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Gothic 2 review on Worthplaying
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RPGDot Forums > Gothic 2 General

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MageofFire
Griller of Molerats




Joined: 03 Oct 2003
Posts: 1594
Location: Monastery of Innos
Gothic 2 review on Worthplaying
   

While the score on Wothplaying.com for Gothic 2 is only 8.0/10, I still found it to be of better quality than either the Gamespot or Gamespy reviews. You can tell the reviewer for Wothplaying got farther in the game than either the Gamespot or Gamespy reviewers. I thought the review was good and fair, even though I myself would have given the game a higher score.

Read it! WARNING!!!: The review contains spoilers!
http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=15313
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Post Wed Jan 07, 2004 10:01 pm
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mkreku
Keeper of the Gates
Keeper of the Gates




Joined: 22 Oct 2003
Posts: 112
Location: Uppsala, Sweden
   

Yeah, I read that review, even though I shouldn't. It always gets my bloodpressure up and I feel like breaking something. How can the world consist of so many stupid people and why do they all have to become Gothic-hating game reviewers?

Ok, 8/10 isn't THAT bad, compared to the GaySpy review (2/5). The latter is probably the dumbest and worst written review of all time.

If you missed it, read GaySpy's Gothic 2 review here.
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Post Wed Jan 07, 2004 11:27 pm
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MageofFire
Griller of Molerats




Joined: 03 Oct 2003
Posts: 1594
Location: Monastery of Innos
   

No, I didn't miss it. I thought it sucked.
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Post Thu Jan 08, 2004 2:47 am
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Razer
Guards Lieutenant
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Joined: 31 Aug 2003
Posts: 153
Location: Iasi Romania
   

I read both reviews and one thing was obvious:both reviewers were discontent with the fact that the character was "slow" at leveling up.And I personally think that the problem of "slow" leveling up is concerning only the ones that have to write a review about games because they SHOULD FINISH the game before writing about it,and G2 takes a lot more time to finish than they would like to.
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Post Thu Jan 08, 2004 6:28 pm
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Gorath
Mostly Harmless
Mostly Harmless




Joined: 03 Sep 2001
Posts: 6327
Location: NRW, Germany
   

This is the standard problem many paid reviewers have. Ask yourself, if you were paid for 1 day (= 8-10 hours) to play a game _and_ write a review, would you invest more time?
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Post Fri Jan 09, 2004 4:33 pm
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MageofFire
Griller of Molerats




Joined: 03 Oct 2003
Posts: 1594
Location: Monastery of Innos
   

C'mon, it's your job to play video games! You get to have fun for a living.
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Post Fri Jan 09, 2004 6:45 pm
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Mark Crump
Village Dweller
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Joined: 08 Jan 2004
Posts: 2
   

Hi guys!

I'm the Worthplaying reviewer, and there's a few points I want to clarify.

I'm not entirely sure if the comments about the slowness of the level-ups was specific to my review, since I know I also mentioned it in passing, but my real issue with them was I didn't feel that given the time taken to get them, they were as effective as they should have been. I certainly don't want to end up with a character that's no different than "god" mode, but I felt they could have been a tad stronger each time I get them. To be frank, the slow level ups were a non-issue when I scored the game; where it really took a hammering on the score was the interface and voice acting, the interface taking most of the score away. If the interface was easier to work around, it would have probably a full point higher.

I can't speak for the other reviewers, but for me personally games like Gothic 2 are darn near impossible for me to finish them, and get a timely review out due to their length. Reviewing isn't my full time gig (I'm a boring IT guy during the day) and if I finished Gothic 2, the review would have come out next Christmas. . However, I will state for the record that I did put about 50 hours into playing Gothic 2, and that the first 15-20 of any review are the parts that most impact my score, since that's when most people's patience runs out and might quit before they get to the good stuff. After about 40-50 hours, anyone should have a clue if the game is any good or not, and a game would really have to go up or downhill to make me significantly change the score after that.


