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Review Arcania: Gothic 4 Review

VentilatorOfDoom

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Tags: Gothic 4: Arcania; JoWood Productions

<p>It seems the first english reviews of Arcania: Gothic 4 start to hit the web, here's IGN's <a href="http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/112/1127303p1.html" target="_blank">take on the game</a> (7.5/10) :</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Gameplay, on the other hand, is really where your interests should ultimately lie. Being a role-playing game in the traditions of stats-based RPGs, storytelling and combat are the most important elements of a game like this&mdash;and Gothic IV is solid but noticeably unpolished on both fronts. <br /> <br /> On PC, the combat blends mouse-based, two button real-time combat with standard hotkey item selection. Players familiar with the genre will feel right at home with the default control scheme, which sticks to WASD controls and smooth mouse aim. You can break into your inventory at any time by hitting start. This pauses the action, allowing you to buff yourself with potions and consumable items&mdash;a decision that arguably makes the game rather easy, given the staggering availability of potions and edible. The pace of the combat puts it more in line with a hack-and-slash adventure, not unlike something like Lionhead's Fable. The combo system can be steadily upgraded with skill points, too. Blocking and defensive rolling are also necessary tactical options &ndash; though, we found rolling to be far more handy in practice than raising your shield and still taking damage.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/100073-arcania-gothic-4-review.html">Gamebanshee</a></p>
 

astrosmurf

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Oct 29, 2008
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From the review: "There are only a few real instances where quests deviate from the set 'fetch quest' mentality"

Now that's a damn shame. Well, let's hope they at least get the combat system right this time. (I don't get why it was changed in 3. It was fine, excellent even, already in 1 and 2.)
 

Zed

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I heard TPB and similar webshops updated their inventory with the full-length demo not too long ago.
 

SCO

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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
It is in the best gothic tradiction!
Don't you remember the grey troll?

Just... extended somewhat.

:trollface:
 

commie

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SCO said:
It is in the best gothic tradiction!
Don't you remember the grey troll?

Just... extended somewhat.

:trollface:

Hey I loved that exploit, running in close and hacking at the bastards arse as he tried to turn around to face me in vain.
 

Sulimo

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Wasteland 2
Back from lurking to quote this from the review:

Instead it lets you leisurely enjoy the world and kill a lot of goblins and swamp flies along the way. In this way, the Gothic series has always filled in a more casual space than similarly minded RPGs.

:what:

What the fuck is wrong with reviewers these days? I'd swear gothic 1-2-NotR and even fucking Gothic 3 were panned for being too difficult. They fucking make it up as they go along.
 

SCO

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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
They're bought. And if you think this is bad just think how it must be in "political" journalism.
 

Archibald

Arcane
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7,869
FF14 gets bad reviews because it`s not WoW, so on that part its further decline, not incline.
 

.Sigurd

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Archibald said:
FF14 gets bad reviews because it`s not WoW, so on that part its further decline, not incline.

IGN:

5.5
Mediocre

3.0 Presentation
Terrible interface, sluggish menu response times, poor overworld map, and many other issues. Interesting story, though, in the main missions.
7.0 Graphics
It's an absolutely gorgeous game, but you'll need an insanely powerful PC to see it. It still looks nice with dialed back settings, but will rarely run well.
8.5 Sound
Great overworld music that feels right at home in a Final Fantasy game, backed by solid sound effects and rare instances of voice acting.
6.0 Gameplay
A flexible class system results in a welcome freedom of customization, but combat and other activities are still victims of the poor interface and performance. Questing gets repetitive quickly.
5.0 Lasting Appeal
Despite the strength of the class system, the game's economy and questing systems need a lot of work to keep players coming back for more.


Gamespot:

4.4
Poor


The Good
Impressive visual engine
Flexible class system lets you be what you want, when you want.

The Bad
Absolutely miserable interface
Does a poor job of communicating important information
Limited questing means you're always looking for something fun to do
Everything about the economy stinks
Every aspect of the game is filled with dumb obstacles.
 

Morkar Left

Guest
Other reviews:

www.gamona.de 43%

www.pcgames.de 79% (Readers so far: 65%) well established (biggest?) mag from Germany (were jowood-lovers before)

www.areagames.de 4/10 (never heard from this site before) EDIT: Readers 8/10

I expected a much better acceptance in Germany from the official press if someone considers oblivion and other shit before.

Incline, jowood ran out of money or even the dumbest mag realizes that they can´t lie again to a huge fanbase (in Germany at least) without risking their credibility? Discuss!!!
 

Twinkle

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Some lulz from that MOH review:

Enemies typically fire from one place without moving from point to point, and combat becomes an exercise in Taliban Whack-a-Mole as you'll wait for a head to robotically pop up from cover.

Amen, bro. :salute:
 

Sceptic

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Divinity: Original Sin
.Sigurd said:
Not really. Red the MOH review again. Now take out all references to Afghanistan and replace "MOH" with "MW2". Tada!

The press switched from praising the shit out of MOH to praising the shit out of COD shortly after Pacific Assault. It's not too surprising that they'd give the new MOH a low score then, especially after all the praise they rained on MW2 (and will soon rain on Black Ops).
 

Elhoim

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On PC, the combat blends mouse-based, two button real-time combat with standard hotkey item selection. Players familiar with the genre will feel right at home with the default control scheme, which sticks to WASD controls and smooth mouse aim. You can break into your inventory at any time by hitting start.

Where is the start button in my PC?
 
Self-Ejected

Jack

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Insert Title Here
Elhoim said:
On PC, the combat blends mouse-based, two button real-time combat with standard hotkey item selection. Players familiar with the genre will feel right at home with the default control scheme, which sticks to WASD controls and smooth mouse aim. You can break into your inventory at any time by hitting start.

Where is the start button in my PC?
power_button.jpg
 

Elhoim

Iron Tower Studio
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I thought about this one:

windows_key.jpg


God, how I hated that fucking key when it started appearing. It got in the way of my mad strafing skills in Doom.
 

1eyedking

Erudite
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Dec 10, 2007
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Location
Argentina
I have a love-hate relationship with that key.

On one hand, it has caused me a lot of pain in multiplayer since I occasionally hit it when microing at lightning-fast speed.

On the other, it has saved my ass from rebooting the PC when Alt+Tab and Ctrl+Alt+Del failed to produce any effect after a crash.
 

mondblut

Arcane
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Location
Ingrija
VentilatorOfDoom said:
Being a role-playing game in the traditions of stats-based RPGs...

Are they implying there are also non-stats-based RPGs?

:retarded:

Ah, yes, I forgot about playing a role in Halo.
 

Misterhamper

Scholar
Joined
Jul 14, 2007
Messages
103
Anybody tried the full version?

The enemies does not seem to be as stupid as in that video on the Gothic-difficulty. The mages at the start at least fire the fireballs quickly, and I got hit a couple times by normal critters. Although the first bosses very stupidly designed, the could literally do nothing as I continously hit them because of the animation they repeated everytime they got hit.
 

MicoSelva

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IGN said:
Players familiar with the genre will feel right at home with the default control scheme, which sticks to WASD controls and smooth mouse aim.

It's really sad, that this kind of game controls is now considered standard for RPGs.
 

DalekFlay

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That review seriously tells me nothing, talk about poorly written. I disagree with Rockpapershotgun reviews a lot of the time but at least they tell me about the game.
 

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