Gothic 3

 PC
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 898 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 552 out of 898
  2. Mixed: 234 out of 898
  3. Negative: 112 out of 898
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  1. MatDerKater
    Jun 19, 2012
    10
    The largely negative reviews that this game received upon its release, were largely justifiable at the time due to the bug ridden train wreck of an unfinished game which Jowood decided to release. First thing to make clear, is the game which I am awarding a 9/10 for, is not the game as it was released back in 2006, but the game as it is now thanks to the Community Patch 1.75 and theThe largely negative reviews that this game received upon its release, were largely justifiable at the time due to the bug ridden train wreck of an unfinished game which Jowood decided to release. First thing to make clear, is the game which I am awarding a 9/10 for, is not the game as it was released back in 2006, but the game as it is now thanks to the Community Patch 1.75 and the Community Mod Pack 2.4. Gothic 3, running smooth as silk on a decent 2012 gaming PC, more or less bug free, with overhauled combat mechanics, is nothing less than a stunning work of electronic art. This blows every other single player RPG right out of the water bar none. Although the graphics may not be as advanced as the graphics in more recent titles such as Skyrim, the world of Gothic 3 is somehow much more appealing to the eye than that of Skyrim, with the Gothic 3 world having a much more handcrafted quality to it, with huge attention having been paid to the tiniest of details. Whilst the world of Gothic 3 may not be quite on the same scale as the world of Skyrim, it is nontheless massive and distinguishes itself head and shoulders above the world of Skyrim due to the fact that the Gothic 3 world is immensely interesting to explore as opposed to mainly serving as a Bethesda style space/time barrier between the cordoned off towns and dungeons. Whilst the Gothic 3 towns/camps are indeed the main components of where the story unfolds, they blend seamlessly into the rest of the stunning, dark, but majestic world of Gothic 3, in which dozens of hours can be spent immersed in sheer exploration. In addition to the beautiful and captivating landscape, what Gothic 3 masters more so than any other game is providing for an interaction with the flora, fauna, and minerals of the world, in a way that the player is always on the look our for certain combinations of potentially character enhancing resources and facilities. The combination of loot driven kleptomania and danger lurking around every corner and in every nook n cranny of a masterfully crafted world, makes 'exploration' an absolute delight in this game. Indeed, due to the clever placing of some highly valuable objects in various secret and also not-so-secret, the course of the game and the decisions that are made can be hugely influenced by the fruits of exploration. One of the proclaimed weaknesses of Gothic 3 when compared with its predecessors (G1 + G2), was the simplistic nature of the quests, or in otherwords, the sheer volume of 'go there, kill them, get that' quests in the game. Whilst this may ring true when analysing the game close up, if one takes a more macroscopic view of the quests then what emerges is an epic power struggle in which the gamer must ultimately weigh up the pros and cons of some crucial decisions. Whether these decisions reflect the desires that the gamer has for particular individuals or factions in the game or the need for expediency and sacrfice of otherwise favoured characters and units in the Gothic 3 world, as the game progresses the gamer will increasingly find that no decision is to be taken lightly and will have the constant urge to postpone certain things, in the hope of alternative solutions opening up (which they often do). The whole shebang culminates in the Nameless Hero rising to the position of a demi-god, in which his will (and thus the will of the gamer) decides the fate of the entire continent upon which Gothic 3 is based. There are three possible 'Grand Finales' open to the Nameless hero depending on his actions througout the course of what is probably the most open ended RPG game ever made. With that said, the 'openess' of the Gothic 3 world also contributes to one of its potential flaws whereby if the game fails to understand the mechanics of the 'in-game poltics', then he can make the game practically incompleteable at a very early stage. This was particularly true in the unpatched version of the game where it was possible to start 'liberating' towns or 'crushing' rebel camps from the very outset of the game. However, with the CP 1.75, the stun-lock click fest combat (which made simultaneously wiping out dozens of human/ork foes possible in the unpatched version) has been completely fixed. Thus it is no longer possible for the gamer to successfully embark on such uninformed rash decisions at such an early stage of the game.

