Rating: 
Summary: Excellent and underrated
Review: I just finished playing this game and found it surprisingly good. Actually, it's one of the top 3 computer roleplaying games (RPG) that I've played (along with Morrowind and Baldur's Gate 2). Although it can be a bit frustrating in places, Gothic 2 is an enjoyable gaming experience which I highly recommend.
Gameplay: This RPG is set in a medieval fantasy environment, replete with castles, dragons, magicians, and knights. Your character has just escaped from a prison and is now out in the world to fulfill his destiny. It's the same formula as other such games, but does not come off as corny. You can customize your character with ability scores like strength, mana, sword skills, and lockpicking, but for the most part the character creation possibilities of the game are rather limited. There are only 3 character classes, 3 guilds, about 10 ability scores and skills, and your character is the same person each game (same gender, no name, same basic appearance, etc.).
Similar to Morrowind, the gaming world is huge and will take many hours to fully explore. The game does not have an on-screen automap, so you can easily get disoriented and lost. There are a lot of hidden dungeons and caves, and dozens of NPCs and monster types. One of the real strengths of the game is that it feels alive. NPCs have schedules and lots of animations (like cooking, sleeping, sitting, smoking, mining ore, farming, etc.), and all of their dialogue is spoken. There are night-and-day cycles and climate changes; even the animals and monsters sleep at night. Be warned: the game has mature themes like profanity and a functioning brothel, which also add to its realism.
Gothic 2 is hard at first. Because the game allows you to roam freely, your 1st-level character can easily run into a shadowbeast that can kill him in one blow. Thus, you'll have to pick your fights wisely. (I am not sure why so many people have complained about the combat controls. I really liked the fighting system once I remapped the goofy default controls. Instructions for doing this can be found in the game's readme document, as well as instructions for setting up hotkeys for health potions.) One thing that I really missed was quick-travel options during the first half of the game. Eventually, you'll come across teleportation scrolls to take you to certain areas quickly, but you'll still be doing lots and lots of walking. Additionally, I liked the food system for the game, as well as the alchemy system.
There are really only a few things that I didn't like about Gothic 2, besides the lack of a quick-travel system and an automap or compass (you can buy maps, but have to open your inventory to use them). First, the character creation options are too limited. Although there are many quests, I really wish you didn't have to be the same guy every game. Also, there was a noticeable lack of variety in armors, weapons, architecture, and other things. Compared to Morrowind or Diablo 2, Gothic 2 is kind of sparse in this regard. Finally, while the ending was good, it didn't allow you to go back and finish uncompleted quests or do further exploring. When it's over, it's over. (Hint: don't get on the paladin boat unless you are finished with questing on the mainland). Overall, the game was quite stable and will last about 50 hours.
Graphics: The visuals for the game range from good to great. Most character animations are done decently, and the forest environments are lush and convincing. The water just looks okay, as does the sky. Monsters are well done for the most part.
Sounds: This is a mixed bag. Ambient sounds are done well, and the music is appropriate. However, voice acting ranges from good to awful. Some characters have identical voices, including the several dragons that you'll fight. Also, thunder is not convincing. Overall, there are no big problems in this department.
Replayability/Value: I thoroughly enjoyed Gothic 2 as a paladin and could see playing it again as one of the other two characters. Whlle it does not have the character creation versatility and editor capacity of Morrowind or the item customization of Diablo 2 or the great magic system and NPCs of Baldur's Gate 2, Gothic 2 gets a lot of things right. And for the current price ($10), you really can't get much more value for your money. I highly recommend Gothic 2 to anyone who enjoys adventure games and RPGs.
Rating: 
Summary: I loved the first one
Review: I loved the first game this one will rock the rock we live on!!!...
Rating:
Summary: Better than Gothic 1, if that's possible
Review: I ordered this from the UK for under 50 bucks instead of waiting for the US release. G2 improves on everything from the first game. It's way larger, with a lot more equipment, monsters, items, and area to explore. It has better controls and graphics as well.
Rating: 
Summary: OK, but not great
Review: I think the other reviews here sum it up pretty well. It is somewhat immersive. The character is difficult to control (it would be nice to be able to toggle between run and walk mode, rather than having to hold down the shift key). There is a lot of detail. However, a couple of things that I didn't see anyone else mention are how absolutely dreadful the voice acting is. It stinks to high heaven. It is the main reason I say the game is only somewhat immersive - because anytime you talk to someone, it seems like some bad high school play performed by Texans... slowly. Also, there is too much foliage that gets in the way and blocks your view of your character. These may not be big problems, but they were annoying enough to me to give it a mediocre score.
