Gothic 3

October 13, 2006

Piranha Bytes

Aspyr Media, JoWooD Productions Software, Nordic Games Publishing, DreamCatcher Interactive, Deep Silver

Genome, SpeedTree, PhysX

User221 ratings

Critic3 ratings

Total224 ratings

Role-playing (RPG)Adventure

Single player

First person, Third person

ActionFantasySandboxOpen world

Summary

Gothic 3 is a fantasy-themed role-playing game for Windows from the German game developer Piranha Bytes. It is the sequel to Gothic II. Although widely available in English, the native release of the game is German. The game was released throughout the European Union on October 13, 2006 and became available throughout North America starting November 20, 2006. The North American release incorporates two patches that appeared after the initial UK edition. A Collector's Edition was also released containing bonus collectible material. JoWooD released a standalone expansion, entitled Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods, on November 21, 2008.

Storyline

The third part opens with the Nameless Hero and his friends sailing to a new continent overrun with orcs, arriving in the Myrtana, the central region of the continent. The hero lost all his stuff from the previous game when his ship is stolen while he's onshore with Milten, Diego, Gorn, and Lester. Presumably this is the source of the orc invasion that was launched on Khorinis during the second chapter. These lands have no physical connection to Khorinis or the ruins of the penal colony. In these mountainous forests the orcs have enslaved the human kingdom with only a few free humans living in the nearly uninhabitable icy northlands of Nordmar and the southern desert of Varant. The hero must decide whether to join the rebellion and stay true to the deposed human king, serve the Orcish usurpers in their quest to topple the last remaining human stronghold, or choose a path that serves his own ends. Throughout the story, he is accompanied by a number of NPCs, some of whom are old friends. While this chapter brings forward friends from the previous title (Xardas, Diego, Milten, Gorn, Lester, Lee, and Vatras) it also introduces two new major characters; King Rhobar the Second (who ultimately was responsible for sending the Nameless Hero to the penal colony in the first game) and Zuben. While the king has a strong past as a bold leader, he now faces a near defeat; his fame on the decline. Zuben leads the Hashishin that inhabit the southern region of Varant.