    With almost 6 years having passed since I purchased Gothic 3, I have just completed the game for the first time ever and have got to say it ranks amongst my most pleasureable gaming experiences ever.    … Expand
  2. FaceCommander
    Jun 11, 2012
    10
    Maybe it's worth 9/10 but ill give 10 just to balance negatives. Yes it was buggy in release but now all of it was resolved by patches made by community. The combat system standardised same click left in oblivion whats up with comments about combat. Huge world with beautifull scenery. Epic music ,nice atmosphere. Game lacked on actual story line though. Playing it patched with alternate AIMaybe it's worth 9/10 but ill give 10 just to balance negatives. Yes it was buggy in release but now all of it was resolved by patches made by community. The combat system standardised same click left in oblivion whats up with comments about combat. Huge world with beautifull scenery. Epic music ,nice atmosphere. Game lacked on actual story line though. Playing it patched with alternate AI on hardest is just enough challenge for anyone. 3rd game lacked some things what first 2 parts had , but this is definitely worthy to play game , atleast 2 times better than oblivion (unless you love to run first person around every 15 mins to sell crap and encounter bandits on same road again) .… Expand
  3. UlliL.
    Aug 20, 2007
    10
    Well, I really love this game. Now the fans started making their own patches after the breakup of the jowood/piranha bites cooperation it has only very few bugs left and so it´s one of the best rpgs ever, in my opinion even better that the great oblivion oder the even better morrowind
  4. Toss
    Feb 4, 2014
    10
    Gothic 3 - best game i ever played. Awesome story, awesome environments, awesome fight system. I liked it from first to last minute of gameplay. 10/10.
  5. OzielLG
    Jan 26, 2010
    9
    This game is Huge and Everything is great but i dont like the way it ends, dont worry if you havent finished the game, you will have your options not only black or white... Download the latest comunity pacth and you are done with a GREAT RPG Experience!
  6. jim109109
    May 30, 2012
    8
    IF you need someone to hold your hand and tell you where to go, this game isn't for you. You literally have to follow sign posts and find your way around the HUGE world without the quest markers. YOU have to die many times and suffer. Such is life. Such is this game. That's why I enjoy it. I'd recommend it to fans of elder scrolls since it's familiar in that it's an open world RPG.IF you need someone to hold your hand and tell you where to go, this game isn't for you. You literally have to follow sign posts and find your way around the HUGE world without the quest markers. YOU have to die many times and suffer. Such is life. Such is this game. That's why I enjoy it. I'd recommend it to fans of elder scrolls since it's familiar in that it's an open world RPG. However, unlike elder scrolls the game is actually challenging, albeit with weaker combat mechanics. The best part to me is the environment which is beautiful. You can pick up plans and interact with it anywhere. ABOUT the bugs - many people complain about them, do they not know there is a COMMUNITY PATCH that has been in the works for years and fixes everything? I've been playing with that patch and nothing is broken, the game has crashed only twice in 30 hours of play. SO overall - great RPG, I wouldn't say the best due to mediocre story and fighting mechanics, but pretty damn good.… Expand
  7. desik
    Aug 5, 2011
    10
    The effort and ambition put into this game is seen in every corner of it's world. Too bad Piranha Bytes didn't have time to polish it. When playing the game I recommend to ignore little bugs and shuttering, and enjoy the art. My favourite Gothic title, and favourite RPG.
  8. JakeCovik
    Nov 4, 2006
    10
    ...it is out of sense to put in here extremely unjust and subiective opinions (vide games(TM) a foritori RewiredMind); "thanks" to this the average score of game is underrated; on the other hand - it is interesting that for example TES IV was not rated this way ;-); by the way in order to gain the resultant score it is important to take into consideration more published reviews, the...it is out of sense to put in here extremely unjust and subiective opinions (vide games(TM) a foritori RewiredMind); "thanks" to this the average score of game is underrated; on the other hand - it is interesting that for example TES IV was not rated this way ;-); by the way in order to gain the resultant score it is important to take into consideration more published reviews, the score based only on 8 opinions (within 2 extremly subiective) cannot be authoritative...after al l You are really interesting website ;-).… Expand
  9. JohnJ.
    Oct 22, 2006
    9
    The Gothic series has always been about reality. In Gothic 1 you enter a prison of sorts, full of criminals that mostly have much nastier pasts than you. It is a rebellious state that is very rough around the edges and NPC's that will beat you up or kill you, stealing all your ore while their at it, just for looking at them wrong! Gothic 1 was the first RPG where I really did not The Gothic series has always been about reality. In Gothic 1 you enter a prison of sorts, full of criminals that mostly have much nastier pasts than you. It is a rebellious state that is very rough around the edges and NPC's that will beat you up or kill you, stealing all your ore while their at it, just for looking at them wrong! Gothic 1 was the first RPG where I really did not like certain NPC's and really wanted to raise my skills to show them what for - not just so I could save the world