Vault Dweller
Commissar, Red Star Studio
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2003
- Messages
- 28,035
Day 1.
Finally! I got the game today. I'm not a Gothic fanboy, but I couldn't wait to play it. I saw a great potential in the first two games that I hope was realized in Gothic 3. My super computer bought for Oblivion was mostly used to run Avernum 4 in all its super VGA glory, so it's nice to be able to use all that powah for something.
Wow! The game looks nice. Very nice. Oblivion has better, sharper graphics, but it has the atmosphere of a Disney cartoon. Gothic 3 feels like a real world, detailed and gritty. The atmosphere rocks. Now I understand better all the complaints about the AoD style or lack thereof. Anyway, the atmosphere is awesome. That "people sitting around a campfire" shtick is brilliantly executed and adds so much.
Characters models are simply awesome and blow Oblivion (and any other game) away. The fat guy in the middle of the starting location looks fantastic. Animations are very fluid so far and feel very natural.
Combat. The game starts and immediately show some orcs in my face. After hearing so much about combat I was terrified, and preparing to reload, I weakly hit an orc. Well, I'm sure that once I see some tough enemies, the combat will be like totally awful, but now it's great. Fluid and natural. I was surpised to find a scythe nearby, so I guess handling boars (and perhaps, other tough enemies) is a matter of trying different weapons available to you from the start (not some uber weapon you find later). If that's the case, that's a pretty good design.
...
Played some more. Mostly explored and fought creatures. Killed scavengers (very easy), a couple of turtles (super easy), and then I saw one of those dreadful boars of untimely death. Saved the game. Out of curiosity decided to use the starting sword even though I had a scythe and a halberd. The fucker is fast. He hit me first, but despite the rumors of dying now for sure, I managed to hit back and killed the poor beast without much efforts.
I applied the latest patch from the main site, so maybe boar's deadliness has been tweaked already.
...
More battles. Killed a lurker, 4 bandits, challenged an orcish chief and won, fought in an arena. Can't see any flaws in the combat system. Very enjoyable experience overall. The difficulty is decent. The fight with the bandits was the most difficult one, I had to use the good ol' "lure them one by one" tactics.
The atmosphere is still great. The game reminds me a lot of Gothic 1 and the prison setup. That seems to work much better than the G2 setup.
Day 2: Questing
Did some quests today. I found a rebel camp and a town (the one with the lighthouse) dominated by orcs. The conflict is brewing...
The rebel camp is reasonably well hidden in the forest. The rebels are alright, they are the last free humans, and they are plotting a "revolution" in the orcish town nearby. They are needy fuckers as most characters in the Gothic games are, so there is long list of things you can do for them: kill orcs occupying a farm, kill an orcish patrol that's getting too close to the camp, find some weapons, kill some boars (you'd think the rebels can handle the boars, but they've seen that video too and are terrified of those beasts), find a blacksmith to work at the forge, and finally find a rebel agent in that orcish town and help him to overthrow the orcs. Side taking time!
Speaking of that "boar of death" video. I killed three boars today with my thrusty starting sword. Three at a time, not one by one. I improved my sword skills to the next level - strong swordsman, bumped up my Str to 150, practiced the moves, and took out those 3 fuckers without reloading. They did managed to drop my health from 100 to 17, but I won.
The orcish town looks cool. The way to the lighthouse is decorated with crucified humans. A very nice touch. The orcs look great, like all character models do though. Anyway, the orcs don't trust me - paranoid fuckers. That means that I can't enter two places within the town, unless I improve my reputation with them. Orcs like fighters, so I fought in the arena a few times. Orcish trader's cargo was stolen by bandits - killed the bandits, returned the cargo. They asked me to take care of the wolves around the town as they tend to eat slaves and slaves are expensive. I killed a few, didn't have time to kill them all. There are many human mercenaries in that town. One offered me to hunt bandits, but again I didn't have time. A thief approached me, noting my habits to take whatever I like and asking me to steal something. He told me that thieves are everywhere, but they can only be identified by a certain sign or a phrase. Didn't follow that line either.
Found the "secret agent man", he needs weapons and he wants me to free a paladin who's currently enjoying the hospitality of the orcs in the lighthouse. So, the orcs could be kicked out of that town... pretty cool. What's even better is I can tell the orcs about the rebel agent, in which case, I assume, the revolution will be postponed indefinitely. The doublecrossing feature was permanently absent from Oblivion, forcing you to do things in a very linear and preordained manner. It's nice that G3 gives me options.
There was a number of small quests: bring me a bottle of booze, 3 healing potions, 10 healing herbs, 10 wolfskins, 3 weapon packages, etc. They are not as annoying as they sound as usually you already have what this person needs (unless you sell *everything*), so it's just a matter of sharing your goodies with NPCs for minor rewards.
