Review

Gothic is just the kind of sleeper game that will (hopefully) keep developers honest. There's no hope whatsoever, of course, of keeping publishers honest, but if we can at least maintain some semblance of morality among developers, we should be able to continue to at least sustain our beloved hobby, if not actually evolve it. What I'm talking about, in case you're wondering, is the presence of modestly-promoted, modestly-budgeted games from small, unheralded developers; games which are solidly entertaining.

So long as these kinds of games continue to represent a non-trivial percentage of those available, the hyper-marketed, bloatingly-budgeted games from developers coasting on their past successes can't afford to drift too far down the quality scale, lest the scruffy young ragamuffins from the southside projects snatch their success right out from under them. In other words, low-profile games that don't suck keep the high-profile games from sucking too bad. At least, that's the theory. EA, of course, continues to pursue the theory that marketing trumps all.

So the short of this is that Gothic is just such a game, a low-profile effort, from an upstart European developer, which most impressively does not suck.

It's rough around the edges, to be sure, but it executes better than most developer's first offerings. Though, to be honest, I don't know the pedigree behind Piranha Bytes, so its possible my expectations were disproportionately low. Which isn't to say that I liked Gothic merely because it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I didn't think it was going to be bad at all, or rather, I had merely hoped it would be good. And it was, which was really what I needed at the time, to stave off an impending bout of gaming malaise after plowing through a bunch of shooters of late.

Piranha Bytes produced a respectable piece of yeoman's work with Gothic, delivering a robust RPG that stands on its own without any franchise license, or movie tie-in, or 3rd Ed. D&D rules. It is a bit of an odd duck, though, straddling the fence between action adventure and straight RPG. That didn't turn me away, but you should know it, in case not being able to name your character or select race or hair color or fiddle with a couple dozen stats is going to keep you from having fun.

Despite the character limitations and the unavoidable adventure-game plot progression, what Gothic is first and foremost is still a sandbox RPG. You're dropped into its world (quite literally, actually, according to the story's preamble), explained the essentials of the world's rules, and then swatted on the butt and told to 'go play outside'.

Good

• The melee combat system was a far cry from the nirvana of Blade of Darkness, but at least it asked me to be involved in the fights. As a player, I was doing more than just picking targets and watching health bars go down. Not much more, and by the last act things were certainly running low on gas, but that little bit of analog, real-time combat skill required of me was enough to keep me interested in the actual pursuit of quests, rather than just their rewards.

• The NPCs in Gothic really are smarter than the average bear. One of the game's claim to fame is its reputation system, which I honestly didn't sense had much of an effect, though that might be in part because I tended to play inside the lines more often than not. Even so, NPC interactions were more dynamic than most RPGs I've played. Also, the fact that the NPCs went about their business according to the daily cycle also contributed tremendously to the sense of immersion. Coming back to camp late in the evening and seeing most everyone either retired to their bed or gathered around a fire was just one of the experiences that reinforced the presentation of a living gameworld. Good stuff.

• The voice acting is terrific, aided by solid dialogue. The sheer number of NPCs, unfortunately, obviously outpaced both the allotted lines of dialogue and the budget for voice actors, since both get reused to the extent that its noticable. Still, it's all very well done and made for a consistently pleasant environment in which to converse with the other inhabitants of the world.

Bad

• Walking. Lots and lots and lots of walking. And this isn't a complaint about the size of the gameworld. I rather enjoyed the scale of the environment. No, the complaint is that the game takes a long time to provide you with any alternative to your going hither and thither besides walking. Eventually, you end up with some teleportation stones, which I certainly welcomed. I just yearned for something in between the very slow travel of the first 3/4 of the game, and the instantaneous travel of the last 1/4. A nice beast of burden would have split the difference handsomely.

• The UI for Gothic was originally designed to be sans mouse, or so I've read. I'm not sure I would've been able to tolerate the game without even the rudimentary mouse support that was apparently retro-fitted after beta feedback. As it is, the UI is quirky, but ultimately effective even if it never achieves elegance. And to be fair, in the late game when you're awash in hundreds upon hundreds of items in your inventory, the keyboard-only inventory management feels downright efficient. What never feels efficient, unfortunately, is the manner in which your movement keys are overloaded with item and action events via a modifier key. I give the developers credit for pursuing their own style of UI, and I'm not suggesting the entire concept be scrapped. It's just that the end result felt a few iterations shy of refined.

Ugly

• The rigid nature of the plot progression, and to a lesser extent some of the quests, ultimately hijacked the game, sabotaging the player's ownership of the character. I didn't cease enjoying the story, and I didn't feel betrayed by the game, but that's because I hadn't been allowed to really invest myself in the character during the game, and so when it ultimately wrested control from me, I recognized that I hadn't had much control to begin with. I also recognize that this was an explicit design choice, as opposed to an inadvertant effect. The designers opted for a tighter rein on the story progression and accompanying gameplay in lieu of some player freedom. That kind of tradeoff happens all the time, and isn't necessarily good or bad. In the case of Gothic, however, I felt the net effect was definitely negative, since the rest of the game feels so open. I ultimately felt like it wouldn't have taken much more effort for the developers to accommodate a broader range of approaches to quest challenges, thereby encouraging the player to legitimately role-play their own character. I guess what I'm really trying to say is that of the RPG/adventure-game mix presented by Gothic, I favored the RPG and eventually felt disappointed at the limits placed upon it by the adventure-game trappings. Others might very well feel precisely the opposite, or even feel that the game strikes an elegant balance, so take this topic's inclusion in the 'Ugly' category with a grain of salt.

Beautiful

• You can carry a torch. I've said it before and I'll say it again, any game that lets me carry around a torch immediately endears itself to me. It's like whatever is the opposite of a pet peeve. Pet pleasure? Sure.

• Another pet pleasure of mine is a good day/night cycle, and Gothic's is awesome. Games that don't impose time limits on me, but which nevertheless portray the passage of time, generally create a very satisfying and relaxing gaming experience for me.

• Gothic's world, the prison colony, and specifically its encompassing magical barrier, provided the most logical and palatable excuse in any game I can remember for the necessary borders on the 3D world. Obviously, it's not a gimmick that can be universally employed, but for at least one game, it left me in an environment where I didn't have to pretend not to notice that I couldn't travel anywhere I wanted.

Summary

Is Gothic fun? As always, that's up to you. I had a good time playing it. I don't see myself ever playing it again however. There certainly doesn't appear to be enough variation in the experience based on the limited character development choices, and the combat, while managing to stave off boredom during the first pass, isn't deep enough to bring me back for more. The only significant lure I can think of is the magic, which I mostly missed since I took a strong melee path through the skill choices. Even so, one of the odd things about Gothic is that by the time you're done, you've actually become a jack-of-all-trades without ever deciding to do so. This speaks again to the adventure-game element ultimately overshadowing the RPG. I doubt most players' overall experience with Gothic will differ dramatically. That's not necessarily a criticism, it's just a major reason why I feel uncompelled to revisit the game a second time, while simultaneously feeling pretty satisfied with the experience that it provided.

The bottom line, though, is that Gothic is a good game. It's neither too long nor too short. It offers a unique gameworld and a nearly all-access pass to explore it. I don't hesitate to recommend the game to anyone who possesses both the patience and the appetite for a sandbox RPG that keeps you at arms length from the character. The quality of the story arc alone vaults Gothic above many of its competitors, proving that good game fiction has survived the death of Black Isle. Furthermore, I take it as a sure sign of a good game anytime I'm decidedly anxious to dive into its sequel, which is definitely the case with Gothic. I expect I'll tackle Gothic 2 in the very immediate future.