I was worried that the Gothic remake would water down the unapologetically tricky 2001 original, but seven hours hands-on has put my mind at ease | Tech Radar
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I was worried that the Gothic remake would water down the unapologetically tricky 2001 original, but seven hours hands-on has put my mind at ease
“The beauty of Gothic is that it’s often horrible to play”
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Going into Gothic 1 Remake, I was concerned that new developer Alkimia Interactive would water down the unapologetically prickly role-playing game (RPG) to make it palatable to a wider audience. While it’s true that the original 2001 game helped inspire hit series like The Witcher, it never quite managed to break into mainstream appeal largely due to its awkward controls and the high learning curve of its core mechanics.
Some of this is obviously thanks to its age (no RPG from a quarter of a century ago is going to be particularly easy to play in 2026 if you’re used to the likes of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim), but it’s also an intentional part of the design. The beauty of Gothic is that it’s often horrible to play. The nameless protagonist, thrown into an isolated prison colony at the start of the game, is a complete nobody, forced to scrape his way up from the bottom in a cruel world where literally every wild creature is out to kill you and almost every character wants to screw you over.
With no map and objective markers, the first hours of the game involve walking around the map, getting to grips with the small but densely crafted environment as you bash the most pathetic creatures you can find with cheap weapons that are about as wieldy as a live carp in order to farm experience points. You’ll die over and over again, but every inch of hard-fought progress and every hopeless moment that you manage to turn around offers a level of satisfaction without compare.
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After seven hours with the new remake, I’m delighted to say that the core essence of Gothic remains intact. Yes, parts of the game have been modernized — particularly that combat system — and some new story content has been added here and there, but the tone and feel of everything remains comfortingly familiar.
My preview offered a locked-down version of the start of the game (that portion where you first explore the Old Camp and mine for any Gothic heads out there) and thus focused heavily on exploration and chatting to non-player characters (NPCs) rather than high-level combat or magic. From the first second, you’re basically on your own, dumped without any equipment and no real goal other than to deliver a letter to a group of powerful mages in the colony and, presumably, find some way to escape.
A man called Diego, one of the earliest NPCs you see and a rare friendly face, is a helpful guide to assist in getting your bearings, but doesn’t hold your hand. He advises you to get a weapon and make your way to the Old Camp — a large ramshackle settlement built around a dilapidated castle that’s home to the prison’s most powerful faction — but how you get there is largely up to you.
He’ll take you himself if you’re insistent enough, but being already familiar with the game, I made a beeline to the little cave where you can find a rusty sword and began whittling down the local population of naked molerats to stock up on meat. I cooked this at a nearby campfire, assigning it to my hotbar for easy access to a quick health boost which is essential if you want to last more than a few minutes.
Even in this low level encounters, it was obvious that the swordplay has been overhauled. There's better feedback for hits and a dodge that feels much more consistent than the original, but that’s not to say that it isn’t still incredibly awkward at first.
If you tackle more than two foes at once, you’ll inevitably die, and anything but the weakest creatures can kill you in a single hit. You have to choose your fights carefully, and crafty players are able to exploit the environment to gain an advantage in combat, leading creatures away one at a time to make things easier or using a bow (I located at least two you can get your hands on very easily early on) from a distance for a few ranged strikes.
It's some very Gothic foundations, and I'm eager to see how the complexity ramps up with the introduction of new combos and finishers as my character grows.
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One of the original Gothic's innovations was its remarkable world simulation, something perfectly preserved in this remake.
Part of the unforgiving tone comes from the impression that its universe exists with or without your involvement, and that you’re less a fantasy protagonist and more just a passing visitor. NPCs follow rudimentary schedules, eating, sleeping, and going to work realistically. In the handful of quests I completed throughout my time with my build, there were multiple instances where I had to sheepishly ask multiple folk where a named character likes to hang out in order to track them down.
There’s no mini map, of course, and while you can purchase a map from a local cartographer, they are very expensive and light on details — even working out which side of the camp is the north can be a little tricky.
There are countless named characters with their own alliances and agendas, and your behaviour towards one might pay off in surprising ways later. One of the most obvious examples of whether you choose to cough up protection money to one of the camp’s biggest bullies. Refuse, and you’ll have to watch your back from that point on, as practically anyone could have been paid off to slit your throat.
It can be overwhelming at first, but, like combat, the world needs to be learned. After just a few hours of feeling lost, you’ll be able to get around with your eyes closed and understand how most of its systems work.
I was delighted to see the iconic Mud back in all his glory, too. This awkward miner quickly becomes your biggest fan, following you around spouting increasingly annoying adorations and inane commentary while doing the absolute bare minimum to help in fights. I managed to last about an hour with him on my tail (a new personal record) before beating him to death in a forest clearing while he sounded off about how much he liked being my friend.
It sounds cruel, but I promise you’ll end up doing it too when Gothic 1 Remake hits PC, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Play Station 5 on June 5, 2026.
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Dash is an experienced tech journalist who specializes in video games, electronic entertainment products, and the wider industry that surrounds them. He currently serves as the Gaming Editor at Tech Radar, leading our review, preview, feature, and news coverage of the latest and greatest releases.
Before joining the team, he was Contributing Writer at PLAY (formerly Official Play Station Magazine UK) and has written articles for many of the UK's other biggest gaming magazines including the likes of Edge, PC Gamer, and SFX.
Now, when he's not getting his greasy little mitts on the newest hardware or gaming gadget, he can be found listening to J-pop or feverishly devouring the latest Nintendo Switch otome.
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