III; Piranha Bytes

Always trying to remain on the high tiers of lacking professionalism when it comes to reviewing games, <a href=http://www.ign.com/>IGN</a> decided to award <a href=http://www.piranha-bytes.com/>Piranha Bytes</a>' <a href=http://www.gothic3.com>Gothic 3</a> a <b>4.9</b>. Unfortunately, while the <a href=http://pc.ign.com/articles/747/747903p1.html>review</a> is sprinkled with some shreds of truth about the game, it's also very much off the scale with comments like these:
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While we wanted so badly wanted to become immersed in the world of Gothic III, there were yet even more issues that brought us screaming back to reality. If you attack an NPC in a town you're friendly with and choose not to perform a finishing stab once they've hit the ground, they'll completely forget you attacked them even if approached only 10 seconds later. They won't even mention the fact that you just randomly beat the crap out of them, instead offering up a standard greeting. This really breaks any kind of immersive qualities about Gothic III.
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Too bad the reviewer was unaware that Gothic 3's reputation system makes it so the more powerful a character is, the less chances of opposition from several factions he will experience, including the populace.
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Thanks, <b>Chinese Jetpilot</b>!

 

[MountainWest]

Fucking ridicoulus. 4.9? What's that? The bottom 10% of games, or lower? Of the ones I've tried, it's game of the year so far. Including bugs and shitty combat.

 

[Hazelnut]

That particular quote smacks of "OMG this rule doesn't operate like we're used to, my immersion is broken!" I think it's a nice mechanic actually, although does require adapting your mindset fractionally - not difficult surely? But then I think this reviewer obviously felt he was being made to think too hard. What a moron.

I also think the amount of bugs and problems in the initial release has probably hurt G3 sales massively, and prevented any chance of it being a mass appeal game which is a crying shame. Good reports snowball, and so do negative reports.. I like to think there might have been a chance that this game could have been well received in the mainstream even with the difficulty and thinking, since it's nowhere near as hard as G2 based on the demo.

As long as the Piranha's get to make G4 I guess it's not a total disaster..

 

[Chinese Jetpilot]

I tried the Gothic 3 demo and I honestly didn't enjoy the game much, but then again I have several games on my plate already, so it would have been more difficult to enthrall me. But I hardly think it deserves a 4.9, based upon what I played.

Scanning through their PC game review history, it seems as if its score rating places it close to the top-ten worst RPG's since they began publishing their scores. They even rated Lionheart and Pool of Radiance better!

 

[Elwro]

It'd seem that G3 is That One Game We Have To Give a Low Score Each Year to Make The Site Look Credible of a few big sites. For me, it looks as if people with IQ exceeding 80 were overqualified to be reviewers at those sites.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

While we wanted so badly wanted to become immersed in the world of Gothic III, there were yet even more issues that brought us screaming back to reality. If you attack an NPC in a town you're friendly with and choose not to perform a finishing stab once they've hit the ground, they'll completely forget you attacked them even if approached only 10 seconds later. They won't even mention the fact that you just randomly beat the crap out of them, instead offering up a standard greeting. This really breaks any kind of immersive qualities about Gothic III.

I suppose they mean as opposed to Oblivion where you could... Have exactly the same thing happen? Ever attacked an important NPC, had them go unconscious, wake up all of 2 seconds later and hit spacebar? "Hello! What can I do for you?".

Complainaing about it in Gothic 3 is fine but come on, consistency please. To overlook all the crap that Oblivion does even worse and score that 99% better is a complete load.

 

[Ladonna]

4.9?

Worse than POR2? Worse than Lionheart? Worse than Oblivion?

These cunts will kill this game. And for the life of me I don't understand why. Its easily the best game I have played in this sub-genre for years!

Perhaps it is me that is mad? Maybe I just don't 'get' it? Maybe I am not 'cool'?

What am I missing?

 

[Paranoid Jack]

Complainaing about it in Gothic 3 is fine but come on, consistency please. To overlook all the crap that Oblivion does even worse and score that 99% better is a complete load.

That is because Bethesda paid for the junket to Sin City and then bought every reviewer all the booze and whores that they could handle. Taking pictures and video all the while. Then told them if you don't score the Big O in the upper nineties and call it the best RPG ever we are going to post these photos and videos all over the net.

 

[The_Nameless_Prick]

WTF 4.9! The game has problems but not THAT much. I have not read the shitpiece/review yet but I think It's fair to say Gothic 3 won't hit big in the States if both IGN AND Gamespy bashed it . I can't wait for Gamespots review. I guess our last hope might be GameRevolution.

 

[leavemethehellalone]

Quit defending video games as if it is an extension of your personality fools!
this game was shipped early, and is now paying the price for its lack of vision!

 

[Chinese Jetpilot]

I pity the fool.

 

[The_Nameless_Prick]

Quit defending video games as if it is an extension of your personality fools!
this game was shipped early, and is now paying the price for its lack of vision!

I agree but 4.9!! come the fuck on! Even with what the current game is now, it is definatley not worth ANY lower than a 6.

