| Gothic | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Piranha Bytes |
| Publisher(s) | Egmont Interactive Xicat Interactive CD Projekt |
| Distributor(s) | Egmont Interactive Xicat Interactive, Inc. |
| Series | Gothic |
| Engine | Gothic Engine |
| Version | 1.08k |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release date(s) |
DE March 15, 2001
|
| Genre(s) | Action RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | CD, DVD, digital |
| System requirements
400 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM, 16 MB GPU, 700 MB free hard drive space, DirectX 7 or higher |
|
Gothic is a single-player action role-playing video game for Windows developed by the German company Piranha Bytes. It was first released in Germany on March 15, 2001, followed by the English North American release eight months later on November 23, 2001, and the Polish release on March 28, 2002.
Gothic has been well received by critics, scoring an average of 80% and 81/100 on Game Rankings' and Metacritic's aggregates, respectively.[1][2] Reviewers credited the game for its story, complex interaction with other in-game characters, and graphics, but criticized it for the difficult control scheme and high system requirements.[3][4][5]
Contents |
The main character must complete quests and slay wild animals and monsters to earn skill points, which are used to increase basic attributes, improve skills, and learn trades. They are spent by finding the appropriate teacher. Several skills have only one "level" (Sneaking, Acrobatics), while the fighting skills (one-handed weapons, two-handed weapons, bows and crossbows) have two proficiency levels. If the Hero chooses to be a Mage (or joins the Swamp Camp), he will be able to learn Circles of Magic; there are 6 of them. The main attributes are increased in 1 or 5 point increments, up to 100 (they start at 10). However, the limit can be surpassed with the use of potions.
The game places a special focus on the interactivity of the environment. For example, while anyone hunting wild animals can gather raw meat (an item that heals damage and can be sold) from them, this can be turned into grilled meat (a much more effective curative) by making use of a stove or frying pan. Similarly, most of the activities other characters can be seen doing (playing musical instruments, stirring soup pots, urinating etc.) can be done by the main character as well (although with the exception of forging weapons these activities have little bearing on the game).
The player can choose which camp to join but the quests get increasingly linear and the distinctions between the different factions wane in the latter parts of the game. The major difference is that Swamp Camp members cannot become mages, because they are limited to 4 magic circles (out of 6). However, they gain access to magic earlier.
Just over a decade ago, the great kingdom of Myrtana was at it's peak as a rich, thriving society ruled over by a fair and just king, king Rhobar II. Year after year, the granaries were full and the mines produced impressive quantities of mineral wealth, especially the large magic ore mines in the occupied realm of Nordmar, a harsh and cold region beyond Myrtana's northern border which Myrtana had invaded some three years previous. No one in Myrtana wanted or needed for much. The priests of the gods had great power and influence in the kingdom, and the gods were seen to be kind to the people. The greatest of these gods was Innos, the god of the Sun and of Law. He was revered as the first and highest of all the gods. The priests of Innos were known as the 'Mages of the circle of fire'. The priests of the god Adanos, who held the scales of balance between good and evil, were known as the 'Mages of the circle of water'. There were no priests however to serve Beliar, the god of death, for his might was that of pure darkness. The prosperous cities of Myrtana were also famously known as centres of knowledge and learning where magic, mathematics, philosophy, the sciences and the arts were all keenly studied by the brightest minds and scholars of the day. Sadly though, the feeling of peace and tolerance enjoyed in Myrtana was steadily replaced by fear and suspicion as the neighbouring southern desert kingdom of Varant became increasingly jealous of Myrtana's rich treasures of mineral and agricultural wealth. Day and night, the leaders of Varant dreamt of seizing Myrtana to plunder the great cities of their riches and the rumours of increased military activity across the border in Varant certainly worried many of Myrtana's citizens.
Perhaps inevitably, a great Army of foreign knights massed along the southern border of Myrtana, holding aloft tall war standards bearing the flag of Varant. Many dark warships were also soon to be seen staining the horizon off Myrtana's coast, also flying the flag of Varant. War, that darkest expression of man's will, was upon Myrtana. The kings army and navy were quickly rallied to defend the kingdom from these dark, hostile hordes. This great war began at sea, where the King's navy managed to valiantly sink ship after ship, dealing the Varant naval fleet a blow from which they would not recover, but at the cost of many ships and men. And on land, the first battles were easily won by the armies of Myrtana, but the tide of this bitter war ebbed and flowed, with the armies of Varant also enjoying many crushing victories. Despite the many battles won by Myrtana, the Knights of Varant progressed ever further inland, threatening the great cities. This war, which Myrtana hoped would be short, lasted many moons. Skirmish after skirmish, battle after battle, it dragged on and on. Many who sought to make a name for themselves on the field of battle revelled in the bloodshed, realising their dreams of earning fortunes and titles from their grateful king whilst being cheered on by the grateful people as heroes of the kingdom. Many though wouldn't live long enough to enjoy their new found wealth and fame as they fell to the swords of the enemy. By the thousands they came, and by thousands they died, on both sides.