Day 3: Character system
Exploring the world is pretty cool. Once again, the art is great and well matched by the graphics. All locations have a well defined and logical style, and require no explanations. G3 is one of the most artistic games I've ever played. I should have ordered the collection edition, if only for the art book.
One notable difference between G3 and Oblivion in the exploring department is that caves and places of exploring interests are rare and thus more exciting.
I eliminated some bandits who were terrorizing the coast - took me awhile to find their hideout. Fighting multiple enemies is much easier in G3, in my opinion, so I was able to fight 2-3 bandits at a time without having a reload fiesta.
I tried liberating the orcish town, but got my ass kicked as I have to fight a trackload of orcs and human mercs. I gave the rebels some weapons, and secured the captured (but still armed! Oh well...) paladin's help, but there are too many of those bastards, unless I'm doing something wrong.
The character system is completely different. The lockpicking system is gone - thank God, never liked it. Now you have 3 skills: lockpicking normal locks, difficult locks, etc. So, if you have the skill, you can open any chest with [lock type] lock, assuming you have a lockpick. Skill-based gameplay is a good thing.
Now you can have different fighting styles: swords, large weapons, two swords, swords & shield, bow, crossbow. Usually 3 skill levels per style. You can do a lot more in G3 than in previous game skill-wise: a skill that helps you talk your way out if you've been caught stealing (how very role-playing-ish), a skill to hone your weapons, a skil to improve armor, a skill to make poison/fire/exploding arrows, murder - insta-kill backstab if you can get that close, paladin - extra damage to Beliar's creatures, etc. Overall, more skills than you would know what to do with, which is a good thing to have in an RPG.
The journal is great and bad. Great - you have a map with all locations. Clicking on each locations shows your reputation in this place and all the quests, current/completed/failed in this place, which is pretty cool. Unfortunately, when you click on a quest instead of having a detailed descriptions, you see only associated dialogue lines.
The most annoying Gothic feature is the armor "system". While you can find and take defeated enemies' weapons and shields, armor can only be bought for unknown reasons. That worked well in the prison setting of Gothic 1, but seems strange in the war setting of G3. Oh well...
Day 4: The Fall of Cape Dun and other stuff
I liberated that orcish town today. Armed the resistance (they helped me during the battle: consequences++), freed the paladin, and together we kicked some serious ass. Quite a battle that was. I died many times screaming [braveheart] FREEEDAAM!!!! [/], but in the end aided by the holy power of Reload I was unstoppable. Now the rebels led by that paladin control Cape Dun. The rebels vs orcs conflict so far is very choicey & consequencesy. So far I'm given a clear and supported alternative, not to mention I'm curious about the Xardas angle (would my old mentor be disappointed if I help humans, would he approve more if I help him end the war by eliminating the rebel scum?), which is great. Being cynical, I refuse to believe that I can stick with the orcs till the end, but if I can, then this is one hell of a game.
So I left Cape Dun and went to Montera - a real town, not a settlement like Cape Dun was. On my way there, I met some rebels (I was given an option to greet them normally or refer to them as filthy rebels - nice touch for those who joined the Dark Side), then later on some human mercs (mercs are with orcs; again an option to shut them up). The merc in charge told me to get to Montera and report to some orcish dude. He pointed out the way (east, through the bandits camp, or west, longer but safer). I went through the bandits camp, enjoying the combat system. Fighting 5 bandits at a time does feel like a real melee fight. I tried some new combat moves, like impaling - pretty cool.
Finally got to Montera. The town looks amazing. First, it looks alive, tons of people are doing some shit and going about their business, unlike Oblivion's empty towns. Second, the details level is motherfucking amazing. I have never seen anything like that in a game. Again, it's not about the graphics, it's about art.
Same old story. I'm not good enough for the sons of bitches, so I must do some quests before I get to see the important orcs. I fought some mercs in an arena getting some respect, xps, and loot (you can loot them when they are down).
The game has been extremely stable so far. 4 days of playing, not a single crash. This is my last update, as I hope I've given you enough to form opinions about the game. If you have any questions, just ask.
I will write a review once I finish the game at least once, which will take awhile. The game is definitely an improvement of the series. Anyone who liked the first 2 games and/or wanted more depth, will like G3. Anyone who didn't like the first 2 games or never played them... Well, in its core, it's an action RPG. You have to fight and fight a lot. The dialogues are very basic, so don't expect Fallout, Arcanum, or even Bloodlines-like dialogues. However, what you want to say is usually there (double-cross, show where you stand, some choices, even talk your way out of trouble), so that's a big plus. Still, since most quests are about fighting things, all that fighting may get tedious eventually, but that's what action RPGs are all about.
