Let it be said that not everyone wants to play online role playing games.  Yes, I know that it's practically a requirement for games to have online capabilities as it adds to the whole "replayability" factor.  However, with the mega-hit Morrowind, single player RPGs are on the rise and I couldn't be happier. 

Gothic II takes place shortly after the events of the first Gothic, though it is not necessary for you to have played the first Gothic, I would certainly recommend it, since it was a pretty good game.  Having completed your mission of liberating the prison camp and putting the Sleeper to sleep, the land is still in terrible danger and the king asks you "Insert name here" to again help him out.  As in the first, the game is decidedly open ended with a "what should I do now" kind of feel to it.  Well the first thing I would say is learn how the controls work.  And with that, the games worst fault is spilt out.  The controls in the game aren't exactly user-friendly with an uncomfortable combat setup, a frustrating inventory system and the inability to use hot keys making this initial play hard to overcome.  Not impossible, just hard.    

But overcome you shall, because the game's faults are overshadowed by the good things this game has to offer.  First and foremost is the strong storyline with multiple paths.  While playing the game, you can become one of three character types, the Paladin, the dragon slayer or the wizard.  Each of the classes allows for the player to try and beat this lengthy game.  I should mention that as you play the game, you can join guilds that are representative of your character class.  What this means is, that while the games ultimate goal is always within sight, the path to getting there can be varied.  Missions and mini-quests made for the paladin will more then likely not occur for the wizard, and vise versa.  Players will befriend different non-player characters while playing as the dragon slayer as opposed to the wizard.  Do you see where I'm going with this?  Variety, it's the spice of life.  

From a visual standpoint, Gothic II is a better then average snack.  Where the game excels though, is the sheer number of items found throughout the game, while running along, you can stop and do a complete 360 looking at various monsters, vegetation and so on.  These items are tied directly to the games exploration, where there seems to be an abundance of food to be found on the ground and weapons lying about and corpses to scavenge.  While playing, you get a real sense of playing in a real living breathing world.  Things are constantly going on around you and if you are clever enough, you may just find some secrets.  Monsters look genuinely dangerous and you know for certain when a new creature has ill intent on its mind as it storms after you.  Yes, since you start out kind of a weenie, expect to do a lot of running.   

Only slightly better then the graphics is the audio.  Voice acting is done kind of strange though, as it was almost unintentionally/intentionally goofy.  Characters have strange accents you wouldn't expect them to have and their voice pacing doesn't seem up to snuff, but since drug use does occur in the game, maybe that explains the oddities in the voice acting.  I couldn't help but think that the folks at Bethesda were getting desperate for voice work, so they just started walking around the office, asking coworkers to read a line or two.

Gothic II is a pretty demanding game on the computer too, I was not able to run all video options on their highest setting without some slowdown and when the rain starts falling on the screen everybody seems to go in slo-mo.  I hope you have a fairly beefy system as the game demands a lot from its master.  Recommended processor is a 1.2 GHz, but I would honestly say a 1.8 or bigger is needed for a fairly smooth game experience.  

Overall, with the sheer number of missions, the deep, involved world and the fun voice acting I say give this one a shot if you are looking for a solid single player RPG.  

Gameplay: 7.8
Running around is a snap, and fighting does get easier as the game goes on, but I really did not like the inventory setup.  Where's my hot keys?  

Graphics: 7.0
Not bad, not great but somewhere in between good and acceptable.  I like the monsters but people all move around like their spines don't wanna flex that much.  Must be constipation form all those mushrooms.  

Sound: 7.9
I love the fact that the man standing in front of me is holding a crossbow and talking like a South side pimp.  The game makers had fun doing the voices.  

Difficulty: Hard
Not the easiest RPG, and some of those "extras" your used to, like auto mapping and combat where you lock on to your opponent, are simply not there.  Not to mention you will die a gazillion times trying to figure out which monsters you can fight and which ones you can't.  Save often.  

Concept: 8.0
I like the whole guild idea for specific character classes, and the various mini quests are a step in the right direction.  Just a fun, fun world to play and explore in.  

Overall: 8.0
A good follow up to an original RPG.  Here's hoping Atari does Gothic III and fixes the inventory shortcomings.