The king knew that he couldn't just try to regain the borders of his kindgom though. He soon concluded that in order to win this bitter war, he'd have to turn things around and take the conflict into the lands of Varant. With his best men beside him, he fought hard to reconquer the villages and towns that had been lost to the enemy, and what he could not reconquer, he destroyed. The war had already lasted more than four exhausting seasons now, but his strong leadership, coupled with the strategic insights of his generals and also harnassing the magical properties of the precious magic ore with which to forge superior weapons, allowed him to push hard and deep south into enemy territory until, on one fine spring morning, the king finally found himself, accompanied by a large contingent of his army, camped outside the great walls of the capital city of Varant. As if waking from a dream, the city's inhabitants awoke that morning to the nightmare realisation that the army of Myrtana had reached their capital, causing great panic to ensue within it's walls. Effectively beseiged with no obvious hope of victory, the city's leaders quickly surrendered themselves to the mercy of the king. The large city gates groaned as they were slowly opened and, with weapons sheathed, the King of Myrtana and his knights entered the city as victors. The war was won. The fighting finally over. However, the newly conquered city was not plundered and destroyed as punishment as many had feared, and the common people not made to suffer as prisoners. Instead, the king publicly executed the leaders of Varant and imprisoned her generals, then appointed a regent and a council who were to rule Varant in the king's name. King Rhobar II and his victorious army then returned home to tremendeous celebrations not seen since his father, Rhobar I, triumphed in the first great Orc wars.
He had won the war, but over a years worth of constant battle meant that the price of victory was high. The loss of so many sons, brothers and fathers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their king and homeland weighed heavily upon the king. Moreover, the kingdom was now growing thin on supplies of grain. To make things worse, the winter season would soon approach and so the joy of military victory was to be replaced by the hard work of gathering in the harvest before the cold would start to bite. The king too got to work and summoned his priests, advisors and sages in order to begin the mammoth task of planning the restoration of the kingdom to it's former state of prosperity before the war.
That winter would prove to be the coldest winter many could remember but, despite the bitter cold, many Myrtanians began to slowly return to their daily routines as best they could. Unfortunately though, another danger soon presented itself in the form of Orcs from the far north. Perhaps simply escaping the unusually bitter winter conditions in their homeland or maybe smelling the weakness of a wounded kingdom, Orcish hordes suddenly attacked the military outposts and mining colonies in occupied Nordmar, threatening the supplies of valuable magic ore from the mines. Despite their courage and superior ore-strengthened weapons, the Myrtanian fortresses in Nordmar quickly fell one by one, and the mining colonies with them. Simply outnumbered, Nordmar was soon lost and the flow of magic ore with it. The second great Orc wars had begun. The king would have to put on hold his plans of peace and economic recovery, slamming his fist down on his court table with frustration having been given the bad news. However, he soon composed himself and ordered his army, which was somewhat smaller since the war with Varant, to take up position along the northern border with Nordmar to defend the numerous passes into Myrtana from possible incursions by the Orcs.
It didn't take long for the Orcs to start invading Myrtanian territory to plunder and terrorise the outlying villages and towns just inside the border. The army, although outnumbered, always managed to respond with a fierce determination and valiantly forced the Orcs back into Nordmar time and again, thanks in part to the superior ore-strengthened blades used by the Myrtanian army which gave them the crucial edge they needed on the battlefield. Countless battles and skirmishes were fought with the Orcs in order to defend the kingdom, as well as efforts to take the fight to the Orcs by launching attacks into Nordmar, all of which ultimately failed. Some legions were never seen or heard from again, others barely made it back alive. Eventually, the two evenly matched sides seemed to accept a stalemate, and so the fighting largely abated.
