Arcania: Gothic 4

 Xbox 360
User Score
5.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 73 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 73
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 73
  3. Negative: 29 out of 73
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  1. RavenWolfx
    Oct 22, 2010
    6
    Unfortunately, there are more than a few issues with this game that knocked the game down from a higher score. The graphics are about average at best, with the female characters in the game being pretty fugly in the facial area. By design, foliage disappears as it is near you so you can see any items on the ground, but this actually makes the game look worse since you have constant pop-inUnfortunately, there are more than a few issues with this game that knocked the game down from a higher score. The graphics are about average at best, with the female characters in the game being pretty fugly in the facial area. By design, foliage disappears as it is near you so you can see any items on the ground, but this actually makes the game look worse since you have constant pop-in and fade around you. The enemies are really standard without much variety. The quests are run-of-the-mill affair, with the plot quests having the annoying "do this for this guy, but you can't until you do this other thing for this other guy, but oh wait you have to do this first, etc." There is not any character customization so everyone gets to use the same guy, though different armor and weapons make your character look different. There are several glitches, usually involving the clipping with area walls. There is just too many flaws and not enough good qualities to offset buying this game. I do recommend a rental (my endgame time was less than 12 hours) just not a $60 buy.… Expand
  2. Nosradna
    Mar 30, 2011
    5
    Arcania Gothic IV is a generic and AVERAGE RPG. First everyone starts as the same male character. The leveling system is very basic with only a few ways to differentiate characters. The achievements are impossible to attain in one play through. Three are collections based (the collectibles are impossible without a cheat book) and another achievement is based on selling every possible itemArcania Gothic IV is a generic and AVERAGE RPG. First everyone starts as the same male character. The leveling system is very basic with only a few ways to differentiate characters. The achievements are impossible to attain in one play through. Three are collections based (the collectibles are impossible without a cheat book) and another achievement is based on selling every possible item in the game. Combat is intuitive but switching between weapons is a bit clunky. NPC interaction is generic with no variable conversations and the voice acting is bland. The game is also very LINEAR and short in content (I completed all the quests and finished the game in 20 hours). I have come to expect an open world to explore however this game allows you to unlock small areas once you have completed the prior quest. DON'T BUY!! RENT this game… Expand
  3. czaczi87
    Oct 25, 2010
    5
    I'm very sad to say this, but the game is a dumbed-down Gothic. No, scratch that. This is not a Gothic game though you can find the same characters and plot reference from the previous installments.

    To begin with, Arcania is linear as hell. The game is constructed in such a way that you cannot visit the areas which the authors didn't intend you to visit - there's always a boulder blocking    I'm very sad to say this, but the game is a dumbed-down Gothic. No, scratch that. This is not a Gothic game though you can find the same characters and plot reference from the previous installments.

    To begin with, Arcania is linear as hell. The game is constructed in such a way that you cannot visit the areas which the authors didn't intend you to visit - there's always a boulder blocking the way, a permit to pass the bridge, a closed door to which you must be given the key. It is a real letdown, especially when you remember the vast landscapes from G2 or G3.

    There are a lot more things that you are not allowed to do. You cannot sleep (so you won't be able to wait through the night or heavy rain). You are not able to attack any NPC. Also, you cannot pick-pocket them, though no one reacts when you steal stuff from their houses, chests, etc., whereas in the previous games you had to be very clever to be a burglar. You don't need to find teachers to learn new skills and you actually don't fell any stronger when you reach a new experience level.

    The combat system is that of a typical slasher - you mash the attack button, evade blows, but blocking them with your shield makes no sense. There is a glitch with the ranged weapon system. You can kill every monster just by shooting from your bow/crossbow and walking backwards. The enemies go forward with the same speed as you go backward. I had to use this bug a lot, because when I was playing on the hard difficulty I had little chance of survival when fighting a large group of enemies. Btw. Every spell caster in this game is a pain in the ass.