or wear fancy armour or buy armour for my horse, etc. Anyone buying any of the Gothic games, including Gothic 3, are just going to have to realise that you are a weak character at the start of the game, and guess what, everybody else mostly isn't! That gee whiz, you have never handled a sword in your life, but go anywhere you want and find 'trainee beasts' that are lacking in skills just for you (ala Oblivion), whereas in any type of real world if you can't yet handle a weapon, you DON'T go anywhere near any darn beast - anywhere! That as an unskilled fighter you would be respectful and a little scared of those around you, who you knew had much better skills. That's Gothic. REAL. Gothic 3 is no different. So despite all the reviews you're going to see comparing it with Oblivion. It isn't. It is much less hand-holding and much more real. We need more games like this, not less. Because it is not easy it will get 80's rather than 90's, but that doesn;t change the fact that this game, like Gothic 1 and 2 will become GAMER classics, even if the media 'doesn't get it'. So if you have only played Morrowind or maybe even just Oblivion, Gothic is a whole different beast. Make no judgements at all until you've played the game for at least an hour and have levelled up at least once. And get used to the fact, even while you're installing it, that Gothic ain't never gonna be no Oblivion - and it's all the better for it!… Expand
  10. Mark
    Nov 22, 2006
    10
    Absolutely fantastic game, the world is alive, breathing and kicking. The game has a lot of atmosphere, much better NPCs than the sterile Oblivion and I admit has some bugs, but to me they are nothing compared to the feeling of being a part of a living, interactive world where choices have REAL consequences as opposed to Oblivion, to which this game often gets compared. I sincerely hope Absolutely fantastic game, the world is alive, breathing and kicking. The game has a lot of atmosphere, much better NPCs than the sterile Oblivion and I admit has some bugs, but to me they are nothing compared to the feeling of being a part of a living, interactive world where choices have REAL consequences as opposed to Oblivion, to which this game often gets compared. I sincerely hope that the PB guys do another game in this style. For everyone who really loves RPG`s or simply an atmospheric , enjoyable world with memorable NPCs, Buy it and play it.… Expand
  11. BIA_RIGGS
    Jun 30, 2014
    10
    Anyone looking to get this game will not be upset after applying the patches. The game was rough when it first came out, that's no lie. It really is one of the best.
  12. MichaelV.
    Nov 25, 2006
    10
    This game really rocks despite some bugs that can be bothersome. Once ones get used to the bugs, they are not bothersome anymore. I have played both WOW and Oblivion for countless hours. This game is as addictive and engaging as WOW. It is as beautiful as Oblivion, and I only play it at the medium detail level with nvidia 7600GT 512mb AGP. The reviewers who gave it low scores are really This game really rocks despite some bugs that can be bothersome. Once ones get used to the bugs, they are not bothersome anymore. I have played both WOW and Oblivion for countless hours. This game is as addictive and engaging as WOW. It is as beautiful as Oblivion, and I only play it at the medium detail level with nvidia 7600GT 512mb AGP. The reviewers who gave it low scores are really doing injustices to this game. I highly recommend this game to any RPG fan out there.… Expand
  13. LamaL
    Dec 23, 2009
    10
    There was never such a game in history, where you can really do everything. Just go out in the forest, see a camp fire, hear ppl talk, just listen to them, rob them, or join them to beat up some bandits or monsters, its all there. I never played such a wonderful game, the only game getting near G3 is Gothic 2, but G3 is way bigger. and you cant compare this game to a shooter or other There was never such a game in history, where you can really do everything. Just go out in the forest, see a camp fire, hear ppl talk, just listen to them, rob them, or join them to beat up some bandits or monsters, its all there. I never played such a wonderful game, the only game getting near G3 is Gothic 2, but G3 is way bigger. and you cant compare this game to a shooter or other RPGs, G3 is so much more complex. There are no glitches anymore, its really funny, dramatic, thrilling, and the graphics are unbelievable, u can see miles from horizon to horizon, falling stars at night, campfires for miles through the trees, ... I would buy it again, but i already own it, and i spent month in this world, so if you havent played it yet, you are lucky to get it for cheap over steam. you will get some month of real fun with it.… Expand
  14. JustLove
    Sep 2, 2010
    10
    This game is awesome. While it's basic version 1.00 was full of bugs, and i should know, as i have been working in the industry for more then half a year, many however have been fixed with the last community patch. The graphics was mind blowing, keeping the feeling of amazement that stroked me ever since the 1st game of the series, the different ways you can solve various quest in theThis game is awesome. While it's basic version 1.00 was full of bugs, and i should know, as i have been working in the industry for more then half a year, many however have been fixed with the last community patch. The graphics was mind blowing, keeping the feeling of amazement that stroked me ever since the 1st game of the series, the different ways you can solve various quest in the game that shape the outcome are welcomed giving the user the desire to replay the game in a total different way.

