Title: Gothic 3

Date: 09.18.2006

Genre: RPG

Platform: PC

Developer: Piranha Bytes

Publisher: Aspyr Media

Fans of the Gothic series have been waiting several years to get their hands on Gothic 3, the latest chapter of the popular series. That wait is nearly over. We talk with Blaine Christine, Executive Producer at Aspyr media about Gothic 3 and find out why RPG fans have a lot to be excited about.

Please introduce yourself and the game Gothic 3.

My name is Blaine Christine, I'm the Executive Producer at Aspyr Media and we are the North American publisher for Gothic 3. Gothic 3 is, quite simply, the ultimate single player RPG experience! The Gothic series is renowned for being the originator of the living, breathing world gameplay where the player's actions have a distinct impact on their surroundings and the NPCs in the game react realistically to situations created by the player. If you are a fan of deep, involving RPGs, you will love this game!

Though there are many games within the RPG genre, each one tries to include a specific feature different from the others. What will Gothic 3 feature to help it stand out from other RPG titles?

Fortunately, this is an easy question to answer because there are several standout features in the game. First of all, the look and feel of the world is much less "high fantasy" and much more gritty, medieval Europe. Next, the game is really centered around the development of one central character instead of a party of characters. Finally, although there is a central driving storyline, the gameplay is more focused on exploration and quests for various factions than a driven, linear plot. All in all, the Gothic games feel very different from any other RPG on the market.

Conversely, what are you trying to avoid?

Generally speaking, we're trying to avoid stereotypical RPG material. At first glance, that may not seem to be the case with the game (yes, we have orcs, goblins, dragons, magic, etc), but once you dig deeper into the game you'll see just how different it is from your standard RPG experience. Although it appears that the orcs are the big bad guys, the game is really about shades of grey, so you may learn that the orcs are not quite as evil as you think...

Over the past decade, we’ve seen RPG games ranging from Ultima and Elder
Scrolls series to Neverwinter Nights and Oblivion. With each title something new was brought to the role-playing genre. How much more innovation is left in the genre? Are we just beginning to realize its potential?

There is always room for improvement from a development side, the question becomes how much is incremental (and transparent to the user) versus truly revolutionary gameplay. I read an interesting article recently which proposed the idea that consumers don't necessarily want revolutionary gameplay, but incremental change. Although I don't think this is always the case, there is certainly some truth to it. If a gamer picks up a copy of Gothic 3 and knows it is a single-player RPG, they expect certain things out of the game and if you stray too far from the mark, the game will not do well critically or financially. So to circle back around to your original question, Gothic 3 has enough familiar elements to be recognized as a great RPG, but enough innovation that it is not copying any other RPG you've seen before.

In recent years, what games have been inspiring to you?

Since I have a short attention span and a love of all things new, I could go all over the place with this answer, but I'll try to confine myself to the genre. Recent favorites include World of Warcraft (why not?), Oblivion, and Spellforce 2 (biased). I've always been an RPG junkie though, so some all-time favorites include the original Bard's Tale (Apple 2!), the Wizardry series, Might and Magic, and even Betrayal at Krondor. I think anyone in the industry that has been a gamer for a long time can't help being influenced by all of the games the've played in a genre, even if it is only subconsciously.

Though Gothic 2 was well-received by both fans and critics alike, it didn’t get a lot of exposure here in North America. What steps are being taken to ensure Gothic 3 gets in every RPG fan’s hands?

A lot of this exposure comes from strong Marketing and PR. I think our group at Aspyr does a fantastic job of getting our games into the limelight as much as we possibly can. From a gameplay standpoint, this will be the most "Americanized" game in the Gothic series. Since we have been involved in the development for about a year, we were able to help make some key decisions to ensure the US audience doesn't get a game that feels ported from Germany. We were heavily involved in reviewing the text after translation to ensure high quality dialogue and we used a top notch recording studio and casting director for the voice over in the game. Additionally, the devs really did a great job of listening to their critics and audience, which resulted in a completely revamped combat system and much more user-friendly interface.

What feature of Gothic 3 are you most proud of?

My favorite feature of Gothic 3 is the archery. When using the bow and arrow, the arrow arcs realistically, so the farther you are from a target the more you have to aim your shot above their head. Combine that with the pincushion effect (all arrows stick realistically in your target) and you can have hours of fun just perfecting your archery skills in the world of Myrtana.

Will there be any sort of multiplayer or co-op? How about modding tools?

The Gothic series has always been about making the best possible single player RPG experience possible, so all efforts are focused on making this vision a reality. This leaves no room for adding in multiplayer or co-op, unfortunately. As far as modding tools, there will be an editor available after the game ships that will allow players to generate their own content, but the date of this release has not been determined yet.

Gothic 3’s graphic engine looks to be re-built from the ground up. What has been done to it that would excite gamers?

Gothic 3 is a quantum leap forward in visual quality from Gothic 2. Yes, the engine was rebuilt from scratch by the dev team and it is drop dead gorgeous. The animation system was completely reworked, making for realistic character animations and great looking multi-legged creatures. As far as the graphics engine itself, pretty much every bell and whistle that you would expect from a next-generation graphics engine is in the game. We have high range dynamic lighting, real-time weather effects, a full day/night cycle, and a beautiful hand-crafted world where you will not see the same terrain in any two locations.

How many gameplay hours will Gothic 3 have?

This is completely dependent on the player's style of gaming. If you are an explorative type that needs to see every nook and cranny in the game, I'm sure you could spend close to 100 hours completing every quest and killing every monster. The average player will most likely spend between 40-60 hours in the main storyline working through typical side-quests and exploration.

With some RPGs, the player can get overwhelmed when tracking the main quest and all the side quests. What's being done to Gothic 3 so the player can easily track how he wants to proceed?

Gothic 3 takes care of this in a very simple manner. When you open up your world map, you can click on various locations within the game world and see all quests you have received by location. You can also easily track which quests are in progress, failed, or complete. Simplicity is our goal! We want the player to be able to focus on enjoying the rich gameplay world, not worry about tracking quests.

With Gothic 3 due out in Europe in October, when can we expect a demo?

All we can really say right now about that is to keep your eyes open for any news or check our site, gothic3.aspyr.com, regularly for any update.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

For anyone who is hungry for a unique RPG experience in a truly immersive story and world, Gothic 3 provides the ultimate single player experience. One thing we did not touch on above is the huge replayability of the game. There are three different factions within the game that the player can choose to support and choosing each one provides a different gameplay experience. When you combine this with the open-ended character development, you can play through the game many times and have a different experience each time. Of course, I don't have enough time on my hands to do this since it is such a massive game, but for the hardcore gamer there is more than enough to keep you occupied for a very long time to come!

Reviewed By: Alex Hammond