On the horizon loomed a rethinking of the RPG classics of the beginning of the century.
Currently, the demo ratings on Steam have risen from the “Mixed” mark to “Mostly positive”. We figure out how to relate to a small piece of the updated Gothic.
The valley is hard to recognize. But don’t be upset about it
Yes, the basis of history is the same as before. Once again, we as a prisoner find ourselves in an isolated valley. If it were not for the intro with the story of the war and the orcs, the old game could not be recognized at all.
Local miners do not strive for labor records
The Gothic Playable Teaser looks pretty good. It is worth paying attention to at least the model of our Novice (the hero is not supposed to be named, as before). Everything is drawn in detail and neatly, the face, hairstyle, clothing elements, animated tape on the belt – the level of a quite solid AA-project.
But most importantly – the world of the game, which once conquered the landscapes and the beauty of its open spaces, now looks even better. The scenery is inventive and saturated with colorful elements. The eye constantly snatches out some individual angles and small details. Here is a huge tree in the center of the stone square, here is a shaft with bizarre mechanisms, and here is a couple of hangmen hung under the arch. And over all this, the same dome shimmers with witching light. All this visual wealth works great for immersion.
At night, the picture sparkles, glare and makes the computer moan
You can explore, as before, almost the entire map and immediately
It was possible to preserve what the game of 2001 was remembered for: the cruel, but wonderful world and atmosphere of Robinsonade. We still start as a poor, unarmed and wry-handed loser. There is no food, no home, no flag. We collect nutritious berries, rejoice in rusty baubles, recount the coins found. The world is strongly unfriendly, and the odyssey of our chosen one is fascinated by this from the first minutes.
I was surprised to find elements of horror in the spirit of Resident Evil in the new version of Gothic. Staged scenes show torn corpses in close-up, in the bushes someone roars carnivores, and the Velociraptors from 2001 became really creepy, building up polygons.
However, soon a clever and handsome Diego appears, and the plot again recalls the original source, adjusted for a deeper narrative. There are much more dialogs, the camera switches to first-person view during conversations, and if you wish, you can even – quite a bit – control this camera in a conversation.
The local predators now look really creepy
Previously, the average player mastered Gothic slowly and sadly. The game has gone far from standards and made it take quite a while to learn its outlandish rules. Now, part of the “wild” charm has disappeared, but the Gothic Playable Teaser is much more convenient and friendly.
The main, perhaps, difference from the original is a completely redone combat system. In the previous game, the battle scared away many: it was unusual and uncomfortable. To strike, it was necessary to indicate the direction of the stroke, holding down the movement key together with the strike key. But the old system had its own charm: it looked and felt rather awkward, but somehow real, or something. In addition, Gothic-2001 had a very cool feature: with the growth in the level of skill, the speed of possession of weapons and even animation changed. If the salaga waved his sword clumsily and unconvincingly, then the pumped fighter was like a real samurai in battle. To master such a battle, inhospitable, but deep, was a separate pleasure.
There are places in the valley where we are forbidden to enter. But this is temporary, until the desired plot turn
Great new solutions were found in the interface. For example, with one click you can mark the direction to the quest. The marker will not be conspicuous, but will help a lot when traveling over rough terrain. In addition to the usual equipment, a quick access wheel is available. Frequent auto-saves have been added, which can only be greeted – the complexity of the game is high, as in previous years.
The developers sketched the torn bodies in the demo generously. The original game was stingy with blood and dismemberment
The music was taken from the original unchanged, and even there it was good, and it is nice to hear it again. An unobtrusive instrumental creates the right mood for a dangerous and unpredictable adventure.
Of the annoying flaws, it should be noted the Novice’s inability to jump a bunch of stones or leave the bridge without a railing, because of which the hero regularly rests his nose against invisible walls. There was no such nonsense in the old Gothic.
The developers turned to users in a short text introduction to the demo. There they claim that they want to betray exactly the rethinking of the classics. A good remake should be a rethinking. Impressed by the demo – THQ Nordic is doing everything right.