    The alternate AI balancing has compensated for the easiness of the gameplay in version 1.00, and also like i mentioned before many bugs were solved, including the permanent items exploit which really gave you an unbeatable advantage.

    The only thing that was fairly disappointing was that the end "movies" consist of only a slide show with pictures and voice over, which is less than the average user would expect after the intro video.    … Expand
  15. dbrown1986
    Jul 27, 2011
    9
    After having teamed up with JoWood, Piranha-Bytes set out to create the next title in the Gothic series. Gothic III. Unlike its predecessors, Gothic III brought numerous improvements that players had wanted since the first game. Piranha started from scrap creating an entirely new engine with incredibly immerse and WONDERFULLY realistic graphics. The forging system has been overhauled, asAfter having teamed up with JoWood, Piranha-Bytes set out to create the next title in the Gothic series. Gothic III. Unlike its predecessors, Gothic III brought numerous improvements that players had wanted since the first game. Piranha started from scrap creating an entirely new engine with incredibly immerse and WONDERFULLY realistic graphics. The forging system has been overhauled, as well as alchemy, hunting and others, what's even better is the new options to cook certain foods and recipes as well as PROSPECTING, YES you can now MINE minerals instead of endlessly hunting for them. The new lands present in this game are HUGE in content and the continent itself is GIGANTIC. Piranha went out on an arm and a leg for this one.
     
    Unfortunately, JoWood; interested only in their numbers forced Piranha-Bytes to GOLD the game before they had time to iron it out and perform a decent amount of QA (Quality Assurance), although the main quests and most of the side quests, as well as content, story and NPC's were ready, the game was RIDDLED with hundreds if not THOUSANDS of bugs that most players had to wait for the Enhanced Edition Community Patch to fix.
     
    It's worth the time and money to play, but you are DEFINITELY going to need to download the latest community patch to play this game.
     
    Fact: After JoWood forced the release. Piranha-Bytes left JoWood. JoWood still retaining the rights to Gothic, sold them to DreamCatcher, who released the Gothic Universe Boxset (Gothic 1, Gothic II Gold and Gothic 3). Dreamcatcher released Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods and it was horrible. To date, no Gothic game after Gothic 3 has ever been released by Piranha-Bytes.
     