It was a relatively short conflict compared with the previous one against Varant, but with no clear outright victory to show for it this time. However, the king now knew beyond doubt that the Orcs had once again become strong enough to threaten the human realms with invasion and occupation with an impressively large fighting force. This troubled the king greatly as his own army needed more men to ensure victory and, even more serious, the few remaining supplies of magic ore stockpiled before the loss of Nordmar with which to forge replacement weapons was already running low. The king now desperately needed to source more of the precious magic ore from elsewhere in the kingdom since the loss of the Nordmar mines. In order to replenish the army, the king ordered that the men of Varant must also now join the army of Myrtana and begin immediate training in order to defend the remaining human realms from the Orcish threat. Only the stubbornly independent Hashishin tribe in the far south of the Varantian deserts dared defy the king's call to arms.
As for supplies of ore, the once great mines on the distant southern island of Khorinis, though now small in comparison with those in Nordmar, are the last remaining ore mines still in Myrtanian hands, so the king gave orders that from now on all convicted criminals be shipped to Khorinis to do hard labour in the ore mines there to boost production. However, it soon became evident that the situation on Khorinis was far from ideal. Ever since the occupation of Nordmar and it's great ore mines some five years previous, mainlanders have largely viewed Khorinis as just a run-down mining backwater that's seen better days. The large increase in ore supplies from Nordmar had in turn reduced the price of the ore, making the Khorinis mining operation much less profitable after factoring in the extra costs of shipping the ore to the mainland. Inevitably, a noticable decline in production ensued. To make matters worse, numbers of prisoners now being sent to work in the mines were managing to escape. In short, Khorinis was soon an island plagued by gangs of escaped thieves, bandits and deserters. Something radical had to be done. Khorinis was now the last remaining supplier of the magic ore in the kingdom and was just too important to allow production levels to dwindle further, so the king decided he must do whatever it takes to get the Khorinis ore mines back to full production, before it was too late. Resuming mass production of the special magic ore on Khorinis was now considered critically important to the survival of the kingdom due to the fact that, when the ore is correctly smelted with iron, it makes a Myrtanian blade virtually indestructable, with an edge so sharp that no armor can fully protect against it.
The King simply couldn't spare anymore men from the border in order to strengthen the prison guard at the Khorinis mines, so he summond the twelve most powerful Mages in the kingdom, six from the circle of Water, and six from the circle of Fire and sent them by ship to Khorinis with orders to somehow create a magical barrier in the mining region on the island, known locally as the 'valley of mines' in order to prevent anymore mining prisoners from escaping, a barrier which could let living creatures enter, but never to leave. Together, the twelve mages started writing a magical spell to invoke the barrier. With the spell completed, and with the help of five magical focus stones secretly placed in a ritual pattern over the area to be trapped within the barrier, they united their magical strength and spoke the words of power. The skies streaked with lightening accompanied by deafening rumbles of thunder as the barrier slowly materialised, taking the shape of a vast transparent magical dome of light over the land, covering a gigantic area. As it turns out, a bigger area than originally planned. Something had gone wrong. The entire valley was swallowed up inside the new barrier. The confused mages were soon horrified to discover that they too were trapped inside! In the chaos of panic and confusion that followed, the remaining mine prisoners quickly took their opportunity to murder the guards and even managed to overwhelm the prison guards castle, which was also accidentally trapped inside the new magical barrier.
To begin with, the mages and the prisoners did not join forces, as the mages feared the violent nature of the prisoners, and the prisoners feared the mages magic. However, the prisoners quickly realised that they stood no chance of ever escaping this new prison within the magical barrier without the help of those who had created it, so chose not to harm the mages in any way. The prisoners gathered inside the old prison castle for a meeting. At their head was Gomez, the man who had lead the uprising against the prison guards. The initial joy of victory over the guards was now replaced by the harsh reality of their situation. Now isolated from the outside world, life would now become a matter of survival on whatever food supplies remained within the valley now engulfed by the barrier. It didn't take them long to conclude that they haven't enough to survive in the long term and so must seek to negotiate with the world outside the barrier. So, the prisoners negotiated a deal with the king.
The King agreed to send in supplies of food and other goods in exchange for a good steady supply of the precious magic ore needed to forge weapons for the kings army. However, not all of the prisoners liked the idea of working for the king, especially Lee, who was once a great Myrtanian general who played a pivotal role in winning the war against Varant before being betrayed by a false accusation and thrown into the prison mines by the king himself. So Lee, joined with the like-minded Lares, left the old camp that had quickly grown up around the prison castle and set off with some followers to establish a new camp of their own. The Water Mages also decided to join the new camp as they had a difference of opinion with the Fire Mages on how to go about bringing down the magic barrier. The new camp quickly established a smaller, independent ore mine of their own, but instead of exchanging their magical ore with the king for food and supplies like the old camp, they started hoarding a mound of the ore which the Water Mages had persuaded them to do as part of their plan to bring down the barrier. As such, life in the new camp is a bit tougher, having to live almost exclusively on their home grown rice and rice schnapps.
