Gothic 3 First Impressions

IGN PC has kicked up some initial impressions of Piranha Bytes' Gothic 3, now that the RPG sequel is officially hitting store shelves in North America.
Adding to the game's open-ended design is the reputation system. Completing quests for each town earns its favor, which eventually opens up new missions in some cases. In addition to gaining reputation with each town, you can curry favor with six factions: Nordmar, Orcs, Rebels, Rangers, Nomads, and Hashishin. We've yet to really see how far reaching these effects are and what kind of long-term consequences they hold for players, but it certainly makes for some varied gameplay. Completing a quest often isn't a straightforward affar, as many offer multiple paths. You could just kill the quest giver if you don't like his tone of voice, steal his stuff, and then move on. Of course you'd then miss out on a follow up quest.