    Now, I'm going to go play Gothic IV: Arcania to see if it's any good, will write a review on it later.    … Expand
  16. Artery
    Jan 4, 2010
    9
    Very great game! You must play it, with CP Patch 1.74! The German Fancommunity fixed all bugs and fixed the balancing! With this patch version, its a great game. Without bugs. A great world, many lovely created Quests and a nice story! Many Perks and Weapons and a cool hero, makes the game to a very great RPG! But I think at some points the story is very obscure :D To go in a Tempel for a Very great game! You must play it, with CP Patch 1.74! The German Fancommunity fixed all bugs and fixed the balancing! With this patch version, its a great game. Without bugs. A great world, many lovely created Quests and a nice story! Many Perks and Weapons and a cool hero, makes the game to a very great RPG! But I think at some points the story is very obscure :D To go in a Tempel for a artefact, I have to kill many Zombies, then I must conquer a city and kill all Orcs at the Tempel and after this I have to kill every Zombie in the Tempel : But its still a very great RPG! At world of Gothic.de u can download all patches! And withthem its a very great game!!… Expand
  17. TomM.
    Nov 26, 2006
    10
    This is an incredible game. There is no other RPG game that comes close to acheiving the realism of this game. Very addicting. No speed issues. No bugs (running patch 1.09).. No crashes. Shame on GameSpy and other reviewers for trashing this game. They are reviewing their inadequate hardware and not the game.
  18. SavvasV.
    Aug 13, 2007
    9
    Much better than Oblivion... Lucks on the fighting and use of the sword. A master piece of its area.
  19. Czar
    Nov 27, 2006
    9
    A game so good that I can easily forgive its failings. It is such a exciting and vibrant world that you play in. It feels rich and full and drives you to keep exploring. Obviously, I am hoping that jo wood fixes some remaining problems. While I enjoyed Oblivion I find myself thinking about Gothic 3 all the time and can't wait to get home and put in a few more hours.
  20. LeeroyJ.
    Mar 27, 2008
    9
    This game has awesome graphics and potentially awesome combat (like the previous two). The fast-frame rate of the wolves attacking you can piss you off, but once you step back then do a left click attack (while timing it) its pretty damn easy- especially when you're wielding 2 weapons. Magic is incredibly fun to use like the other two, and as you're character branches out in the This game has awesome graphics and potentially awesome combat (like the previous two). The fast-frame rate of the wolves attacking you can piss you off, but once you step back then do a left click attack (while timing it) its pretty damn easy- especially when you're wielding 2 weapons. Magic is incredibly fun to use like the other two, and as you're character branches out in the later levels, you'll get to summon a giant metor, bring fire raining down, summon lightning, summon a demon, summon.....you know. This game isn't that buggy at all, my game rarely-if ever- crashes (2 gb of RAM is good for ya!) , and if only the media were to give a re-review of this patched game, the score would've been higher.… Expand
  21. MatTheCat
    Dec 21, 2009
    9
    I will keep this simple: Gothic 3 (without Community Patch 1.73) 4/10 Gothic 3 (with CP 1.73) 9/10
  22. tondo22
    Jan 26, 2014
    10
    Patched, awesome. Not everything is perfect, but Gothic 3 is a fu*king good game with a huge and beautiful world, where killing an animal or completing a quest still matters. Music, atmosphere, graphics, old friends from gothic 1 and 2, quests, replayability, this is how a game should look. Nowadays you dont need to level up to finish a game, you just smash everything that comes in yourPatched, awesome. Not everything is perfect, but Gothic 3 is a fu*king good game with a huge and beautiful world, where killing an animal or completing a quest still matters. Music, atmosphere, graphics, old friends from gothic 1 and 2, quests, replayability, this is how a game should look. Nowadays you dont need to level up to finish a game, you just smash everything that comes in your way, never feeling any satisfaction. Gothic is one of the few games that make you feel like you´ve achieved something after long hours of playing. May lack some things its predecessors had, but Gothic 3 is still one of the best RPGs ever created. I would rate it 9/10, because of the slightly weaker main story, 9.5 maybe, cause I loved it and didn´t mind those bugs that came with the release. 10/10 to balance all da haters, who played the game with bugs right after the (forced) release and gave it 0/10 because of the frustration.… Expand
  23. Joewashere
    Aug 8, 2019
    9
    Do you remember the days when "Open World" still sounded like a promise? When exploring a vast, beautiful continent without artificial boundaries seemed to be the future of RPG's? When the hope for freedom wasn't yet tainted by games with countless repetitive quests, boring trash mobs and soulless landscapes without any memorability? Enter Gothic 3, the latest part of Piranha Bytes' iconicDo you remember the days when "Open World" still sounded like a promise? When exploring a vast, beautiful continent without artificial boundaries seemed to be the future of RPG's? When the hope for freedom wasn't yet tainted by games with countless repetitive quests, boring trash mobs and soulless landscapes without any memorability? Enter Gothic 3, the latest part of Piranha Bytes' iconic action-RPG - series, released in 2006.

    In a beautifully handcrafted world you, the nameless hero, can decide to either help the human rebels to fight the Orcs who have occupied the kingdom of Myrtana, - or to help the occupants in their strive for power. Depending on your choice, in the course of the game the world will change, and so will the ending sequence, of which there are three. Rarely has an open world game managed to build such a poetic, yet believable world. Here, exploring still is a real adventure.

