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| Dogs go whacko for Schmackos |
Toll evasion tends to result in sword fights |
Gothic Universe combines the first three Gothic games into one convenient package for a slightly higher than budget price. The good thing about the package is that unlike many of the lesser, cheap game series compilations, it actually contains a jewel case for your game discs. Also of note is the fact that the game includes the gold edition of Gothic II, which contains the original game and the Night of the Raven expansion. Other than that, the Gothic Universe package is very anemic – you just get the game discs, and a copy of the Gothic 3 manual – everything else is in digital form. It’s a bit of a shame given that they could do so much more for a series package for games the size of the Gothic titles – why not bump up the price and throw in some playguides, soundtracks or something like that to make it that little bit more special? Fortunately, the games in the package are rather good.
The first Gothic game was released in 2001, at a time when the PC format was at its peak. Though popular in Europe, particularly in its home country of Germany, Gothic struggled to find an audience outside of the continent. Gothic is a little different to most RPGs on that were on the market at the time, offering an open ended story and plenty of gameplay choice and consequence. Players began their quest as a lowly prisoner, gradually building him up through questing and combat, before siding with one of three major camps and helping them to prevail.
While Gothic was praised at the time for its open ended gameplay and immersive game world, the game’s combat system was considered to be crude and cumbersome, and its character development basic – seven years on, these flaws are more apparent. The combat system is fine for dealing with one foe at a time, but due to the fact it requires the player to use the movement keys for attacking, it can prove quite difficult to handle groups of enemies, which the game often throws at you. Still, if one can deal with the combat side of the game, the game is chock full of content and should provide many hours of fun.
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| And you thought acid rain was bad |
Our player whets his whistle with some fine ale |
Gothic II is widely considered to be the best of the series, with the developer having focused on fixing issues with the game’s camera and character development. Piranha Bytes also expanded the questing systems, allowing players to take multiple approaches towards solving a given problem. Gothic II picks up directly after the end of the original game, with a new horde of enemies being summoned to the land; once again, it’s up to the player to join a faction and lead them to control the land and destroy the evil creatures attempting to invade.
While much improved over its predecessor, Gothic II still employed the same flawed combat system, which admittedly alienates a lot of players. The interface is still pretty clunky too – the quest log system isn’t up to scratch, and inventory management is a nightmare. A.I. also seems to have taken a back seat, with many NPCs suffering from pathfinding issues. These are just minor grievances that are offset by greater quest variety, a more interesting game world and improved graphics. Gothic II offers far more content than its predecessor – and that’s only boosted by the add-on pack, which follows straight on from the end of the main game.
The third Gothic game hit shelves in 2006, and once again put players in the shoes of a hopeless peasant that would build his way up to a powerful warrior, this time to free a nation from oppressive Orcish rule. Gothic 3 addresses many of the problems of the first two games, by offering completely overhauled combat and magic systems, superior quest structure and much prettier graphics. The open world nature of the game has also evolved – the world is now affected by the way you play.
Gothic 3 received considerably more hype than any of its predecessors, particularly with the success of Oblivion released earlier in the year. Increased expectations led to people being disappointed with the Gothic style of play, despite major overhauls making the game much less of an acquired taste. The game shipped with many bugs, but patches over time have helped to repair some of the damage, and the natural course of PC hardware evolution means the game runs much better on the hardware currently on the market. It’s a very entertaining game that can now easily be enjoyed.
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| 1.21 Gigawatts!?! |
Sometimes it’s better to just call the pest control guy |
GOTHIC UNIVERSE VERDICT
Gothic Universe is certainly a package stuffed to the brim with gameplay, offering up three fully fledged RPGs for a bit over the regular budget price point. While we all would have liked a Gothic compilation package with some bonus materials, the Universe compilation should prove adequate for anyone looking to see what all the fuss is about. Gothic Universe is perfect for someone that’s looking for a good chunk of gameplay, but isn’t prepared to drop too much coin.
TOP GAME MOMENT
Booting up Gothic 3 for the first time, and finding out they’ve fixed the clunky combat system.
