Standard fantasy adventuring
This is the final instalment in the German series of fantasy RPGs that began with Gothic and Gothic 2 and while it makes for a decent enough slice of adventuring, it lacks any real spark to make it stand out from the plethora of other such games on the market. If you've played the previous two games you are going to want to check this out, but newcomers might want to start with the originals or look elsewhere for their fantasy thrills. The story in this one does continue on from previous games so unless you have played those, you are likely to be a little lost but it basically sees the Nameless Hero getting caught up in an orcish invasion and having to choose which side to fight on. Gameplay is similar to other open world-style RPGs like the Elder Scrolls series or The Witcher and sees players wandering around various environments, picking up quests, slaying monsters and levelling themselves up. It's pretty standard stuff in most respects but a few novel features do help to give the game some personality of its own. The whole thing is open-ended and you are free to wander around as you please, while you can side with any of the six factions depending on your fancy. The combat system has seen a major upgrade from previous instalments, which has been streamlined and with more combos available, although despite the claims that the system brings a whole new level of strategy to battle, in reality excessive mouse clicking will see you through most engagements. Visually, the game has also been updated with a new graphics engine and while they are certainly impressive enough there isn't anything particularly original about the environments to explore or the creatures to be found within them. Really, this is the biggest issue with Gothic 3, that it simply doesn't offer anything a dozen other such games do. If you've played them all and are craving more then by all means check this out, just don't expect anything earth-shatteringly original.
