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A friend has just lent me the Gothic Universe compilation (contains the entire series), and I have some questions.

I'm familiar with the reviews of all three games, and from what I can tell, they have been mixed. So, I'm looking for some reasonably objective commentary, are they worth installing? From what I gather the combat and interface are less than ideal, but do other aspects compensate?

Also, would I be correct in assuming that each individual game requires its own set of patches? And, what are the necessary patches?

Thanks for any help

Gothic 2 with or without the expansion is my favourite. The controls are indeed a bit strange, but you'll get used to it. And if you got the gold edition with The Night of the Raven expansion, it'll get you patched up I believe(I didn't have any problems). Though the game will get more difficult with the expansion. And yes, I think the good story and general feel of the game more than make up for the drawbacks with the interface.

As for the other two I have little knowledge of Gothic 1, and Gothic 3 is hardly playable even with the current patches. The armours does not give any protection for example, they only look cool(I got a bit angry finding that out after buying the most expensive paladin armour). There is however an unofficial patch coming wich might do the trick.

If you actually plan on playing through all three, I suggest starting at the beginning. You meet lot's of old characters, in the later games(more in Gothic 2 than 3). And then the game mechanics will improve from Gothic 1 to 2(I played Gothic 2 first and felt Gothic 1 became too old, and the controls are sligtly worse).

Anyways, good luck with the games! You'll have plenty to do as they each are quite long. *sigh* Now I have to install Gothic 2 gold again.

Gothic 1 is my personal favorite, and a fantastic game. I highly reccomend it. Gothic 2 Gold is also an amazing game, at least if you can get past the sometimes frustrating difficulty level. Gothic 3 is a terrible, unplayable abyss of fail and lose that you should never play.

I picked up Gothic 2 years ago, back when I was generally in much more optimistic states. I played it through once and I haven't felt the urge to revisit it since. I have no reason to assume I would like it better now.

I'll give them points for creating an extensive atmosphere, except toward the endgame. But they definitely didn't create a lasting experience. It was neither remarkable or unremarkable. Perhaps that's why nothing stuck with me to make a decent argument for it.