This system isn't limited just to the Orcs and human rebels in the temperate kingdom of Myrtana. Gothic 3's world is huge, spanning three regions and over a dozen towns, with a similar faction choice to be made regarding the Hashishin and Nomads who live in the southern desert land of Varant. Unfortunately, the northern arctic region of Nordmar only has quests that allow siding with the local Barbarians against the Orcs, as such, the whole area just feels unfinished.

Sadly, that feeling pervades the entire game. While the idea of growing your reputation in each given city is amazing, in practice it's less so, since it mostly boils down to performing fetch quests. Some of these are well-contextualised, like playing spy for the Orcish mercenaries, but for the most part they are menial jobs like getting meat or killing wolves for each town and village – an exercise in pure tedium.

To top this off is the fact that there isn't much interconnectivity between factions. You can complete quests in all towns and need only decide which side to take during the endgame, which makes it shallow and much less replayable than previous Gothics, where they forced you into a faction from the start. This is further reinforced by the fact that if more than a few towns are freed or rebellions crushed then the defeated factions will attack you on sight, something which isn't explained to the player in any way.

But even with all that there's a sense of wonder to be derived from actually impacting the world by deciding who will rule each town. The game doesn't hold your hand and allows you to go anywhere, do anything and kill anyone from the start. And while the story is almost non-existent for most of the game, there are three possible endings based on the faction you end up supporting, plus slides showing the fate of key characters. Yet, Gothic 3 could have been so much more.