 

[Volourn]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Erekose]

Review is 100% correct, the reviewer clearly gave the game a chance (unlike the gamespy one). This is what happens when a publisher pushs for a christmas release, if this game had shipped in late jan. the reviews would probably be 8's and 9's. Instead jowood decided to opt to make a quick buck which is 100% wrong thing to do with a deep RPG. Maybe if an expansion is ever released it will fix more of the show stopping bugs because expecting all the problems with this to be fixed with patching support probably not gonna happen.

 

[Zlaja]

What can change the nature of a dumbfuck?

 

[The_Nameless_Prick]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry your sad about the review too, Volley. Don't worry, i feel your pain.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Actually, the review's pretty interesting. He has a handful of critiscisms:

1. Quest descriptions in the journal are vague. In some cases, you're not told were to go! Not like in Oblivion.
   
2. Teleport stones which allow you instantaneously travel to that location are hard to find. What? No fast travel?
   
3. You can kill everyone at level 1. Not like... Actually that's exactly like Oblivion.
   
4. What? I can die? You mean these monsters can kill me and I have to *SHOCK* reload? The horror!
   
5. Major clipping issues (Okay, he can have that one).
   
6. NPC's won't mind if you beat up on them and don't perform a killing move. Just like Oblivion's important NPC's and actually, just about every other NPC I think if you hit spacebar on them while you attack. Even if they find you sneaking you can still talk to them. It's not like they react or anything to your thieving ways.
   
7. It can handle long viewing distances a lot better than Oblivion (Score one to Gothic III).
   
8. Dialogue branches aren't very deep with "just a few lines to get a quest." This is as opposed to Oblivion which didn't even know what a dialogue line was. RUMOURS?
   
9. Character's are "flat and boring" as there are only a few "Why don't you just get the hay yourself" lines. This is quite different form Oblivion where... character's were flat and boring and didn't say much about themselves apart from "Hello I am Magicus Maxicalleous and I am a farmer. I am out farming. How are you? RUMOURS".
   
10. "There are also a range of ambient comments NPCs will spout while idling around, though it won't be long until you'll hear them all." This is so completely different to Oblivion. Right. I hear the fighter's guild is recruiting... Oh and I saw a mudcrab yesterday. LAWLS.
    
11. Gothic III gives you a giant world and plenty of choice, but is ultimately engulfed by its own aspirations of complexity.

Every single point can be levelled at Oblivion 10-fold. More to the point, Oblivion has destroyed the RPG genre and turned what used to be decent thinking games into quest compasses and insta-teleports.

For comparison, here's IGN's Oblivion review. Written by the same guy, Charles Onyett. The score? 9.3

 

[The_Nameless_Prick]

4.9

Four Point Nine

EDIT: Dungeon Lords at ign: 4.5. Are you people also agreeing that Gothic 3 is only 4 tenths better than Dungeon Lords?

 

[Rat Keeng]

omg n00bs, non-customizable facial features are a surefire 4 point deduction these days. To properly understand the reasoning behind this review, one need only travel 8 months back in time, to the same guy's Oblivion review.

There's also an engaging persuasion system in place in case an NPC won't give you the information you're looking for.

o rite i fogot 9.3!!!11

EDIT: Meh, beaten to it.

 

[Erekose]

Ah come on i can’t understand why people here are disagreeing with bad or under-average reviews. I mean, why should Gothic 3 be given anything over a 4/10? Because they had “good intentions” on creating a stable, engrossing RPG? I don’t think so. I agree that this game has the potential for being a great game but… If a medical student studies for his final exams but still fails them all should he be allowed to perform surgery because he had “good intentions” on doing well? Hell no! I wouldn’t even accept Tylenol from him! If you buy a new BMW but it breaks down constantly should you be the one who has to get into the engine and “tweak” it just so you can drive it an hour or two more before it breaks down again? No! And would you put up with NOT getting answers from the dealership as to what they’re doing to fix your new car? No.

Btw here is a review i posted on another fansite if someone cares, and no i don't even mention all the bugs in it (way too many to list), just what i mean is wrong with G3 compared to its predecessors.

What struck me the hardest was that pb obviously bit off more than they could chew, as Rukhar did in g2. They ended up coughing out bits and pieces of what i most loved in the previous games.

First of all the world, as big as it may be, is sterile and full of robots with one line of speech and daily routines of standing outside their huts for 12 hours and then sleeping 12 hours. Fine, I'm exaggerating but compared to Khorinis Myrtana is dead. In general npcs have too few lines, look too much alike and suffer from a severe lack of personality. Side quests are mostly repetitive and unimaginative. Where's the drinking contest, finding a farmers walking stick or Vino's secret distillery. Okay, the quests may not be all that different but the people (and by people i mean non-robotic NPCs) involved in them had lives and told me about their problems and so on. Again a symptom of a bigger world with roughly equal amount of spoken lines. The inhabitants are generic and side quests, as a result, equally so. G1 & 2 had so much more character depth. I feel like I'm alone in Myrtana.

