Information AboutGothic 3 |
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''Gothic 3'' is a fantasy-themed role-playing game for Windows from German game developer Piranha Bytes . It is the sequel to Gothic 2 . Although widely available in English, the native release of the game is German. The game was released throughout the European Union on October 13 2006 and is currently available throughout North America, after the release date of November 20 2006 . Although the US version is rated T (for teens), the version released in North America carries exactly the same gameplay content as those released internationally. The North American release incorporates two patches that appeared after the initial UK edition. STORY Prologue The First Part Of Gothic tells the story of The Nameless Hero, a man thrust into the events of a penal colony. The colony takes the form of a natural landscape encased in a large magical shield known as The Barrier, much like an impenetrable dome. Over the course of the story, The Nameless Hero becomes acquainted with several characters, the most notable of which are Diego, Lee, Cor Angar, Lester, Gorn, Lares, Milten, and Xardas. Some of these characters are connected with the various factions of the game, which include the ''Old Camp'', the ''New Camp'' and the ''Swamp Camp''. Also connected with these factions are the water and fire mages, of which Xardas is an outcast. Xardas, a necromancer, plays a central part to the survival and advancement of the character. Ultimately, he galvanizes the character toward the ultimate goal of stopping the summoning of a beast known as ''The Sleeper''. The Nameless Hero destroys ''The Sleeper'' but only at the cost of his own life. The Second Part Of Gothic sees The Nameless Hero resurrected by Xardas into a new setting. Now located outside the city of Khorinis, he is asked by Xardas to investigate a new evil that threatens Khorinis and the surrounding lands. Over the course of the story, The Nameless Hero reconnects with old friends from the first chapter while adjusting to changes in the faction structure. With the penal colony and its barrier a thing of the past, the surrounding lands have been invaded by orcs. Factions now consist of the ''Militia/Paladins'' of Khorinis, the ''Fire Novices/Fire Mages'', and the ''Mercenaries/Dragon Hunters''. Water mages also make a return. Having discovered the source of the evil threatening Khorinis, our hero assembles a crew of trusted friends and sails to a nearby island. There he battles a large undead dragon, completing the central quest of the chapter. The chapter closes with the hero and his allies sailing away from the island. Gothic 2 also has an expansion called Night of the Raven. In the expansion, the Hero will face many new dangers and a new unexplored world. The Water Mages play an important role in the expansion. There is a new faction known as the Ring of Water, who have the same relationship to the Water Mages as the Paladins do to the Fire Mages. Plot The third part opens with the Nameless Hero and his friends sailing to a new continent overrun with orcs, arriving in the Myrtana, the central region of the continent. Presumably this is the source of the orc invasion that was launched on Khorinis during the second chapter. These lands have no physical connection to Khorinis or the ruins of the penal colony. In these mountainous forests the orcs have enslaved the human kingdom with only a few free humans living in the nearly uninhabitable icy northlands of Nordmar and the southern desert of Varrant. The hero must decide whether to join the rebellion and stay true to the deposed human king, serve the Orcish usurpers in their quest to topple the last remaining human stronghold, or choose a path that serves his own ends. Throughout the story, he is accompanied by a number of NPCs, some of whom are old friends. While this chapter brings forward friends from the previous title (Xardas, Diego, Milten, Gorn, Lester, and Vatras) it also introduces two new major characters; King Rhobar the Second (Who ultimately was responsible for sending the Nameless Hero to the penal colony in the first game) and Zuben. While the king has a strong past as a bold leader, he now faces a near defeat; his fame on the decline. Zuben leads the Hashishin that inhabit the southern region of Varrant.''Gothic 3'' manual (all versions). GAMEPLAY The player must complete quests and slay wild animals and monsters to earn experience and improve skills. The game places a special focus on the interactivity of the environment. The game claimed to employ an unusual combat system which emphasizes carefully timed combinations of strikes, requiring the player to read the body language of attacking opponents. However, in practice, many players found the combat system lacking such unique features