The Fire Mages decided to stay with Gomez inside the castle at the old camp. The ample supplies of food and wares sent in by the king in exchange for the magic ore not only guaranteed the survival of those who chose to remain in the old camp with Gomez, but also made life for Gomez and his enlisted men, the strongest and best of which serve as his loyal guards, very comfortable indeed as they enjoy as much food, wine and women as they like, whilst the weaker-willed prisoners work hard in the large old mine, extracting the precious ore for Gomez in exchange for only meagre rations of food. Within only a short time, Gomez found himself sitting pretty as the ruler of his own mini kingdom within the prison barrier. Soon, a man in the prison colony began to tell others of strange spiritual visions he'd been having of being guided to freedom by a powerful being called the 'Sleeper'. This man called himself Y'Berion, the illuminated. His words were deep and persuasive and attracted many followers with which he retreated to found a new religious sect in the swamps to worship the Sleeper. Soon after, there were rumors of strange magic and summonings of an unknown nature in the sect camp, strange even to the Mages in both the old and new camps. This new, third camp in the swamp began to flourish. Guided by Y'Berion, they cultivated a unique plant in the swamps called 'Swampweed' which, when smoked, has a pleasant, calming effect on the mind and invokes mysterious visions during sleep. Many from the new camp soon started smoking swampweed too for it's pleasant effects and would regularly trade some of their ore and other goods for it so as to make living only on rice rations that little more bearable.
For the following five years, with the magical barrier holding firm, the ore from Khorinis flowed at a rate that pleased the king. The Myrtanian army also slowly grew in strength, and the northern border with Orcish occupied Nordmar held firm against the now only occassional small scale Orc raids. Bumper crops were once again being harvested from the fertile fields, filling the granaries with grain once more, and new trade routes were opened in the south and east where the ore ships were now regularly docking at ports along the coast and the great southern estuary, their holds filled with valuable magic ore from Khorinis. Only the magical barrier on Khorinis itself now seemed to remain as a monument to a time of war. Morale was higher than at any time since the end of the war with Varant, both in the military and amongst the common people. But then, without any warning, the Orcs came once more, this time though in massive numbers like a storm flood over the land. It seems the numerous incursions by the Orcs over the years were little more than scouting missions, probing for weaknesses and testing the strength and response times of Myrtana's armies. But this was different. This was it. This was the all-out war with the Orcs that the king had secretly been fearing but dared not utter aloud. They first struck with overwhelming force near the far northwest edge of the border, punching a hole through the border defences and showing no mercy, killing anyone who dared so much as pick up a wooden club against them, even civilians simply defending their homes. They then continued their push south and surged down the western regions of Myrtana as far as the southern border with Varant. The king quickly ordered additional legions west to fight the Orc invaders whilst still having to defend the remaining passes along the northern border with Nordmar. Despite their best efforts, the army couldn't drive the Orcs back. The Orcs dug in and the king had to concede that the west was lost.
For the next two gruelling years, now defending on two fronts, the brave armies of Myrtana kept the Orcs contained at the remaining passes along the northern border and to the west, occasionally trying to attack and push them out of the western territories, but without success. The trade routes from the east coast were still intact though and the Khorinis ore mines kept up with demand, but the skirmishes and running battles were constantly weakening the army. The Orcs then managed to outflank the exhausted Myrtanian forces, conquering the desert belt along the southern border with Varant, cutting off all remaining overland supply routes from Varant and forcing the king to deploy his last reserve legions to defend from the south. The king also gave orders to divert all shipping, especially those ships carrying the precious magic ore, away from the southern estuary and to only make port at the great capital city of Vengard on the east coast from now on. Now surrounding their enemy on three sides, the Orcs slowly tightened their crushing iron grip on Myrtana, spending the next two years relentlesly chipping away at the kings army, forcing them to slowly but surely retreat ever eastward toward the coast. Almost innevitably, central Myrtana is lost to the Orcs. Only the east now holds out.
In these grim, desperate times that now currently grip Myrtana, anyone who commits a crime, no matter how petty, will almost certainly find themselves being shipped to Khorinis and sent through the barrier to work in the ore mines. The blacksmiths' furnaces burn day and night, hammering and shaping new and better ore-strengthened weapons at a rate sufficient enough to keep the kings increasingly desperate army equiped with these superior blades as they fight for their very survival against the Orc occupiers.
