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Ultima7 Reborn in 3D, a Perfect RPG Gothic 2 is perhaps the greatest 3d adventure game that I will ever play. I have been waiting awhile to write this review b/c I first wanted to finish the game. But this is no game, it truly is a virtual adventure. The environment of the game is incredible. Everyone's life is scripted, the computer characters really live out their lives. I have read that you can even catch a townsman pissing on a wall in an alley, though I never caught anyone in the act. I did, however, have my virtuous Paladin visit the brothel in town (tee hee), in the "Red Lantern District". The many reviews written on Amazon do the game justice, so I will not critique the game here. But I will tell you of the fun that I had. It all started with a nostalgia to play Ultima7, a HUGE 3-d Legend-of-zelda perspective computer game released in the early 90's that had such immersive and detailed world/plot/character development such that I have never seen in any game since. So anyways, there I was trying to load up this DOS game on my windowsXP system and it just wouldn't run. So while still in the mood for adventure, I loaded up Final Fantasy 7, Outcast (a brilliant PC game), D&D Planescape Torment, Betrayal at Krondor, even Zelda for N64 and Gamecube. But none of these games gave me the satisfaction of Adventure...except Outcast. But even Outcast is not a huge living world like Ultima7. I turned to our good friend google and searched Ultima7 and up came a review of this game, GOTHIC 2, to which it was compared. I bought Gothic2 with low expectations, for a measly $20, and it turned out to be the greatest most epic adventure I have ever had (on the computer). The gaming world is HUGE. It is basically separated into two areas: a medieval island, and an old mining valley. While loading a saved-game, or jumping back-and-forth between the two areas, will take about 40 sec of hard-drive crunching, the wait is well worth it! When I say the world is huge, it is all continuous and smooth. Once it is loaded, you can walk from the castle village in the south to the pyramids in the north without any computer delays. The run from south to north takes about 20 minutes!, assuming you have already killed all the monsters along your path. But still more amazing than the size of the world is its detail. The detail of the ground reminds me of HALO. Blury from a distance, but blades of grass at your feet. There is night & day (which cycles about every 20 minutes), snow in the mountains, rain-storms, bursts of lightning that illuminate everything around you, dense fog in the cemetaries and haunted woods, Even earthquakes. Another favorites about the environment are CAVES that do not look like boxes, but really caves. Some deep, others not-so-deep. Some have been used as tombs, others as stashes for the thieves. Early on in the game I came across a cliffside path with blood leading to a cave and found a stash of gold which I pounced on, and was shortly there-after pounced on and mauled to death by a shadowbeast (a big bear/lion animal). Suffice it to say, just walking around in the game world is a game in itself, with all the little details to make you feel that this island is modeled after a real place, and you are reinacting a real story. There are many many characters in this game. Some rich, some poor, heros, villains, cowards, liars, etc. About half the people seem to enjoy getting high by smoking "swampweed" every night. In fact with the brothel, and the bloodfights, you can pretty much act out a medieval Grand-Theft-Auto. Fight with anyone in the game, knock them unconscious, steal their belongings, and then even draw your sword and finish them off. But unlike GrandTheftAuto, murdering people in cold blood will make you ostracized by all of the "good people" until you confess to a priest or militia leader and ask for forgiveness. The story is very well done, and believable. It is almost as good as the immortal Betrayal at Krondor. Considering the game was created in/around Germany, the script translates very well. There do seem to be about 6 people doing all the voice-acting, which is embarassing at times since the dragons sound like the priests; the voice acting IS well-done, and you seldom have to read anything in the game. Finally, I want to share with you one of my favorite things about the game: the ability to carry anything and everything imaginable: ie, Mary Poppin's bottomless carpet bag. I love picking everything up in the game and keeping them: old keys, old coins, notes, books, plants, and my favorite...swampweed. Many games today implement a "weight-limit" to what a character can carry. That just doesn't fly with me, b/c it is annoying when you have to drop an essential item in spot A when you run outta space in your pockets, only to find you need it to get past spot B. I could go on & on about this game, b/c there is SO much to talk about. Suffice it to say, the game is breath-taking, the depth almost unimaginable, and you will get one heck of a long adventure out of this game. This game stands out among the rest in that the value of playing it is the EXPERIENCE. Not high points, and not killing as many demons/aliens/etc as you can. I recently played Half-Life2, a game that is receiving kudos from everyone under the sun. Having played and beaten Half-Life2, I will say that it is Addicting and fun, but it leaves you completely empty. There is no sense of adventure or accomplishment. HL2 is like riding through the Universal Studios tour. Gothic2 is like taking a Vacation to another land, another place, as you do when you read a good novel. By the way, HL2 took me 3 days to beat; Gothic2 lasted me 6 months!! No game that I have ever played comes close to the depth and realism of Gothic2. If your PC is strong enough to handle this game, it will be the best $20 bill you've ever spent on gaming. And you'll live happily ever after.