Arcania: Gothic IV is no different, and while the story might have issues with pacing, it won't distract you from the experience. It lets you play at your own pace, with plenty of great looting objectives and a very detailed and lively world.

The Good: Stunningly beautiful realm The Bad: containing a lackluster and somewhat dull adventure The Ugly: which I hesitate to call an RPG as most contemporary role-playing elements are missing I am likely not the best person to be reviewing Arcania: Gothic 4.

Gothic 4 is an over-the-shoulder-camera RPG much like Oblivion or Mass Effect, but it leaves much of the role-playing activities out. The result is a game that would ordinarily be action heavy, like a graphically superior version of Torchlight, had the overall story and action not been so dull.

If this game didn't call itself a Gothic game, I would have liked it a lot more. I spent lots of hours playing gothic. The completely open world, the crafting, the story, the game play, the side quests...EVERYTHING about Gothic was literally phenomenal.

Arcania turns out to be a passable RPG, it has pleasant enough locations and plenty of quests to get stuck into, even if they do feel a bit similar to each other. The timing of such a generic release couldn't have come at a worse time however, and with Fable III and Fallout New Vegas also vying for...

Pleasant vistas and surroundings; Plenty of quests to find and complete; Simplicity makes it approachable

The story isn't compelling; The voice acting unappealing; Quests are very generic and similar

Boy, the RPG scene sure has changed since the first Gothic game. There was something captivating about that game and I could never understand why I felt compelled to spend so much time with it. Gothic 2 still remains one of the best games I've ever played.

Looks and sounds very nice; it's easy to get into and there are plenty of items to toy around with

Besides the lush environment; nothing motivates players to stay in this world; simple gameplay and simple quest structure; awful English subs (or voiceovers if you will); uninteresting story and characters; there's nothing challenging about this game

Don't ask where the others are.

For a long time the PC crowd has looked down on console games as inferior or simplistic and they maintain that cross platform games cater for the lowest common denominator. Perhaps the first console outing for the ArcaniA franchise will finally disprove that myth.

My time spent with ArcaniA: Gothic 4 was more like spending time in a waiting room than anything else. It is bland, something to play just to finish it and kind of irritating. I really do not strongly dislike ArcaniA but am quite irritated by Gothic 4 .

Parents need to know that Arcania: Gothic 4 is a fantasy role-playing game that focuses heavily on combat. That said, the fighting isn't gory -- players see only a small amount of blood.