This review reflects the current technical state the game is in, not the quality of the original Gothic 2 Gold released in 2005. I bought the GOG-version of the game 6 years ago and played it without any technical problems from start to finish. I have recently downloaded the game once again and it refuses to launch properly. It took me about 4 hours, some computer knowledge and a lot of community patches to get the game to a serviceable state. GOG-technical support forums were also of little help, so without german/polish language fluency I imagine a lot of people are going to struggle to find the community patches and apply them properly. As GOG charges money for this release, it is their JOB to make sure that the game can be run using modern hardware without issues. So far, a customer has to spend at least 4 hours to apply a plethora of community patches to make the game playable. You have been warned.
This is a review for the “remaster” of the game that is offered here at GOG, not the original 1992 game. Pros: It still works with modern hardware (not always the case for old games) Cons: There is no option to rebind controls, which is a MASSIVE BLUNDER and my main issue with the “remaster”. The rewind mechanic is clunky at its best. The graphics were not improved in any way, shape or form. All in all, this “remaster” is worth neither your time, nor your money. You are far better off playing an unofficial fan-patched version of the game.
I purchased the game in 2024 and decided to do a blind playthrough. I didn't have high expectations of the game. And I was right. TL:DR: Serviceable Combat (but not great) Average Story (slightly boring) Good Technical Implementation (only 1 crash, a few minor bugs) Verdict: If you have nothing to play, then buy on 60% or more sale, play it and forget all about it The game had good performance and I only experienced 1 crash. From a technical standpoint it is serviceable, but the color choices for quite a few things are questionable. The game is about 20 hours for a casual playthrough with all the DLCs. I also did an almost full Supernova playthrough to see what the game has to offer on its highest difficulty, so I think I have a good grasp on all systems when I state the following: Combat system is very basic and lackluster. It heavily uses the time pause mechanic like a crutch. Without it, you can immediately notice how jerky the animations are, how some enemies jump around with 0 delays and other stuff. Additionally, there is an obviously superior damage type that will easily carry you through the whole game. It works against all but 1 opponent group. Everything else is redundant. Audio is bad in general. It is all over the place and the sound effects feel like they have been copy/pasted from a game that was released in 1995. Some humor. I was not impressed, but humor is very subjective and situational. The story is generic. It is often delivered in big chunks of texts and emails, known in the industry as lore dumps. I tried reading them, but got bored soon. There are other better ways to deliver a story. The edition bloat is majorly disappointing. I thought that I bought a final edition with a fancy name and all the DLCs. Turns out, I was wrong. There was a final final edition with some minor improvements that cost 10 Euros more. Of course I realized this only after I bought one.
The game has some technical issues, especially with non-english versions of it. Just switching to the English version of the game or manually selecting the video card settings in many cases resolve these issues. Yet it is important to note that they exist. Apart from that, it is a solid entry in the Arkham Series. It expands upon some ideas of its predecessors (notably Arkham City and Arkham Asylum). Some ideas are not perfectly executed, but the studio should be commended for trying to spruce up the gameplay loop. The graphics hold up surprisingly well despite the age of the game, which I recently replayed. In big part due to very good animations and character models. The attention to detail in this game is also fantastic and curious players are always rewarded with easter eggs and funny dialogue bits. The combat system is inherited from the previous entries in the series and is generally fun to play. There are a couple of new gadgets and the DLC features a powered armor version of the batman, which is refreshing. Some story elements are silly, but this is on par with course about a rich man running around the rooftops at night. All in all, it is a solid entry in the series, especially compared to the batman games that came out in 2022 and beyond. Definitely worth trying out on a sale. P.S. The online elements of this version of the game are out, as the servers are down. The chances to find mods and people running private servers are low.
GOG is once again trying to spam me with the ad messages about the games I never knew existed. This should sireously stop. If I ever wanted to look at game ads, I could always go to the front page of the store.
I played the first game, which was decent, but not spectacular. I got the second one on a giveaway. It was a little bit suspicious why it was given away so soon after launch, but I simply stashed it in my library and decided to play later when I have more time. Now I know why. To keep it short, the game was very likely heavily rushed. The controls and gameplay are clunky. The camera movements are atrocious. And the worst offender - the sound. It is broken. I tried to fix it with suggestions from the internet forums, but I think it was poorly developed to begin with. Sound is very important in a stealth game. And they have done a decent job in the first game. Why such a massive failure now - I have no idea. Some environmental items seem to generate little to no sound output, yet attract all the guards. Others do directly the opposite - they are very loud to the player, but the guards and enemies ignore them completely. Guessing from where the threats are coming from is impossible either. All in all - a very poor impression. I didn't get to the end of the first mission, which is saying something. I am the kind of a player that wants to give every game a chance. This one has only disappointed me. Not worth playing even if it is acquired on sale.
Played in 2023. Had only one crash to desktop. No performance issues. This game gets repetitive fast. Combat is the majority of the game. It is not hard, it just takes a long time. Feels like a chore. The game´s slow motion gimmick does not improve the situation either. Could not bring myself to finish the game, which I usually try to do. The few fights at the start represent what is going to wait for you for at least 10-20 more hours. It is not going to get any better. The party devotion system is contrived at best. RPG elements are non-existant. The difficulty of the game depends on the gear drops. Without save scumming, you will have to rely on crafting to progress. With a little bit of save scumming (i.e. you get a fire sword to fight enemies on a water level), you can ROFLstomp a level without noticing it. Overall, I do not recommend this game. And it has nothing to do with the price. There are so many good games out there that you shouldn't waste your time with this one.
This game is very similar to Wasteland 2, with some minor graphic and combat tweaks. The biggest letdown here is plot holes, cheap drama and loss of verisimilitude. A lot of obvious choices that should be in the game are not there. Here are some examples (but by far not all of them). Refugee crisis. A dramatic situation in HQ. Not enough space for people. Is there an obvious option to house them in a casino that was cleared out of a gang? Nope. Can you invite them into a garage liberated from a mob? Also nope. The game tries to show that these refugees are freezing, but they will not walk 10 meters over there into a perfectly good and empty building with working heating. A hidden black site of the local ruler. Hidden in the city center. That nobody knows anything about. The only entrance is through a public monument in the middle of the public park in front of lots of people. Guess they couldn't find a better place. A quest involving two women calling for help. When you get there, you see that they are in a building surrounded on two sides by mercenaries. You come closer, you get immediately attacked by them. Only after one side is cleared, starts a conversation with women and new details are learnt. They are thieves. They stole a lot of money. And the merc leader wants it back. Could the mercenaries tell the players this story before attacking them? Not in this game. Is there an option to sneak out the two women since one side of the building is now clear? Nope. One child of the ruler is a psychopath, but the ruler wants him back home alive. The psychopath conducts cruel experiments with a dangerous gas that leaves a person unable to speak, think or act. Is there an option to run this experiment on the psychopath himself before handing him over to the ruler, as this would both neutralize the psychopath, but leave him physically alive? Nope. Not implemented. On top of that, a lot of bugs. Sound and music bugs specifically. Played in 2022. Still not fixed.
I am a big fan of both Dishonored games. So I am a little biased here. I bought this one on a promise of visiting the Void as a setting. The Void could have been the ultimate sandbox in Dishonored universe, as it could have given a lot of artistic freedoms to the developers. Without any spoilers, a player spends an entirety of 5 (five) minutes in the void at the end of the game. And that is it. I am not kidding. Main complaints about the game: - It has only 4 levels. In general shorter than Knife of Dunwall or Brigmore witches. 2 of the 4 levels are reused, which is a big letdown. - The game introduces 1 (one) new enemy type that you encounter in the last 15 minutes of the game. Easily avoided by just running. - Linear story and progression. There is only 1 decision in the game which you make at the very end. Apart from that, your actions will only change some articles in the newspapers, and nothing else. - Limited character development. Everything is set in stone by the developers. There is some fun to be had here. But it mostly comes from the solid mechanical foundation that Dishonored 2 provides. Combat and stealth is smooth, yet mostly limited in comparison to the main game. Dishonored 2: Death of the Outsider is by no means a bad game. However, I came to expect more from Arkane Studios. And I was disappointed with the overall experience. It is not a complete disaster, just a small portion of the same fun you had in Dishonored 2. Get it on a 50% sale or more. Otherwise it is not really worth it. P.S. GoG does not allow changing of the reviews after they are posted. Shameful display. Please complain about it in any form you can. Thank you.
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a tactical strategy that borrows heavily from xcom. The information on the store page is sketchy, so let me briefly explain the only gameplay loop the game has: Imagine an xcom level where you can choose which enemy pods to fight and when. That's it. The whole game is based around estimation of what you can engage now and what you can and should engage later. It feels ok at first, but gets repetitive rather quickly, which is the biggest flaw of this game. The story is linear, and you get exactly one choice to make in the game that has no effect on the story, so this is NOT an rpg, no matter what the label in the store says. The narrative itself reminds of a sign “Please wash your hands”. While there is nothing wrong with it, it is just not particularly exciting. Where the game shines is the visual presentation. The character models are looking great, and the map objects are beautifully crafted and put together. The team responsible for that did a fantastic job. All in all, I spent around 20 hours for a stop-and-smell-the-roses-playthrough (with DLC and most achievements, but without Hardcore mode). Without the good looks that this game has, I would have quit it much sooner. To summarize: + Good Visuals ok Narrative - Gameplay borrowed from xcom with no innovation - Repetitiveness Verdict: Get it while it is 60% off or more. Not worth the full price. The DLC adds more of the same. So if you played the main game, you get almost nothing out of Seed of Evil.