Finally! I got the game today. I'm not a Gothic fanboy, but I couldn't wait to play it. I saw a great potential in the first two games that I hope was realized in Gothic 3. My super computer bought for Oblivion was mostly used to run Avernum 4 in all its super VGA glory, so it's nice to be able to use all that powah for something.
Wow! The game looks nice. Very nice. Oblivion has better, sharper graphics, but it has the atmosphere of a Disney cartoon. Gothic 3 feels like a real world, detailed and gritty. The atmosphere rocks. Now I understand better all the complaints about the AoD style or lack thereof. Anyway, the atmosphere is awesome. That "people sitting around a campfire" shtick is brilliantly executed and adds so much.
Characters models are simply awesome and blow Oblivion (and any other game) away. The fat guy in the middle of the starting location looks fantastic. Animations are very fluid so far and feel very natural.
Combat. The game starts and immediately show some orcs in my face. After hearing so much about combat I was terrified, and preparing to reload, I weakly hit an orc. Well, I'm sure that once I see some tough enemies, the combat will be like totally awful, but now it's great. Fluid and natural. I was surpised to find a scythe nearby, so I guess handling boars (and perhaps, other tough enemies) is a matter of trying different weapons available to you from the start (not some uber weapon you find later). If that's the case, that's a pretty good design.
...
Played some more. Mostly explored and fought creatures. Killed scavengers (very easy), a couple of turtles (super easy), and then I saw one of those dreadful boars of untimely death. Saved the game. Out of curiosity decided to use the starting sword even though I had a scythe and a halberd. The fucker is fast. He hit me first, but despite the rumors of dying now for sure, I managed to hit back and killed the poor beast without much efforts.
I applied the latest patch from the main site, so maybe boar's deadliness has been tweaked already.
...
More battles. Killed a lurker, 4 bandits, challenged an orcish chief and won, fought in an arena. Can't see any flaws in the combat system. Very enjoyable experience overall. The difficulty is decent. The fight with the bandits was the most difficult one, I had to use the good ol' "lure them one by one" tactics.
The atmosphere is still great. The game reminds me a lot of Gothic 1 and the prison setup. That seems to work much better than the G2 setup.
Day 2: Questing
Did some quests today. I found a rebel camp and a town (the one with the lighthouse) dominated by orcs. The conflict is brewing...
The rebel camp is reasonably well hidden in the forest. The rebels are alright, they are the last free humans, and they are plotting a "revolution" in the orcish town nearby. They are needy fuckers as most characters in the Gothic games are, so there is long list of things you can do for them: kill orcs occupying a farm, kill an orcish patrol that's getting too close to the camp, find some weapons, kill some boars (you'd think the rebels can handle the boars, but they've seen that video too and are terrified of those beasts), find a blacksmith to work at the forge, and finally find a rebel agent in that orcish town and help him to overthrow the orcs. Side taking time!
Speaking of that "boar of death" video. I killed three boars today with my thrusty starting sword. Three at a time, not one by one. I improved my sword skills to the next level - strong swordsman, bumped up my Str to 150, practiced the moves, and took out those 3 fuckers without reloading. They did managed to drop my health from 100 to 17, but I won.
The orcish town looks cool. The way to the lighthouse is decorated with crucified humans. A very nice touch. The orcs look great, like all character models do though. Anyway, the orcs don't trust me - paranoid fuckers. That means that I can't enter two places within the town, unless I improve my reputation with them. Orcs like fighters, so I fought in the arena a few times. Orcish trader's cargo was stolen by bandits - killed the bandits, returned the cargo. They asked me to take care of the wolves around the town as they tend to eat slaves and slaves are expensive. I killed a few, didn't have time to kill them all. There are many human mercenaries in that town. One offered me to hunt bandits, but again I didn't have time. A thief approached me, noting my habits to take whatever I like and asking me to steal something. He told me that thieves are everywhere, but they can only be identified by a certain sign or a phrase. Didn't follow that line either.
Found the "secret agent man", he needs weapons and he wants me to free a paladin who's currently enjoying the hospitality of the orcs in the lighthouse. So, the orcs could be kicked out of that town... pretty cool. What's even better is I can tell the orcs about the rebel agent, in which case, I assume, the revolution will be postponed indefinitely. The doublecrossing feature was permanently absent from Oblivion, forcing you to do things in a very linear and preordained manner. It's nice that G3 gives me options.
There was a number of small quests: bring me a bottle of booze, 3 healing potions, 10 healing herbs, 10 wolfskins, 3 weapon packages, etc. They are not as annoying as they sound as usually you already have what this person needs (unless you sell *everything*), so it's just a matter of sharing your goodies with NPCs for minor rewards.
