Against the backdrop of a landscape savaged by war, the King of the human territories must find enough ore to forge weapons for his army to use in defence against the Orc Hordes. The King's mines are set in a large magical sphere and are worked by prisoners captured from across the kingdom. And it is into this sphere that you are thrown, charged with the task of delivering a letter – a letter that might just mark the turning point in the war against the Orcs.

The Gothic world is constantly changing and evolving: events will occur that can alter the relationships between several groups of characters. NPCs are fully rounded with their own daily habits and relationships: they get up, work, go to bed, chat with each other and so on. More significantly, monsters cooperate with each other and are able to figure things out; they have individual perception. Some can be lured with food or noise, some will run away from bright light. Some can only hear or detect movement.

Each character has the ability, with the correct training, to improve particular skills as the game progresses: training with the master of the sword, for example, will result in a character displaying noticeably more skilled swordsmanship. It is so much more satisfying to witness the effect of the skills you have learnt when they are visible in your character as oppose to a meaningless number rating, improving say, from 8 to 10. These 'optical' improvements are for the whole range of skills included in Gothic. The two different classes of magic (which are absolutely independent from each other) work along the same lines.

• Self intuitive game play
• Communication with over 250 NPCs
• NPCs have the ability to act upon recorded information
• Extensive soundtrack and re-playable story lines

Official fact sheet from Pirahna Bytes.