"I have played Gothic 3 for about 15 hours - The game so far, is excellent and I have no problems technically or gameplay wise.
I went to gamerankings.com that lists about 30 or so different reviews of Gothic 3 and began to read the last several reviews of the game and was dismayed to see such low ratings from some reviewers.

But after reading some of the low reviews I realised that the reviewer was having problems with HIS machine and blaming the game for the glitches. And not getting used to the combat system before blaming their own inability to 'do it right'. One reviewer talks about fighting his first wild boar and getting wasted... well learn a lesson and don't charge in without being prepared.

To succeed in the game - learn it slowly and don't rush into danger until you are able to deal with it.
Talk to everyone and take everything as long as no one sees you. You will soon have enough gold and weapondry to take on minor enemies/creatures and so build your skills.
I shall continue to play and if I run into a glitch or bug then I shall write another review.
Meantime I shall return to fighting a giant land prawn - or at least it looks like one - very vicious and probably beyond my level 5 abilities." - Jinix the Elder

"I have now put in probably 60 to 75 hours (who's counting!) of playtime with Gothic 3 and have more to add to my last review.
Well I must admit I have run into a few glitches with video - but nothing serious enough for me to lower my regard of the game. It's an excellent game and lots of fun to play. If the reviewers who have given low opinions had spent more time with the game they would see how brilliant it really is. I very much enjoyed playing the Gothic 2 game and this is a continuation of the enjoyment.

The textures and artwork in the program are first rate. The animation of the humans and beasts are a treat to watch. The story and the journeys you go on are realistic and exciting. The world is dangerous but navigable.
Just as in real life you have to find things out for yourself and make friends or enemies depending on how you behave and who you associate with.

The game has 3 main land areas, the Middle Realm of Myrtana with mountain passes connecting to the snow covered land of Nordmar in the north and to the south the hot, dry desert of Varant.

Each area has lots of quests to fulfil and a varied assortment of beasts and bandits to defend yourself from. You soon learn the skills of a hunter and gatherer and are able to feed and heal yourself. As you slowly but surely get through each day and live to tell of it, you are able to learn the fighter skills required to deal with the hostile world you find yourself in.

Be careful of stealing from anyone and be absolutely sure to save before you agree to an NPCs requests. Choose your friends carefully and be careful of accidently hitting them when you are all in a big battle as they tend to get real mad and attack you and that can lead to their friends ganging up on you and you get killed.

Some tips to help you enjoy it more.
Save your games a lot - death comes swiftly in Gothic 3.
And there are those glitches that can happen such as one where my character climbed over some boulders blocking a tunnel and after jumping down the other side, thinking I had discovered a hidden place but that the tunnel ended and when I tried to go back I could not jump back over the boulders to get out and had to quit the game and start from last save.
If you get stuck such as I did when a beast attacked me at the same time I bent down to open a locked chest, and got stuck in a program loop. Save the game and then reopen it and the problem seems to resolve itself and you can carry on.

Not a glitch but another time I walked off the edge of a cliff in the dark and died from my injuries. That was after completing a very hard quest and 3 hours since the last save.

The only thing that bugs me is I forget to save and sometimes am so involved in the game it could be 3 or 4 hours lost. But thats my fault and not the game.

There's not much help in your quest log and the mapping is as vague as it gets. But unless you are just in one big hurry to finish the game that does'nt really matter. In my case I have lots of time and I don't want to come to the end of it as the playing of it so much fun. Combat is especially a treat and this is one of the first games, since I played Thief 1, where I felt in control of the weapon I used.

You will run across video weirdies such as bodies falling through a wall or trees floating six feet off the ground and a few characters stuck in a corner.
To me thats no big deal, I no perfectionist myself. I know they (the programmers) will do better as they gain more experience and Gothic 4 will be even more enjoyable. If the producers and marketers leave the programmers to set the release date the next Gothic will be glitch free." - Jinix the Elder