    But the memorable scenery is not the only aspect making the game a unique experience: Gothic 3 has probably the most wonderful soundtrack ever created for a videogame. Kai Rosenkranz, who was responsible for the first two Gothic's soundtracks as well, managed to create his ultimate masterpiece, and it would be worth playing the game for the soundtrack alone.

    Once again, Piranha Bytes have proven to be masters of creating an exceptional world with dense atmosphere, and playing this gem is highly recommended! If you do so, make sure to install the latest Community Patch though, since playing it without these unofficial patches can make it a hassle.

    With the latest patches installed however, Gothic 3 is an example of what open world RPG's could be.    … Expand
  24. DaveA.
    Nov 25, 2006
    10
    I like this game very much, I play it every day. I have no problems with bugs or performance, ok sometimes a quest don´t work but it dosen´t matter. Buy it, play it and love it!
  25. BraydonS
    Dec 6, 2009
    9
    I got this game when it first came out, i was extremely dissapointed with how many glitches there were. Recently i got bored and decided to go through my cuboard of games i dont play anymore. I decided to give gothic 3 another go now that it haz been patched. Now that the it has been patched the game is very enjoyable its only once in a blue moon that i come across a glitch now, i I got this game when it first came out, i was extremely dissapointed with how many glitches there were. Recently i got bored and decided to go through my cuboard of games i dont play anymore. I decided to give gothic 3 another go now that it haz been patched. Now that the it has been patched the game is very enjoyable its only once in a blue moon that i come across a glitch now, i reccomend you buy this game off steam or from a local retailer, trust me its worth it… Expand
  26. mrrgl
    Sep 10, 2011
    9
    I picked up this game very recently, about six years after it's release date. For reference, I played and enjoyed Gothic 1 and am a generally big fan of the RPG genre; Fallout 1 and 2 are my alltime faves. Gothic 3 ultimately turned out to be one of the most memorable RPG experiences of my life. You're faced with deep moral dilemmas; often, helping the obviously "good" faction will runI picked up this game very recently, about six years after it's release date. For reference, I played and enjoyed Gothic 1 and am a generally big fan of the RPG genre; Fallout 1 and 2 are my alltime faves. Gothic 3 ultimately turned out to be one of the most memorable RPG experiences of my life. You're faced with deep moral dilemmas; often, helping the obviously "good" faction will run counter to your overall goals. You're also faced with some serious exploration challenges. The world is rich and well constructed and overwhelmingly immersive and beautiful. I'm still haunted by visions of wandering around half-covered desert ruins during a sandstorm. There are multiple paths and ways to finish the game. The questing and stories are very very open ended, as in you can follow several different paths in any order you like, which does have it's downsides; without a linear path in a game, you can often miss out on crucial character/skill development steps or alternatively jump way ahead to end-game level items at a very early stage. Such is the price of freedom. For example, my path led to very early acquisition of top of the line sword and bow very early on while completely being ignorant of the existence of learnable magic skills until it was too late in the game for me to care. This is a good thing in my opinion (kind of like being stuck with your initial attributes in a D&D game and having to make the best of it). Many players won't like this of course. If you want to make a "mage" or a "druid", you're going to have to bypass any immersion and jump straight to meta-gaming, walkthroughs, and faqs. On to the combat. Combat is perhaps the most criticized aspect of the game. Two reasons; first, you can get very far by randomly swinging. This is true and unfortunate though possibly remedied by playing on hard mode. That being said, as I started to actually learn how combat worked, I learned that swing spamming made kills take a very very long time compared to use of calculated precise heavy blows or combos. For example, it might take 10 light spammed attacks to take down a human guard, while a well-timed poisoned thrust followed by a single strong attack can take the same guy down in seconds. Learning how to sidestep enemy attacks and how to take down enemies fast is a challenge and ultimately fun and rewarding. Second, combat is often criticized for being too hard! the "stun lock" combos are often mentioned. Let's make this clear; if you let a wolf past your guard and into your face, yes you are screwed. It's going to tear your throat out and can be very dangerous no matter what stage of the game you're at. And this is considered a bad thing? A wolf pack remains throughout the game one of the most dangerous things to engage, and I personally think that is great. With practice and patience you can learn to take out these "stun lock" beasts using, you got it, skill and quick attacks to keep them away from your throat. Another complaint about combat that I see people mentioning is how quickly you can be taken down... the leveling system in this game is unique in that when you level, you get absolutely nothing other than "learning points" which you can use however you see fit. If you are dying in a couple of hits, maybe invest in some more health. Overall one of the best "true" hard core RPG experiences available in the current world of illusory freedom and the substitution of bells and whistles for truly morally engaging situations. My only remaining complains a few days after completing the game? Save game and load game times are terrible, but given the high difficulty of the game, you will be doing both often. There can be a frustrating lack of information regarding where quest objectives are located; I don't expect to be hand held, but when a quest giver tells me to look for a missing person on a mountain, I expect to find them on the mountain. I think that more should have been explained to players outright, such as "this is not a typical RPG, you can and will get your ass kicked at every stage of the game if you get at all careless." Gothic 3 is indeed still rough around the edges but a must-have for any true fans of the RPS genre.… Expand
  27. zupergozer
    Aug 24, 2011
    8
    this game disappointed me because it was nowhere near as good as gothic II but it was still a good game

