Gothic 2

by Atari

Product Features

• Enter a medieval world where magic, alchemy, monsters and intrigue all coexist. You'll go seeking treasure while you navigate hidden threats, tenuous alliances and powerful enemies.
• Gain in experience and power as you face monsters in combat with medieval weapons
• Collect the circles of power to give your character supernatural abilities
• Interact with over 400 different NPCs as you seek clues and help to earn the treasure of a lifetime!

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000069D75
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: October 28, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,332 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Edition: Standard

From the Manufacturer

When you're in need of something and don't know where to find it, go to Khorinis. There you can surely buy it. -- Saying (author unknown)

The mine valley of Khorinis. The glorious days of the once productive mines in this small seaside region were long over. Surrounded by the impenetrable magical barrier, the slaves eked out their miserable existence in this apparently natural prison.

One brave man managed to burst the bonds of imprisonment. Following his own call to freedom, he ventured deep into the subterranean temples. Willing to do whatever was necessary, he went out to banish Evil and destroy the magical barrier forever. Spurred by the hatred of men long-suppressed, the prisoners streamed trough the only pass to freedom.

No one in Khorinis had been prepared for this. Too long had they lived under the deceptive notion of security granted by the apparently indestructible magical dome. The small militia garrison could not put up enough forces against the onrush. After numerous bloody clashes, many captives escaped and found safety in the woods or rugged mountains of the surrounding countryside.

The steadily escalating number of raids in the vicinity of the town wall and the bandits' ever-increasing boldness seemed to paralyze the whole town. Angered by the militia's inability to protect their farms, some of the farmers formed an alliance with the refugees, no longer willing to pay allegiance to the king.

Khorinis is facing an uncertain future. Due to the farmers' decreasing production, more and more of the food deliveries do not take place, and the stocks diminish continuously. The militia's might ends at the town gate. Outside the town wall, nobody is safe from the bandits' armed raids.

There is war in Khorinis. A civil war.

But there is something else that could not be foreseen. Evil is not dead, rearing its ugly head again. But this time it is set on delivering the deathblow to humanity, and no one can stop it.

No one?

Product Description

Gothic II is a hybrid RPG with a massive 3D world waiting for you to explore it!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Single Player RPG I have ever played, May 2, 2004

By 

Jon E Kakaley (Charlotte, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gothic II (CD-ROM)

I have played nearly every major single player RPG (and some wierd obscure ones for that matter), and this game is the best out of all of them.

GRAPHICS:
The graphics in this game are very good but not perfect. The world detail is truly amazing and it better than any other RPG I know of. Dense forests, towering stone castles, icy mountain tops, etc etc, this game has it all. The character detail is pretty good to, much better than Morrowind and Neverwinter Nights. I also like the armor and weapon detail too. It is always a treat when I get a new piece of armor or a weapon to try it on and see how it looks, and unlike other games, the better the armors rating is the cooler it looks. The special effects for spells are pretty good, but not quite as good as Neverwinter Nights if you are looking for a comparison.

The lighting detail could be better. Another thing is I wished they would of made things more reflective. The armor is kind of shiny, but it would be really sweet if they made it so you could see your reflection in someone's armor. Also, the water detail isn't all that great. The animations aren't that great either. They did a good job with coordinating gestures and facial expressions with speech, but combat animations aren't really that great.

Overall the graphics are very good, and certainly at the top of any RPG, but it's certainly not Doom III.

SOUND:
This game has the best sound I have heard in any RPG - full surround and environmental effects. Another thing that is awesome is that everything is spoken, none of the dialogue is subtitled. I read somewhere that there is nine hours of recorded speech in this game, and this adds a lot to the game play. The voice acting isn't' all that bad as someone a few rows down mentioned, but I think it is pretty good for 9 hours of recorded speech.

CONTROLS:
The controls aren't the best, and there are games with a lot better controls out there, but you get used to the controls fast and it really isn't a problem at all.

GAMEPLAY:
This is where this game really shines. This is the most nonlinear single player game I have ever played, topping even morrowind. I would go so far as to say that this game is more non-linear than some online RPG's out there. The storyline is very gripping and is up there with Baldur's Gate II.

NPC's have schedules. For example, a potion maker might wake up, get some breakfast, go out in the woods to collect herbs, come back and brew potions, go to the local tavern to get a few drinks, and then finally go back to his house and go to sleep. To give you an idea of how this effects game play, here is and example of a quest I did in the game: for a quest I needed to beat someone up, but I couldn't do it in front of the guards in plain daylight. I waited until night and followed him home from the tavern and beat the hell out of him while he was in a dark alley and no one was looking.

