Arcania: Gothic 4

Arcania: Gothic 4 is the fourth installment of the Gothic series, and the first one developed by a company other than Piranha Bytes; the game was developed by Spellbound.[5] The first teaser trailer revealed that Arcania was scheduled to be released in Winter 2009,[6] but JoWooD Entertainment has subsequently pushed back the release to 2010.[7]
The game was released on October 12, 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360. The PlayStation 3 version will be released in 2011.
Contents [hide]
1 Description
2 Engine
3 Plot
4 Development
5 Gameplay
6 Reception
7 Addons and Patches
8 Sequel
9 References
10 External links
[edit]Description

Ten years have passed since the end of Gothic 3 and the world has changed - the Southern Islands have become embroiled in conflict, and set the stage for the player to brave countless adventures in the guise of a nameless hero. Decisions will have to be made which will change not only the future of the Southern Islands, but of the entire world. Old acquaintances and new faces will aid the hero or attempt to thwart his efforts throughout his journey.[8]
[edit]Engine

JoWooD and Spellbound Entertainment announced a cooperation with Trinigy, a provider of 3D game engine technology. In the scope of a multi-platform license agreement, Spellbound is developing Arcania: Gothic 4 utilizing Trinigy’s Vision Engine 7, with certain features from the newly released Vision Engine 8.
Arcania's physics engine will be NVIDIA PhysX as confirmed by a JoWooD Entertainment representative.[citation needed]
[edit]Plot

War covers over the Southern Islands like a blood-drenched shroud... and finally, War reaches the idyllic isle of Feshyr in the Southern Seas. The protagonist of Arcania: Gothic 4 returns from an adventure to find his home town pillaged and looted. The aggressors’ ships - with an Eagle displayed on their billowing sails - escape over the horizon.
Seeking revenge, the hero leaves the destroyed city behind and soon realizes that this cowardly attack did not just happen on a reckless mercenary's whim. An evil power lies waiting at the threshold of this world, and our hero will need to face this nameless evil. Yet the hero is not alone - his fate is linked to that of a beautiful, mysterious lady as well as a powerful artifact from the long-forgotten distant past.[9]
[edit]Development

The start of the development was officially announced on August 23, 2007, along with the name of the new developer.[5] The project was originally entitled Gothic 4: Genesis; the name change to Gothic 4: Arcania was announced in 2008.[10][11] At the Games Convention in 2008, JoWooD Entertainment announced another name for the game - "Arcania: A Gothic Tale". The name change serves two purposes. First, it hints at a world rich in magic and fantasy. Second, and completely from a marketing perspective, it helps give the Gothic franchise a fresh start in North America, where it has failed to gain significant popularity.[12] During a press conference of the Polish distributor CD Projekt, the games to be published by the company were presented, including Arcania. The title of the game was stated as Arcania: Gothic 4. A Polish fan-site asked the community manager Reinhard Pollice, known as Megalomaniac, regarding that issue and he confirmed the change of the name. On the 1st of April JoWooD marketing manager Clemens Schneidhofer confirmed the new name to GamersGlobal.de: "I can confirm that! Because the date of the release is already defined (more details soon in a press release), we decided to leave the working title "Arcania – A Gothic Tale" behind and to announce the final name "Arcania - Gothic 4". This change is available for all countries (EU & US)." [13]
As announced at the CD Projekt Conference 2010, Spellbound Entertainment is developing the Xbox360 and Microsoft Windows versions, while later, another studio will port the game on the PlayStation 3 system.[14] Later news confirmed that the PlayStation 3 version has been delayed until 2011, while the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows release remained unchanged.[15] At the 2008 Games Convention in Leipzig, JoWooD Entertainment presented Arcania behind closed doors.
In 2009, JoWooD Entertainment released the official website for Arcania: Gothic 4, revealing new information, screenshots and artworks.[16] In August 2009 JoWooD Entertainment announced that Arcania: Gothic 4 will be delayed until 2010, giving Spellbound more time to polish the game. JoWooD Entertainment plans to make Arcania an AAA title - the most successful title from the Gothic Series, and one of the best RPGs of 2010.[17] In September 2009 the Gothic Community sent a letter to JoWooD Entertainment, complaining about the lack of support and information regarding Arcania: Gothic 4.[18]
In March 2010, Dr. Albert Seidl, JoWooD's former CEO, revealed that Arcania will be released in the autumn of 2010.[19] In June 2010, Franz Rossler, JoWooD's CEO confirmed via interview that Arcania's release date has been scheduled for October 12, 2010.[20] A demo for the game was released on September 24, 2010.
[edit]Gameplay


This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2010)
Arcania was presented to the general public in August at Gamescom in Köln, Germany. The short playable part featured the very beginning of the game, where we meet the protagonist, his fiancee, a free orc, living in harmony with humans and other characters. The character can only interact with "named" characters, those who have a name.
[edit]Reception

[hide] Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Score
Metacritic 65 (PC)
Review scores
Publication Score
IGN 7.5/10[21]
Initial reviews of Arcania have been mixed or average, with a Metacritic average of 62 (based on 21 critics) for the PC version.[22]
GameSpot awarded it 5.0 out of ten and wrote "Arcania has been dumbed down into a generic action role-playing game, so it isn't a Gothic game in anything but its subtitle."[23]
[edit]Addons and Patches

JoWooD announced on October 13, 2010 via its CEO, Franz Rossler, that Arcania will receive several addons in 2011. Nothing has been mentioned about the content.[24]
A patch for the game was released on November 23 for the PC platform. The update slightly alters specific gameplay dynamics, increases the overall performance and gets rid of crashes.[25]
On December 9, 2010, JoWooD announced that they will release ArcaniA: Fall of Setarrif in 2011 - the first addon for Gothic 4. Besides several hours of gameplay, new monsters locations and quests, the addon will introduce a new feature - the possibility to play as known characters from the Gothic series.[26]
[edit]Sequel

According to a latest interview with JoWooD's former CEO, Dr. Albert Seidl, it seems that a sequel is planned in the future.[27