    the world map is huge with three different terrains (snow, woodland and a desert) but the story is still very immersible and the graphics are also better but what killed 2 points of the game for me is the combat, the combat is horrible it has no gameplay whatsoever you just keep    this game disappointed me because it was nowhere near as good as gothic II but it was still a good game

    the world map is huge with three different terrains (snow, woodland and a desert) but the story is still very immersible and the graphics are also better

    but what killed 2 points of the game for me is the combat, the combat is horrible it has no gameplay whatsoever you just keep tapping the mouse button like a mentally ill until everyone dies

    because when you hit something he gets stunned for a second and when he recovers you hit him again which causes a very boring cycle of pressing the mouse but what is also a problem is that this also happens to you
    you can have a lvl 50 character that still gets murdered by a **** lvl 1 boar because the thing give you no chance to hit it and when you die you have to watch at the loading screen for an entire minute

    overall it is a good game but the combat butt **** the **** out of this game    … Expand
  28. Rater
    Dec 1, 2006
    9
    The game has some errors and runs a bit slow but is otherwise superior. It have given it a 10 but the erros low the rating slightly.
  29. DannyR.
    Nov 8, 2007
    9
    Yes it's bugged, but I found it worth going through regardless. I will also say it's bloody difficult too. For those who like to compare any game set in medieval europe like scenery to Oblivion please stop, it looks alike and that's about it. Gothic 3 is very much more combat orientated. It's also big, well humoured in places and I will say beautiful too. Had to use Yes it's bugged, but I found it worth going through regardless. I will also say it's bloody difficult too. For those who like to compare any game set in medieval europe like scenery to Oblivion please stop, it looks alike and that's about it. Gothic 3 is very much more combat orientated. It's also big, well humoured in places and I will say beautiful too. Had to use this game to show off (and explain) HDR effects to my girlfriend. Then I had to explain why I'm such a geek.… Expand
  30. GeorgeE.
    Oct 31, 2007
    9
    I give this game a solid 9, I just took out the perfect score because of the huge amount of bugs. I wish I played it without bugs but well... Hey, I love this game with all my nerves and it really is true to all what the franchise came to be, a game that is so dynamic that it goes on without the player and doesn't wait for one to move along. Truly a fantastic experience and I can I give this game a solid 9, I just took out the perfect score because of the huge amount of bugs. I wish I played it without bugs but well... Hey, I love this game with all my nerves and it really is true to all what the franchise came to be, a game that is so dynamic that it goes on without the player and doesn't wait for one to move along. Truly a fantastic experience and I can understand when this game is sometimes favored over, also another masterpiece, Oblivion.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Most Discussed PC Game of 2006
10
#10 Most Shared PC Game of 2006

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
63

Mixed or average reviews - based on 39 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 39
  3. Negative: 7 out of 39
  1. PC Zone UK
    85
    The game manages to blend just the right amounts of combat, NPC interaction, character development, exploration, and epic save-the-world storytelling into the sort of potion that your typical beardie will gulp down with wild-eyed abandon. [Dec 2006, p.94]
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  2. Eurogamer
    80
    At times gorgeous, at other times frustrating, it's worth persevering with just to bask in its snug atmosphere.
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  3. PC Format
    65
    Ditch your standards and enjoy shaping a mediocre world to your will. [Dec 2006, p.105]
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