| Arcania: Gothic 4 | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Spellbound Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | JoWooD Entertainment DreamCatcher Interactive |
| Producer(s) | BVT Games Fund III |
| Composer(s) | Dynamedion |
| Series | Gothic |
| Engine | Vision 7[1] |
| Version | 1.1.0.1433 (November 23, 2010) |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows Xbox 360 |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing video game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | Optical disc, download |
| System requirements
Minimum[2]
Recommended[2] |
|
Arcania: Gothic 4 is the fourth installment of the Gothic series, and the first one developed by a company other than Piranha Bytes; the game was developed by Spellbound.[3] The first teaser trailer revealed that Arcania was scheduled to be released in Winter 2009,[4] but JoWooD Entertainment subsequently pushed back the release to 2010.[5]
The game was released on October 12, 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360. The PlayStation 3 version was scheduled for release in the first half of 2011 but the date has since passed. No preview version of the PlayStation 3 port has even been shown to date.
Contents |
War covers over the Southern Islands like a blood-drenched shroud and finally, War reaches the idyllic isle of Feshyr in the Southern Seas. The protagonist of Arcania: Gothic 4 returns from an adventure to find his home town pillaged and looted. The aggressors’ ships - with an Eagle displayed on their billowing sails - escape over the horizon.
Seeking revenge, the hero leaves the destroyed city behind and soon realizes that this cowardly attack did not just happen on a reckless mercenary's whim. An evil power lies waiting at the threshold of this world, and our hero will need to face this nameless evil. Yet the hero is not alone - his fate is linked to that of a beautiful, mysterious lady as well as a powerful artifact from the long-forgotten distant past.[6]
The start of the development was officially announced on August 23, 2007, along with the name of the new developer.[3] The project was originally entitled Gothic 4: Genesis; the name change to Gothic 4: Arcania was announced in 2008.[7][8] At the Games Convention in 2008, JoWooD Entertainment announced another name for the game - "Arcania: A Gothic Tale". The name change serves two purposes. First, it hints at a world rich in magic and fantasy. Second, and completely from a marketing perspective, it helps give the Gothic franchise a fresh start in North America, where it has failed to gain significant popularity.[9] During a press conference of the Polish distributor CD Projekt, the games to be published by the company were presented, including Arcania. The title of the game was stated as Arcania: Gothic 4. A Polish fan-site asked the community manager Reinhard Pollice, known as Megalomaniac, regarding that issue and he confirmed the change of the name. On the 1st of April JoWooD marketing manager Clemens Schneidhofer confirmed the new name to GamersGlobal.de: "I can confirm that! Because the date of the release is already defined (more details soon in a press release), we decided to leave the working title "Arcania – A Gothic Tale" behind and to announce the final name "Arcania - Gothic 4". This change is available for all countries (EU & US)."[10]
As announced at the CD Projekt Conference 2010, Spellbound Entertainment is developing the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows versions, while later, another studio will port the game on the PlayStation 3 system.[11] Later news confirmed that the PlayStation 3 version has been delayed until 2011, while the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows release remained unchanged.[12] At the 2008 Games Convention in Leipzig, JoWooD Entertainment presented Arcania behind closed doors.
JoWooD and Spellbound Entertainment announced a cooperation with Trinigy, a provider of 3D game engine technology. In the scope of a multi-platform license agreement, Spellbound is developing Arcania: Gothic 4 utilizing Trinigy’s Vision Engine 7, with certain features from the newly released Vision Engine 8.
Arcania's physics engine is NVIDIA PhysX as confirmed by a JoWooD Entertainment representative.
In 2009, JoWooD Entertainment released the official website for Arcania: Gothic 4, revealing new information, screenshots and artworks.[13] In August 2009 JoWooD Entertainment announced that Arcania: Gothic 4 will be delayed until 2010, giving Spellbound more time to polish the game.
JoWooD Entertainment planned to make Arcania an AAA title - the most successful title from the Gothic Series, and one of the best RPGs of 2010.[14] In September 2009 the Gothic Community sent a letter to JoWooD Entertainment, complaining about the lack of support and information regarding Arcania: Gothic 4.[15]
In March 2010, Dr. Albert Seidl, JoWooD's former CEO, revealed that Arcania will be released in the autumn of 2010.[16] In June 2010, Franz Rossler, JoWooD's CEO confirmed via interview that Arcania's release date has been scheduled for October 12, 2010.[17] A demo for the game was released on September 24, 2010.
Arcania was presented to the general public in August at Gamescom in Köln, Germany. The short playable part featured the very beginning of the game, where we meet the protagonist, his fiancee, a free orc, living in harmony with humans and other characters. The character can only interact with "named" characters, those who have a name.
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| Metacritic | 63/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| IGN | 7.5/10[18] |
Initial reviews of Arcania have been mixed or average, with a Metacritic average of 63 (based on 25 critics) for the PC version.[19] While the game was praised for its graphics and production values, it was criticized heavily for doing away with many elements of previous Gothic installments in order to make the game friendlier to casual players and failing to meet expectations of the series' fans.[20]
GameSpot awarded it 5.0 out of ten and wrote: "Arcania has been dumbed down into a generic action role-playing game, so it isn't a Gothic game in anything but its subtitle."[21]
JoWooD announced on October 13, 2010 via its CEO, Franz Rossler, that Arcania will receive several addons in 2011. Nothing has been mentioned about the content.[22]
A patch for the game was released on November 23 for the PC platform. The update slightly alters specific gameplay dynamics, increases the overall performance and gets rid of crashes.[23]
On December 9, 2010, JoWooD announced that they will release ArcaniA: Fall of Setarrif in 2011 - the first addon for Gothic 4. Besides several hours of gameplay, new monsters locations and quests, the addon will introduce a new feature - the possibility to play as known characters from the Gothic series.[24]
According to an interview with JoWooD's former CEO, Dr. Albert Seidl, it seems that a sequel was once planned.[25]
As of August 2011, JoWooD Entertainment was acquired by Nordic Games, which expressed their agreement to revive key series of the company such as The Guild, SpellForce, ArcaniA and more.[26]
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