I haven't tried it yet (I intend to, as soon as I start my Christmas holiday), so I can't really comment on whether it's good or bad. Worst of all, not only have they done such in order to facilitate an incredibly contrived reason for you, the Nameless Hero, returning to Myrtana and (gasp!) having none of your prior abilities or equipment, but they have you kill Xardas in the prologue-cutscene. What's more, they absolutely butchered the prior games lore, essentially spitting on all of your achievements in G3. Understand, I run a rather high-end system (Vista Ultimate 64-bit OS, 4GB onboard RAM, with 2GB more in ReadyBoost and large virtual-memory cache, Intel Core 2-quad, dual-8800 GTX in SLI) that runs Far Cry 2, Crysis Warhead and other graphic-intensive games at their High settings, yet this dismally-optimized engine causes the entire system to lock-up. Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods is quite the apt title, in that it will inspire in you a certain belief that the almighty gods of gaming surely scorned this particular bug-fest. * Moving as though in an advanced state of rigor mortis, the Nameless Hero stumbles into the sunshine (having been unable to pick up the nearby items, as the game froze each time I attempted to) only to have an abrupt crash-to-the-desktop * Go through unnecessarily lengthy and uninformative conversation, only to find that the moment it ends the graphical stuttering begins anew * After roughly ten seconds delay, I was able to click the "Okay" button on the game's pop-up telling me to find a weapon…and was immediately pressed into a conversation with a character I do not recognize * After a protracted delay in which the screen froze, the gameworld finally popped up, although I was unable to move my mouse or character * Music starts…no visuals…more music…screen stutters…louder music…which abruptly ends * Read six pages of "The Copper Beeches" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as I waited for the interminable loading screen to finish * Having set everything to the lowest possible graphic quality (to facilitate a quick test-play and with G3's performance well in mind) I finally pressed 'New Game" * Watched logos flash by again before reaching the menu * Changed a few simple graphic settings (such as display resolution) which required a complete game restart * Executed game and endured usual start-up developer logo nonsense
FORSAKEN GAME PATCH PATCH
* Applied release patch, then applied second patch (the one linked here) * Attempted to utilize initial release patch, was greeted with errors that required me to re-install the game, as the patch was unable to "find the installation directory" even when I manually pointed it to the correct path * Installed game, quickly and with no hassle. To give a quick little rehash of my experience:
FORSAKEN GAME PATCH SERIES
What can I say, I am a tremendous Gothic fan (although, as someone else noted, the series should have "died" at G2, considering the disappointment 3 was and this doesn't really qualify as a Gothic game, no more than Fallout 3 is a true Fallout game). …that's right, I'm one of the unfortunate saps who purchased a copy of this horrendous title. Well, thanks for the link, for all the good it did in regards to the actual game… If you ask most fans at WoG they would prefer Gothic to end with Gothic 3 (maybe even 2) than to be continued by this "game".Most have layed hopes on Risen while others expect the rebirth of the series with Arcania.One thing sure NONE of them would be disappointed if Jowood run out of business It's really a shame that it's at that level, but it seems that way to me. But I'd take a poorly made one (ala Gothic 3) over none at all. I would obviously prefer a well made Gothic sequel. The Gothic series is already pretty much unique in it's style, so by not buying any of the additions to the series, you run the risk of the publisher not backing any further installments, because they'll just assume the game isn't popular anymore. Most publishers don't understand the difference between customers not buying an unfinished game vs customers not buying a game because it's an unpopular type. The sad thing is, it also has another effect: