Gothic 2 Gold Review

The best thing about Gothic 2 Night of the Raven is that it never gets tedious. There's a great deal of new quests to complete and over 100 additional characters to talk to. Mages are welcome to use a variety of new spells as well as new staves and other weapons. Warriors, hunters and mercs can also look forward to a variety of new weapons and armor. All in all, it's safe to say that Night of the Raven offers plenty in terms of new content.

I will not be ignored, old man!

Do you deal in well-polished kitchen knives by any chance?

Gothic 2 does have certain issues that can be annoying. The game has an impressive amount of items, which you collect along the way. Pretty soon it will be hard to navigate through the heaps of weapons, scrolls, plants, stone tables, rings, and amulets you managed to stock up during your adventures. Basically, everything you gather is squeezed into your inventory, which can be extremely irritating when you wish to find a specific item. Piranha Bytes could've at least used this expansion pack to make inventory navigation a bit more intuitive for players. Also, Gothic 2 requires you to save your game time and again, particularly before your character faces stronger enemies. Personally, I'm quite used to the old save/load routine, so the issue didn't bother me that much. In fact, recurrent saving is quite common in contemporary RPGs and shooters, so I'd regard it as a necessity rather than a gameplay flaw.

I won't waste too much time describing the visuals in this game. Night of the Raven still runs quite well in the Gothic 2 engine. Granted, I did notice that some odd issues from the original are still present - like enemies getting jammed when they try to walk pass certain obstacles (trees, rocks, pillars and doorways). Still, this was a minor problem and it didn't hinder the gameplay that much. The graphics are generally pleasing (If you are blind. -Ed), even though they are behind today's standards (which is no wonder, since the first version of Gothic 2 was released almost three years ago).

Like most RPGs, Gothic 2 is extremely time-consuming, so be prepared to neglect all other activities (aside from eating and sleeping... and visiting AT on a daily basis). This time around, the entire game, including the original single-player campaign, offers around 70-80 hours of top-notch RPG goodness. Fair enough, you have to master the controls and combat system, but it's all worth it in the end, believe me. I've completed the entire expansion pack and I'm still looking forward to finishing the main storyline and completing all the additional quests.

Another good thing is that Gothic 2 Gold costs a mere 19 bucks and it's worth every cent, especially if you're a persistent RPG freak (like myself). In any case, the game is a definite must-have for RPG fans. It is also a perfect way to kill time before Gothic 3 hits the stores.