That said, games that are very long and cannot be finished in a weekend typically get higher scores from me than a game that's I can. When I do a review, the constant question I ask myself is: "if I bought this game, would I feel I got my monies worth?". If that question is yes, it's pretty much guaranteed to be at least a 7.5.

Thanks for the feedback too.
Post Sat Jan 10, 2004 3:28 am
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Gorath
Mostly Harmless
Mostly Harmless




Joined: 03 Sep 2001
Posts: 6327
Location: NRW, Germany
   

Welcome to the forums, Mark.

First of all I want to say that my post above wasnīt connected to your review. It was more an expression of frustration about 'professional' reviewers in general. Of course a few people could find themselves in it.
When I wrote this I hadnīt read your review. Now I have.

I have to say itīs definitely one of the better G2 reviews. Better in the sense that there are only a few factual mistakes in it and the score reflects the text.

You are right, 40-50 hours is enough to make up your mind about a game.

The one big mistake in your review: You didnīt mention that G2 has _2_ different sets of combat controls. They can be toggled in a prominent place in the options menu (not the gothic.ini like quicksave and instapotions). The game defaults to the classic Gothic controls, which are somewhat similar to most shooters. The 'one-click-combat' controls let you attack with a mouse click. This makes combat a bit easier.
You should have mentioned it, itīs quite important I think.


Something I disagree about is the part about the 'buggy' combat controls.
" When you see an opponent, first you press the spacebar to enter combat mode, then you press the CRTL key to focus on your opponent while simultaneously pressing the arrow keys to perform combat moves."

I have the impression that your problem is solely based upon a misunderstanding of the controls! 'Space' isnīt the key to enter combat mode, itīs the key to activate the last used weapon or spell, which can be useful if you want to transform or shoot a switch. Of course you can run into problems if want to use a sword and draw your bow because you shot something a minute ago. The correct way to enter combat mode is the number keys (1...0) because specific spells and weapons are assigned to them. Those keys never refused to work for me.
Plus you donīt press Ctrl and arrow keys simultaneously. You keep either the Ctrl key or the left mouse button pressed and then, without haste, press one movement key after the other to create carefully timed combo attacks. (Of course also depending on your weapon skills.)
This is something completely different then what you described.
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Post Sat Jan 10, 2004 6:15 am
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Korplem
Swashbuckler
Swashbuckler




Joined: 23 Dec 2002
Posts: 853
Location: Pearl Harbor, HI
   

I just read it and I think it's a good review.
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Post Sat Jan 10, 2004 6:21 am
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Mark Crump
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 08 Jan 2004
Posts: 2
   

quote:
I have the impression that your problem is solely based upon a misunderstanding of the controls! 'Space' isnīt the key to enter combat mode, itīs the key to activate the last used weapon or spell, which can be useful if you want to transform or shoot a switch. Of course you can run into problems if want to use a sword and draw your bow because you shot something a minute ago. The correct way to enter combat mode is the number keys (1...0) because specific spells and weapons are assigned to them. Those keys never refused to work for me.
Plus you donīt press Ctrl and arrow keys simultaneously. You keep either the Ctrl key or the left mouse button pressed and then, without haste, press one movement key after the other to create carefully timed combo attacks. (Of course also depending on your weapon skills.)
This is something completely different then what you described.



That's my bad, and you'r right that would have made it a tad easier, but I think the problem might have been how it was queueing up attacks, or something, because I noticed this wasn't limited only to combat. Sometimes I'd go talk to someone, or want to get into my inventory and it would take a couple of key presses. It's possible from your description it's really two separate issues, but at the time it looked like the two were related.

I didn't think your frustration was directed at me, and I don't think that for some people setting the finishing expectation is unreasonable. If I sat in an office on a paid staff writing reviews, that's my "job" and if working on a 80+ hour game and finishing it is my "job" then, yeah, they should finish it. On the other hand, I have read reviews were it's obvious someone has only spent a few hours playing it, and the score and review reflects it. I'm curious how the Gamespy reviewer reached his conclusions,
Post Sat Jan 10, 2004 6:49 am
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