Today, another man will be judged guilty and sent through the barrier to work in the ore mines of Khorinis. You are this man. Just another prisoner who will spend the rest of his miserable life toiling like a dog in the valley of mines, or so they think...
The player takes control of an unnamed prisoner who has just been thrown inside the mining colony. Before being sent in, the player receives a letter which he is tasked to deliver to the Fire Mages of the Old Camp. After getting the chance to talk with the magicians, the protagonist learns that Xardas, the head of the Fire Mages who is supposed to receive the letter, deserted in order to study black magic.[6]
After joining one of the three camps, the protagonist ends up aiding the Sect Camp prepare the invocation of their god, the Sleeper, which they believe will show them the way to escape the colony.[7] During the ritual the members have a vague vision and Y'Berion, the leader of the Brotherhood who performed the ritual, collapses after getting in contact with the Sleeper. In the vision, the sect members are shown the way to an old Orc cemetery. A guru and a few templars, together with the hero, set off towards the indicated place.[8] Once there, however, the templars die fighting the Orcs they meet, and only the guru and the protagonist survive. After searching the entire underground complex the two fail to find anything. The guru then goes insane and starts accusing the hero that it is because of him that the Sleeper refuses to reveal himself, and attempts kill the protagonist.[9]
After defeating the mad guru, the hero returns to the camp of the Brotherhood where he finds Y'Berion still weakened after the ritual. Despite efforts to help him recover, Y'Berion soon dies. Before dying, however, he warns the rest of the camp about the true, evil, nature of the god they thought was leading them on the path to freedom, and places his hopes on the escape plan of the Water Mages from the New Camp to blow up the Barrier using the power of the magical ore.[10]
Bearing important information about the recent events in the Sect Camp, the player is given permission to see the Water Mages, who ask for help with their escape plan. After the hero acquires all the needed artifacts with the help of four convicts he has befriended, the Water Mages now need the help of the Fire Mages to channel the magical energy.[11] However, the protagonist finds out the Old Camp's gates have been closed after their ore mine collapsed. Fearful that this incident might deprive him of his power, the leader of the Old Camp sent his men to take control of the New Camp's mine and killed the Fire Mages who were protesting against his action; only Milten, the youngest of the magicians, managed to escape.[12]
Having no other option left, the Water Mages send the hero to ask for Xardas, the magician who deserted the Fire Mages, to help them. However, Xardas refuses to help the Magicians of Water and thinks that their plan will not succeed.[13] He instead tells the protagonist that during his studies he learned that the Sleeper was summoned by the Orcs in order to help them against their enemies and that the demon is in a temple deep underneath the Orc city.[14] With the help of Xardas, the player manages to enter the Sleeper's temple. Upon defeating the demon, the Barrier collapses and sets the prisoners of the colony free.[15]
Piranha Bytes worked more than 4 years on the development of Gothic's technology.[16] The engine was created completely in-house,[17] with a modified version later used for Gothic II. These are the only games to use this engine. The Engine's Codename is ZenGin, because of the *.zen file technology.
Gothic was first released on March 15, 2001 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, published by Egmont Interactive. The North American release by Xicat Interactive, Inc. followed more than half a year later on November 23, 2001. In February 2006 an international re-release was announced to prepare for Gothic 3 – which received much more attention from international media than the previous games. In the course of the re-release an English demo version was made available at the official website.[18] The Demo contains a part of the first chapter of the game. In Germany and some other countries, Gothic is also available in a Collector's Edition, bundled with Gothic II and Gothic II – The Night of The Raven, and Gothic - Fan Edition, including the official map of the Colony as well as a variety of extras.
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 79.35% (18 reviews)[1] |
| Metacritic | 81/100 (14 reviews)[2] |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Eurogamer | 8/10[3] |
| GameSpot | 7.2/10[4] |
| GameSpy | 7.2/10[19] |
| IGN | 8.6/10[5] |
The game has received generally positive reviews from game critics, scoring an average of 79.35% on GameRankings and 81/100 on Metacritic. IGN concluded that "Gothic is a solid role-playing experience"[5] and Eurogamer said that it is a game that "developers should look to as an example of how a role-playing adventure should be done".[3] GameSpot gave the game a slightly more negative review saying that despite Gothic's achievements in terms of story and dialog, players might still be disappointed by its shallow character development and poor combat mechanics.[4]
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