Day 3: Character system
Exploring the world is pretty cool. Once again, the art is great and well matched by the graphics. All locations have a well defined and logical style, and require no explanations. G3 is one of the most artistic games I've ever played. I should have ordered the collection edition, if only for the art book.
One notable difference between G3 and Oblivion in the exploring department is that caves and places of exploring interests are rare and thus more exciting.
I eliminated some bandits who were terrorizing the coast - took me awhile to find their hideout. Fighting multiple enemies is much easier in G3, in my opinion, so I was able to fight 2-3 bandits at a time without having a reload fiesta.
I tried liberating the orcish town, but got my ass kicked as I have to fight a trackload of orcs and human mercs. I gave the rebels some weapons, and secured the captured (but still armed! Oh well...) paladin's help, but there are too many of those bastards, unless I'm doing something wrong.
The character system is completely different. The lockpicking system is gone - thank God, never liked it. Now you have 3 skills: lockpicking normal locks, difficult locks, etc. So, if you have the skill, you can open any chest with [lock type] lock, assuming you have a lockpick. Skill-based gameplay is a good thing.
Now you can have different fighting styles: swords, large weapons, two swords, swords & shield, bow, crossbow. Usually 3 skill levels per style. You can do a lot more in G3 than in previous game skill-wise: a skill that helps you talk your way out if you've been caught stealing (how very role-playing-ish), a skill to hone your weapons, a skil to improve armor, a skill to make poison/fire/exploding arrows, murder - insta-kill backstab if you can get that close, paladin - extra damage to Beliar's creatures, etc. Overall, more skills than you would know what to do with, which is a good thing to have in an RPG.
The journal is great and bad. Great - you have a map with all locations. Clicking on each locations shows your reputation in this place and all the quests, current/completed/failed in this place, which is pretty cool. Unfortunately, when you click on a quest instead of having a detailed descriptions, you see only associated dialogue lines.
The most annoying Gothic feature is the armor "system". While you can find and take defeated enemies' weapons and shields, armor can only be bought for unknown reasons. That worked well in the prison setting of Gothic 1, but seems strange in the war setting of G3. Oh well...
Day 4: The Fall of Cape Dun and other stuff
I liberated that orcish town today. Armed the resistance (they helped me during the battle: consequences++), freed the paladin, and together we kicked some serious ass. Quite a battle that was. I died many times screaming [braveheart] FREEEDAAM!!!! [/], but in the end aided by the holy power of Reload I was unstoppable. Now the rebels led by that paladin control Cape Dun. The rebels vs orcs conflict so far is very choicey & consequencesy. So far I'm given a clear and supported alternative, not to mention I'm curious about the Xardas angle (would my old mentor be disappointed if I help humans, would he approve more if I help him end the war by eliminating the rebel scum?), which is great. Being cynical, I refuse to believe that I can stick with the orcs till the end, but if I can, then this is one hell of a game.
So I left Cape Dun and went to Montera - a real town, not a settlement like Cape Dun was. On my way there, I met some rebels (I was given an option to greet them normally or refer to them as filthy rebels - nice touch for those who joined the Dark Side), then later on some human mercs (mercs are with orcs; again an option to shut them up). The merc in charge told me to get to Montera and report to some orcish dude. He pointed out the way (east, through the bandits camp, or west, longer but safer). I went through the bandits camp, enjoying the combat system. Fighting 5 bandits at a time does feel like a real melee fight. I tried some new combat moves, like impaling - pretty cool.
Finally got to Montera. The town looks amazing. First, it looks alive, tons of people are doing some shit and going about their business, unlike Oblivion's empty towns. Second, the details level is motherfucking amazing. I have never seen anything like that in a game. Again, it's not about the graphics, it's about art.
Same old story. I'm not good enough for the sons of bitches, so I must do some quests before I get to see the important orcs. I fought some mercs in an arena getting some respect, xps, and loot (you can loot them when they are down).
The game has been extremely stable so far. 4 days of playing, not a single crash. This is my last update, as I hope I've given you enough to form opinions about the game. If you have any questions, just ask.
I will write a review once I finish the game at least once, which will take awhile. The game is definitely an improvement of the series. Anyone who liked the first 2 games and/or wanted more depth, will like G3. Anyone who didn't like the first 2 games or never played them... Well, in its core, it's an action RPG. You have to fight and fight a lot. The dialogues are very basic, so don't expect Fallout, Arcanum, or even Bloodlines-like dialogues. However, what you want to say is usually there (double-cross, show where you stand, some choices, even talk your way out of trouble), so that's a big plus. Still, since most quests are about fighting things, all that fighting may get tedious eventually, but that's what action RPGs are all about.
