THQ Nordic released a few days ago a new Gothic trailer and by the looks of it this remake is steadily going in the right direction. While this isn't a gameplay video, the trailer shows in a cinematic kind of way a usual day in the life of the Old Camp... and it's exactly as we remember it!

The first thing that struck me is the soundtrack; while obviously remade it still uses the original, iconic melody that used to accompany us more than twenty years ago. The sound effects are well done as well, and they help to make us feel walking with the unnamed prisoner along the Old Camp's muddy paths. I also smiled at the failed sneaking attempt - who did not try to silently enter every single shack in the game as soon as the owner would turn his back on us? Speaking of which, Gothic crime system always resonated with me - simple in its own way, but also extremely effective at communicating important information to the player: you would know right away if you were spotted, and you had the chance to back off and avoid escalating the situation if you were quick about it... in order to try again once the coast was clear.

The trailer portrays well the almost lawless atmosphere of the Colony, where you can never really feel safe until you climb the social ladder: theft, muggings and - as we see - extortion are extremely common (do you remember Bloodwyn and Jackal, the guards who offered their protection in exchange for ore?).

Snaf, the chef, makes his reappearance. I'm already looking forward to fetching meatbugs and mushrooms that he will turn into a barely digestible soup... but hey, can't complain if you just arrived in the Colony, everyone needs food afterall. This was one of the little things that struck me when I first played the game; after completing the quest Snaf would become a somewhat friendly face in the camp, that would provide the player with regular food every day.

We see at last that the nameless prisoner of the camp is not so dexterous after all (he probably didn't allocate enough learning points in it) and justice eventually catches up with him, but not before seeing the arena again in all of its glory. In the original Gothic it was home to brutal fights that if won would help you impress the right people among the Shadows, in order to gain acceptance in their ranks.

It definitely is a solid trailer that shows great improvement on the game; now all that remains is to finally see some updated gameplay and compare it to the playable teaser we had back in 2019 - which I did not completely appreciate, especially its take on the combat system. I am now glad the game made lots of steps in the right direction since then, and the hype is definitely there.