Gothic II (PC)

+ Lovely world that will remain lovely, even after the graphics are out of date. (Gothic 1 still has a beutifull world, despite its 1999 graphics, its just good map design.)
+ Excellent npc interaction system, Listen to npc's talk to each other in the taverns, let npc's take you to your destination, choose if you want to be pollite or rude, you get a lot of freedom in what you want to say. (the communication system is like fallout or monkey island 1+2)
+ Really good enemy AI, monsters often pose a threatening stance to scare you away, wolves howl for other wolves to gang up on you, Some enemy's may stop chasing you if they encounter somthing they prefere more. IE rats and dead flesh, Wolves and sheep.
+ Every single line of diolouge is spoken audio. No wonder there are 3 CD's!
+ Extremely interactive world with the ability to cook food, chop wood, smelt weapons and mine ore, if you choose to do so.
+ Numerous ways to achive the quests in the game. Great for replay value!
+ A usable 1st person option this time round.
+ Plot continues from the 1st gothic title.....
+ .....but you don't need to have played gothic to understand it!
+ Faster loading time than gothic 1......
- ..... but it's still annoying waiting that long for maps to load.
- Still has the clipping problems that Gothic 1 had. (To the same level as marrowind. It's slight but I consider jerking around if your walking on a fence a clipping problem)
- Even with full reccomended specifications, you cannot achive full view distance with highest resolution.
- Can be unforgiving if you don't use your common sence...
- Ouch! How many times did I die?! Very hard, even for seasoned gamers.

Although I do have to say that the bad points are very much minor things and did not distract from the game for me. Want a percentage? Hey you! Here you are!.... 92% (thats from me!)

The game is graphically rich and while perhaps not as expansive in terms of landmass as say Morrowind, it manages to give a similar feel. The ability to move between interiors and exteriors without tedious loading of new sections also adds to the feel of a more interactive and real environment. This is further enhanced by the fact that when it gets dark people go to bed and they object if you start wandering round their house or looking in their property, also certain creatures are only seen during the hours of darkness/daylight.

While the plot could be said to be fairly stereotypical it doesn't deprive you of enjoyment because of it, the enemies come in a reasonable variety and each have their own particular quirks in behaviour - it is advisable to pay attention to these so future encounters can go more easily. The controls are adequate, once you learn to use them they feel reasonably intuitive though the inventory system is cumbersome and can be awkward to use in the middle of crisis moments.

I initially had some problems with the graphics but thanks to a responsive and helpful online community I was able to run the game without any difficulties and without rolling back my DirectX version to 8.1 or changing my graphic drivers to earlier versions.

Overall this is an immensely enjoyable game that has enough replay value to try the different career paths and subsequent plots. If you like rpg games then I would no hesitation in highly recommending it.