Then there is the Oblivion-syndrome, by which i mean the diminishing of rgp elements from the game. I believe this approach is meant to make the world have less boundaries and more freedom. The result, for me at least, was loss of interest and immersion. Monsters and npcs are pretty much as easy to beat at low level as they are at your 50s mostly because there are are very few weapons compared to previous games and most importantly character development is playing an extra instead of one of the lead roles. The last is what i call Oblivion-syndrome. I find it very difficult to relate to my hero when he barely changes during the course of the whole game. The fact that fighting animations stay the same adds to this feeling. In g1 i couldn't do anything at lvl 1 and the few learing points i had were priceless to me. In the mainland their value has somewhat dropped. I leveled fast and had around 100 unused lp all the time. Attributes had little effect on my damage output (except ancient knowledge) so i had nothing to invest in. And being able to kill everything with as much effort as at lower levels i saw no need to use them. The game wouldn't change much if levels were taken out and just left some of the skills there.

By making the plot so loosely connected with what's generally happening in the world and going further by making it somewhat dynamic is a mistake in my view (the latter also being a huge design challenge). The result is unclear and unattractive, though it does tie up the g2 plot nicely but that's pretty much all it does. If it hadn't been for the previous games, I wouldn't have had even a passing interest in the current plot. And Xardas, what did you do to Xardas. The first two titles were very plot oriented. By having three endings, fitting as it may be, in a comparingly very lightweight main quest and making the factions static and replacing the feeling of belonging to a community with a table of reputation scores I feel like im just hacking and slashing my way through an unclear plot in a dead world with pigs that could take over the continent any time they wanted. The world is a silent audience and I'm the solo performer.

Sadly, these are problems which cannot be corrected with a patch. In short i feel that g3 was, by design, too ambituous and ended up dropping more than a few balls. I get depressed every time i hear one of the old characters speak. The Gothic series has been something very special to me. In particular I've loved the lifelike npcs with excellent dialogue and the simple but always so rewarding character development. Nevertheless, I'm sure I will enjoy playing through Gothic 3 more than a few times over. It is a gothic title after all and the famous gothic feel is still in there somewhere.

Enjoy playing everyone.

 

[The_Nameless_Prick]

omg n00bs, non-customizable facial features are a surefire 4 point deduction these days. To properly understand the reasoning behind this review, one need only travel 8 months back in time, to the same guy's Oblivion review.

There's also an engaging persuasion system in place in case an NPC won't give you the information you're looking for.

o rite i fogot 9.3!!!11

EDIT: Meh, beaten to it.

Not to mention they classified Oblivion as a true RPG and Gothic 3 as an Action RPG, WTF?????

 

[MountainWest]

Text

No-one is calling this game perfect. I would say NOTR is better. But seriously, out of the competition, what adventure/RPG/crap-fest is better? NWN2? Oblivion?

 

[Volourn]

"This is what happens when a publisher pushs for a christmas release, if this game had shipped in late jan. the reviews would probably be 8's and 9's. Instead jowood decided to opt to make a quick buck which is 100% wrong thing to do with a deep RPG."

Another fuckin' 'blame the publisher' post. Stupid moron. I love the 'let's blame the publsiher for the bad stuff; but give all the credit to the developer (unless it's Big Bad Bio) for the good stuff." mantra!

R00flers!

 

[Erekose]

Text

No-one is calling this game perfect. I would say NOTR is better. But seriously, out of the competition, what adventure/RPG/crap-fest is better? NWN2? Oblivion?

I didnt play these Games (or in case of Oblivion i was so bored to death in the beginning dungeon that i didn't even bother playing it further) so i can 't really compare it to those games, however i played Gothic 1&2 +NOTR about 5 times trough and this Game is clearly inferior to them in every aspect.

Another fuckin' 'blame the publisher' post. Stupid moron. I love the 'let's blame the publsiher for the bad stuff; but give all the credit to the developer (unless it's Big Bad Bio) for the good stuff." mantra!
R00flers!

You have no clue what you are talking about, the devs itself explained in a question and answer thread on a german fanboard that they got not enough time to finish some aspects of the Game, and who other then the publisher sets this deadlines hmm?

 

[Claw]

Maybe if an expansion is ever released it will fix more of the show stopping bugs.

Stop bullshitting us with this shitty bullshit about show stopping bugs bullthis. Bullshit. I had a showstopping - bullshit - bug in Morrowind yet not in Gothic 3, clearly Morrowind (Bullshit) deserved 4.9 not Gothic 3. q.e.b.

i played Gothic 1&2 +NOTR about 5 times trough and this Game is clearly inferior to them in every aspect.

Different <> inferior. Besides, G2 hat its share of NPC with incomplete shedules, standing around day and night etc.

the devs itself explained in a question and answer thread on a german fanboard that they got not enough time to finish some aspects of the Game

And you have to believe them? They also said that the reason there are so few women in the game is because the models weren't finished by the time the dialogue was recorded. "Ouch! My credibility hurts!"