Been playing this for a while now, damn fine game, if, unfortunately, buggy even with the patch.
Basically, it's an RPG in a similar fashion to Oblivion, but far more experience based and with the emphasis on outdoor hunting and combat rather than dungeons. Whilst the world in Gothic 3 is actually larger (and for the large part better looking) than Oblivion, going for a wander will quickly get you a unguided tour of the inside of the almost insane amounts of animals or monsters that roam the world.
The storyline is, in essence, that you have arrived home after your adventures in Gothic 2 to find the land invaded by Orcs, the Kings castle surrounded by an impenetrable barrier and the news that the very Mage who helped you in Gothic 2 is apparently helping the Orcs. The rest is up to you to find out in the course of the game.
The graphics are great, I'll try to post pictures but, despite the fact there is a screenshot folder, there is no screenshot key listed in the manual (PrintScreen will capture, but not save, you have to leave and paste into Photoshop or the like, not a fast option).
Pros :
1: Enormous world, and a massive story, with literally hundreds of quests.
2: What appears to be several very different ways of approaching the game, you can side with the Orcs, the Rebels, the Hashishin or the Nomads, and the story appears to be affected by your choices.
3: Challenging combat. As mentioned earlier, trying to play this like Oblivion WILL get you killed, two hits from a Razorbeast will kill you in just about anything other than Heavy Armour. You will need to get experience close to town before going wandering.
4: Some gorgeous scenery, stalking Deer with a longbow in a forest is a tense experience, you stand little chance of killing a deer with a sword, and it's oddly gratifying to pick one off at distance anyway (You get meat from deer, which you can cook and eat).
5: The Orcs don't look like Neon Martians.
6: The Music is very atmospheric.
Cons :
1: Loading times are pretty poor, and moving from one area to another can cause jumpy frame rates, which isn't nice if you're in the middle of combat.
2: Some stability problems, regular saving is a must anyway, but (like Oblivion) some quests can break and there was one quest where I was escorting someone through the woods only to have them vanish in front of my eyes.
3: As mentioned, the existence of a Screenshot folder, but nowhere in the manual does it tell you what key is Screenshot.
4: Some aspects seemed rushed. You can get blueprints for swords and recipes for food, but the variety is pretty limited.
All in all, I'd certainly recommend this game to RPG fans, BUT I also hope that the current issues with Quests and stability are dealt with in a Patch soon.
I'll post some screenshots once I get my FTP up again and can get some