and have been known to describe it as a "button mashing clickfest." This was due to the fact that the most successful strategy during combat seems to be to just click the left mouse button as quickly as you can, if you time it right at the begining you are able to defeat any enemy with relative ease. The controls have been altered slightly with a stronger focus on action. Navigation and combat are more mouse-centric, with each mouse button having a different combat action. The Nameless Hero can also now wield dual weapons or use a shield. RECEPTION Prior to its release in early October 2006, Gothic 3 was nominated as the best game of E3 by IGN . Since the release, most concerns have centered around bugs. TECHNICAL Engine Gothic 3 is powered by a custom engine called the Genome engine; it supports Pixel Shader 3.0 , has a Multithreaded design and includes dynamic lighting (including Self-shadowing ). Physics simulation is provided by Ageia 's PhysX Physics Engine . It also uses IDV's SpeedTreeRT tree and plant software, Bink Video Technology from RAD Game Tools for the cutscenes, as well as the FMOD Sound System from Firelight Technologies for sound playback.''Gothic 3'' manual (all versions). System Requirements Although the minimum system requirements consist of a 2.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4 and 512 MB System RAM, a 3 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor with 1 GB of System RAM is far more suited to the task. Recommended video cards include an ATI X1600, Nvidia GeForce 6800 series or better if possible.''Gothic 3'' manual (all versions). The following chart lists the supported video cards as found in the Gothic 3 manuals for both the UK edition of the game''Gothic 3'' manual (UK version). and the updated North American edition''Gothic 3'' manual (North American version).. Although not directly referenced in the manual, the Nvidia GeForce 5200le, 5200, 5500, 7600, and ATI Radeon 9600 series also appear to be supported. The game doesn't run on Intel GMA series. The game can run in many other untested systems but you will experience very bad performance which will ruin the atmosphere of this game Release and Distribution The game is currently available throughout the European Union in English and German and was released on October 13 . The North American version was released on November 20 . The English edition from the UK was released as version 1.04. The North American version incorporated two patches (the first being 1.07) in its initial release at version 1.12. Rating In the UK, the PEGI rating board has assigned the game a 16+ rating. In Germany, the USK has rated it 12+. In the US and Canada, Gothic 3 is rated T (Teen) by the ESRB. The gameplay content is identical between each version released worldwide. OTHER TITLES IN THE SERIES
CRITICISM The game has received positive reviews for its open-ended world (with 3 possible endings), scenic beauty and original musical score. Although the game demands very high-end hardware, the pay-off is in the overall environment and story. Review scores from critics as well as gamers differ highly per player. The reason for this could be the extend to which the reviewer takes the release bugs into account, often prompting the term "unpolished gem". JoWood has been accused of rushing the game, giving less time for play testing and optimisation. While Piranha Bytes is no longer supporting the game since the franchise has been taken over by spellbound, Spellbound has released an official statement claiming that they will now support it.1 It is generally agreed by most reviewers that the initial release of the game was rather buggy. However, many bugs have been corrected by a number of both official and community-released patches.2 3 For the actual game, most criticism was directed towards the gameplay itself. Not only was the actual fighting considered rather bland (with some level of button mashing.); some opponents encountered in the early game were deemed too powerful for early encounters in the game. Such things as "stun lock" have been downplayed in later patches to make these enemies easier to defeat. Though some fans from the Gothic series protested this, some enemies such as the wild boar were made less powerful in the official patches. The game's Austrian publisher, JoWooD, received criticism for their treatment of the fan community and press as well as forcing Piranha Bytes to have the game ready for sale before it was fully finished. They were accused of playing with the fans' high expectations, making promises about the final quality of the game which were perceived as fatuous by some, and threatening the publishers of less-than-favourable reviews with libel lawsuits and actions for injunction. NOTES EXTERNAL LINKS
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