    The graphics on the Xbox 360 are average at best, most of the time they just suck. Throughout the game you will notice that the characters use 4-5 face patterns and the enemies from the same group use the same models (wolf, black wolf, lurking wolf etc. they all look the same). The game has huge framerate issues. Most of the time you get 20 fps, but when you fight larger groups of enemies it's much worse than that. The music is fine, I guess, but the voice acting is rather poor and I can't find any memorable performances.

    The story is a typical from zero to hero, chosen-one bullcrap. They killed my wife - Revenge!!! Nothing worth mentioning, but then again the story with paladins and dragons from Gothic 2 wasn't better. Oh, and you can forget about interesting quests like the ones from Oblivion. Most of the time it's your standard MMORPG package. Go fetch me 5 mushrooms, kill 6 boars, activate 3 magical stones etc. Boring as hell.

    Okay, the good stuff: I guess there is a lot of loot to plunder, the combat isn't that bad, there is a item crafting system and... That's all. Every other aspect of the game is either poor or mediocre. You feel that the game needs some serious polishing and most of the mechanisms should be built from scratch.

    I seriously don't know how I made it to the end. Oh, and it took me about 19 hours to finish it. I hope my review will be of some help to those who are not convinced whether or not to buy it. My advice? Wait for Two Worlds 2. I give it a 5/10    … Expand
  4. Larux18
    Dec 19, 2011
    7
    A lot of people seemed to hate this game, maybe because the beginning really sucks and the story doesn't really evolve until the last 6-7 hours but Arcania: Gothic 4 was still enjoyable despite having a lot of problems. There are many good things about this game, the graphics look amazing for a console game and I really appreciate that, the world is huge and fun to explore, and there is aA lot of people seemed to hate this game, maybe because the beginning really sucks and the story doesn't really evolve until the last 6-7 hours but Arcania: Gothic 4 was still enjoyable despite having a lot of problems. There are many good things about this game, the graphics look amazing for a console game and I really appreciate that, the world is huge and fun to explore, and there is a good amount of side-quests to keep you busy meanwhile you play this game. Even though there is a good amount of positive things there is always the bad, the voice acting deeply sucks, the facial design is horrible, the difficulty passes from really easy to balls hard near the ending, the controls are not good enough, and the problems go on and on. This game isn't just for everyone and long-time fans of the Gothic series may be really disappointed but however, RPG fans may just wait and buy it at twenty dollars or simply just rent it to see if they like it, there is still a chance that this game may be good for some and that's why you should try it.… Expand
  5. LordArticus
    Nov 28, 2010
    5
    This being the first game i have played of the Gothic series, i think i have a non bias opinion on this game... The story is not compelling, the game is way to easy even on the hardest mode, the crafting would be great if the difficulty of the game was harder, but because you can defeat every enemy just by sidestepping most of the items go unused and are only worth the points they add toThis being the first game i have played of the Gothic series, i think i have a non bias opinion on this game... The story is not compelling, the game is way to easy even on the hardest mode, the crafting would be great if the difficulty of the game was harder, but because you can defeat every enemy just by sidestepping most of the items go unused and are only worth the points they add to your gamer-score… Expand

Awards & Rankings

84
#84 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2010
45
#45 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2010

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
64

Mixed or average reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 21
  3. Negative: 1 out of 21
  1. Cynamite
    Jan 16, 2011
    75
    On the PC, Arcania: Gothic 4 is a good action-rpg for inexperienced players. But the graphics on the Xbox 360 are this horrible, that you can't really enjoy the quests or the fights.
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  2. MondoXbox
    Jan 11, 2011
    50
    An underwhelming RPG with a shoddy story and poor techincal side. There's much better around.
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  3. Console Monster
    Jan 11, 2011
    60
    Arcania turns out to be a passable RPG, it has pleasant enough locations and plenty of quests to get stuck into, even if they do feel a bit similar to each other. The timing of such a generic release couldn't have come at a worse time however, and with Fable III and Fallout New Vegas also vying for attention, Arcania is a pretty hard sell.
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