Ugo.com 04.09.2003	Gothic II kicks off, story-wise, a mere two weeks after the end of the first game. But, if you missed out the first time around, no need to worry, as the game provides a nice introduction for newbies to the series. Long story short, though, you're a hero who vanquished evil in the first game, but in the process you ended up snuffing it yourself. But, in true fantasy fashion, evil returns and so do you, thanks to a well-placed resurrection. Jeez, can't a guy catch a break? Anyway, off you go again, this time up against some fearsome foes such as orcs and dragons, who have allied themselves with all things evil (big surprise there).
IGN.com 31.07.2003	The game starts up where Gothic left off. The Sleeper, who really sounds like my kinda bad guy, has been killed. But as the big guy went into eternal sleepy land, the Barrier protecting the kingdom from the outside world collapsed as well as a bunch of other stuff, right down onto our hero's head. But good old Xardas the wizard wasn't quite done with the nameless her quite yet and rescued him from the rubble. The hero lived, despite so many broken bones and serious wounds, for his story was not quite complete. As the hero comes to in this next chapter of his life, Xardas has some business for him to take care of. Seems that sleeping beauty managed to wake up some other really cranky slumbering monsters with his last gasp. The world needs saving again, but only after a little bit of investigation to find out what exactly it needs saving from.
gamespot.com 14.07.2003	It's not often that a game released in Europe is later picked up by a major publisher, and then released in the US. But Atari is in the process of doing just that with Gothic II. JoWood released the game in Europe last year, and it has done quite well, selling more than 200,000 copies in Germany alone. Developer Piranha Bytes had already localized the game, but the version that reaches US shores will be somewhat different, and it should benefit from the additions that Atari is making.
ComputerandVideoGames.com 13.03.2003	Gothic II is a bit of a misleading title. The game doesn't involve supernatural 18th century literature, it doesn't include excessively spikey buildings and more importantly it doesn't include pale young women in skimpy black dresses, wearing boots that are double their height and an "I am Goth see me pout" look on their faces.OK, it is a bit supernatural in the way that a lot of RPGs are, and we can't really fault the "II" part, as it's the sequel to the original Gothic from German developers Piranha Bites. So we'll let them off.
GameZone.com 28.05.2002	There once was a game that featured the traditional fight between good and evil, wrapped in an RPG shell and set in a prison. What happened to it? It evolved.