Gothic 3/Gameplay

The player must complete quests and slay wild animals and monsters to earn experience and improve skills. The game is reputation centric allowing the player to side with a faction. While there are six factions in the game, only three are joinable: the Rebels, the Orc mercenaries and the Hashishin. The remaining factions are the Rangers, the Nomads and the people of Nordmar. The player is able to take advantage of missions to allow either side to take over towns. Dialog changes according to in-game actions and behavior. The game places a special focus on the interactivity of the environment. The game claimed to employ an unusual combat system which emphasizes carefully timed combinations of strikes, requiring the player to read the body language of attacking opponents. However, in practice, many players found the combat system lacking such unique features and have been known to describe it as a "button mashing clickfest." The most successful strategy during combat seemed to be to just click the left mouse button as quickly as possible: if timed correctly at the beginning any enemy could be defeated with relative ease. The controls have been altered slightly with a stronger focus on action. Navigation and combat are more mouse-centric, with each mouse button having a different combat action. The Nameless Hero can also now wield dual weapons or use a shield.