Rating:
Summary: a very solid game
Review: I'm giving it 5 stars because it is one of a few really well designed games. It's really immersive, and that's probably the reason it may seem short. Can't wait for the expansion!
Rating: 
Summary: Worst Controls Ever
Review: I've played dozens of PC and console graphical RPGs, and this one has the absolute worst graphical interface I've ever seen. I bought it because of the good reviews, but shortly after installing , I quit struggling with the controls that aren't logical, don't make good use of the mouse and create a feeling of motion sickness from the bobbing screen views and uninstalled it in disgust. What a waste. Doesn't matter how great the content is if you can't play it effectively.
Rating:
Summary: deeper than the ocean
Review: If you've never played the original Gothic and you like CRPG's at all, you owe it to yourself to try this game. The game world is very much alive, and moreover, it feels like it has a history - as if the world really did exist long before you came around. It's very open-ended, which means that if you're foolhardy enough you can go and get yourself killed really quickly. But this also means you can rob peoples' houses and murder indiscriminately should you choose to.I have to admit, theft and the occasional murder will get you really far in this game. There are moments of pure hilarity - initially when you're weak and you pull out your sword in town, people will draw their own weapons and command you to put yours away. As you grow more powerful, they will simply say "There's no problem here" and try to back away from you. While this is indeed pretty funny, it also says a lot about the depth of this game. Through the course of the game, you will be forced to make some tough decisions. There are many times when you either support one NPC or another, and your choice has lots of repercussions. This game is DEEP and very replayable. This, and the original Gothic, have been the only CRPG's I have ever played where I looked up at the night sky with wonder, feeling as if I was truly a part of a living, breathing world.
Rating:
Summary: Great Game
Review: If your looking for an amazingly interactive game then this is it. Its fun, wonderfully intertwined, and no matter what you do in it the story will turn out all right. If I was pressed to think of a down side it would be that the game gets slightly too easy towards the end, it starts off challenging in that almost anything can kill you, but by the end even the last final "boss" is killable in a matter of seconds. Still, it's a good game. Note: don't be frightened by the "only for advanced players" remark at joining the Fire Mages, its just as fun with them.
Rating:
Summary: A few glaring and sometimes annoying errors, but fun all aro
Review: Its a fun game, the Artificial Intelligence is excellent, they go home at night, have a schedule, drawing your weapon close to one causes them to draw their own weapon and command you to put yours away. On the downside, there is ALOT of 'modern' swear words, something you probably wouldn't hear in Dark Age-Medieval times. But the graphics are great, alot better than I expected after playing Morrowind. The controls are my biggest complaint, if your attacked by a group of enemies, you are going to die, its very hard to fight more than one enemy efficently. You can forge your own weapons, thats very limited though, you can't forge every weapon, and you can't forge armor. The game isn't very glitchy, and pretty stable. As I mentioned above, the Graphics are great, not very high end, but look good none the less, the Envirorment must have has an IMMENSE ammount of work done on it, the people involed are very dovoted to making everything look believable and different. In the end, the swearing does cause me to take a star off, not because it offends me, but because it doesn't seem right to have in a Medieval Fantasy game, and the controls another star, but if your looking for an interesting RPG to play, this is it. Weather you like it or not is up to your style of play.
Rating:
Summary: Really good RPG
Review: Like some of the other reviewers, I wasn't really into this game at first. I kept playing because it intrigued me that the first offered "quest," which in any normal RPG would begin the storyline, actually gets your character killed about 15 seconds. There is no way to defeat this quest at level one. The concept of an RPG that does not spoon-feed you along is continued with a large area map for your character to explore, much of which will get him (it is not possible to play a female) dead before you can get him turned around to run away. I'm not too wild about the fighting style in this game; I prefer a turn-based style. I especially disliked that it was impossible to even quick equip healing potions. To drink a healing potion during a fight, you have to go to the equipment screen, get the potion, wait for your character to drink it (which takes a few seconds), then re-equip your weapon. Needless to say, healing potions aren't much help in battle at lower levels. I did like that you can be attacked from behind and that a direct hit, on either you or your opponents, will generally make the hit character recoil a bit. The main plotline is nothing special, but the side quests are fun and varied. Also, you can do them in any order that you want. The NPCs are pretty interesting, for a video game. I liked the plotline as much as either of the Baulder's Gate series and better than Lionheart or Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. You cannot create a party of NPCs, unfortunately, but that is the only real fault of the plot in my opinion. It is possible to become a mercenary and play an "evil" character if you are so inclined. The other options are militiaman (where you eventually become a Paladin) and apprentice (eventually you become a Mage). I highly recommend this game for anyone who likes RPGs with complex plotlines.
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