The character development system isn't as elaborate as Dungeons and Dragons, but it is to the point and gets the job done very well. I actually like it a little better than Dungeon's and Dragons. You can learn different skills like brewing your own potions, making your own weapons, skinning animals, creating spells, etc etc.

I also like the way they did the economy and items in this game. Gold never loses it's value, ever. Another thing is that you're not always getting a new weapon or armor to look at every two seconds like in Diablo. Whenever you get a new item it is a pretty big thing and helps you out a lot. They did an excellent job of balancing this game in that respect.

Combat is probably the weakest part of the game play, but it is still very fun. Mainly this has to do with the controls and the graphics, because combat is not nicely animated like it is in Neverwinter Nights. You should mind though, that I am being very hard on this game, and combat is still extremely fun. I am merely pointing out that it could be better.

OVERALL
This is an excellent game. It isn't perfect, but it's good points are really good, and they more than cancel out the bad points(which aren't very many) and defiantly gets my five stars.

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An hour later, you are hooked!, February 2, 2004

By 

Markus Egger "www.MarkusEgger.com/blog" (Spring, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gothic II (CD-ROM)

At first, I didn't think very highly of this game. But of course, how much of a different experience can you have within a few minutes? About an hour into the game however, I realized what a gem this is!

The Gothic 2 game world is beautiful and rich in detail. There is lots to do, and lots to see. And I think this is one of the major selling points this game has going for itself. It is a rarity for a game to have a sophisticated story line, and this game does. A lot of the things that happen do not require you to fight, which is also a rarity, and a welcome change. The world itself is more believable than other game worlds. Just walk into somebody's house, and they will get very upset and call the guards. Draw your sword in the middle of town, and people will not be happy either. It's just a lot more immersive than other games. Although some of the characters do get repetitive over time.

The fighting system takes a bit to get used to. At first, I hated it, but then I got to like it. Basically, one holds the left mouse button and uses movement keys to launch attacks or to defend yourself. This is a bit unusual and hard to coordinate at first. Once you get used to it however, it sometimes allows the player to win fights that one wouldn't win if it all just depended on a role of the dice. So overall, I like the combat system, I like that they had some new ideas there, but I do wish the exact implementation was slightly different. Overall, this is not a big problem though.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Can Get Past the Clumsy Interface and Controls....., January 16, 2004

By 

Chris (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gothic II (CD-ROM)

Both Gothic I & II are two of my favorite RPG's in the last few years. But... there is one disclaimer about the Gothic series before you give it a try. Admittedly, it does have a poor interface and some of the clumsiest controls you'll encounter in an action oriented RPG. The game plays like Morrowind with its 3rd person view but your hero isn't as easy to control. If you were frustrated with Gothic I (and you won't be the first person) but you still want to try a new RPG, my advice would be to pick up the sequel, Gothic II, because it fixes a lot of the common complaints from the first game. The events in Gothic II don't require you to know the story in Gothic I so no matter what your reasons for skipping the first game, you can start with the second game and not lose a whole lot. (If you're a fan of the history in the story though, it does help to play the first game.) Also, explore the web a little too because there are some good Gothic websites that can help you out as the instructions aren't the greatest. Don't be afraid to purchase the game because of these warnings though because if you really want to know why the game has its faults, it's because it was designed by a tiny group of programmers in Germany determined to build the ultimate RPG. While they didn't have the same funding or hype an RPG giant like Neverwinter Nights did, they still did a very admirable job and I've had just as much fun with Gothic as other titles that have received better press and ratings. The attributes of your character are simple compared to most RPG's but the game almost plays like an offline MMORPG with its character progression and exploration. The game begins with a cut scene that explains the events of Gothic I and suffering from side effects of the powerful magic in his final battle in the first game, your hero begin anew with his skills and inventory. The game has some unique characteristics such as night/day, NPC's that respond to home invasion, NPC's that actually sleep at night, and other simple but critical elements that make the game feel more alive. Gothic won't hold your hand and lead you through the game like too many mainstream titles these days so make sure you save often. It's not an easy game to pick up but once you get into it, you'll disocover that it's one heck of an addictive game and probably be a fan of the Gothic series for life.

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