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I have to admit a lack of familiarity with the Gothic Series, but from what Blaine Christine from Aspyr tells me the series is responsible for some of the elements we all have come to know and love in most modern RPG games, from reactive AI to open ended character development, the Gothic Series has seen it all. In addition to its previous achievements, this new chapter will introduce a new graphics engine that will take Gothic to the next level. While many of the game's graphics are still being worked on you can clearly see that a lot of love has gone in to the game and it should look spectacular.

From what I can see the newest chapter in the series will be no exception. With beautiful graphics and a reported seven miles of space to explore the game should satisfy even the most hardened RPG fan. Like the rest of the series, the game takes place on Myrtana, a land besieged by the forces of the Orc Hoards of the North. While these forces have ruined and enslaved much of the human population, a few remain who challenge their might. Now I was informed by Blaine that if a player so desired he could befriend the Orc’s and learn the reasons for their murderous rampage.

The game is planned to be fairly open ended with one main rather extensive quest and many side quests to keep the player occupied. At the time of E3 it was not clear what the quests will entail or how much actual game play the game will contain. The game's advancement system, like its play style, is open ended with characters that have many customized options. Players will not be saddled with a set class, but will be able to use experience gains to skill up a variety of skills allowing complete customization. It’s not clear at this time if any recourse will be available to players to correct any mistakes.

This brings us to the most intriguing, and perhaps unique, part of the series, something rarely seen outside MMO games. All the player’s actions have a consequence, and the NPCs remember everything! So remember that shop you rob may comeback to haunt you down the road. There are many factions in the game which the player can curry favor, the two most dominant being the Orc and Human factions. Depending on their stance the player can set to free the human race and destroy the Orc horde, betray humanity and side with the Orcs, or even play something in between and try and cultivate standing on both sides. All are equal options in Gothic III and all have some consequence for the player.

As I mentioned earlier, Blaine said that the game, while achieving a lot of success in abroad, has met a wall here in the US. To combat this Gothic III has been reworked to help the game appeal more to the American market then the previous incarnations of the game. To this end the controls have been reworked and the player will be able to attack using the left and right mouse keys. The hope is this will allow for a more comfortable combat system. I am also told that the game's magic system will make a return, though, in a much more simplified form. The spell effects that we were shown, however, were spectacular and quite flashy.

With open ended gameplay, intriguing combat, and, most of all, a dynamic faction system, Gothic III looks like it could finally take American audiences by storm. I recommend if your looking for a new RPG this fall to check out Gothic III. I know I will.