THQ's remake of the 2001 fantasy RPG Gothic is hinging on whether or not you play its playable teaser, currently available via Steam .

The Gothic playable teaser is only available to players who own any one of the Gothic games, or any game by the original developer Piranha Bytes, which isn't involved with the remake. Playing through the whole thing should take about two hours, which should be enough for fans to issue an early verdict and provide some feedback. Here's a bit of lore:

"The Kingdom of Myrtana has been invaded by an implacable horde of orcs. King Rhobar II, in need of a large quantity of magical ore in order to forge powerful weapons, operates the Khorinis mines with all available prisoners. To prevent them from escaping, the monarch asks his best magicians to create a magical barrier. But something goes wrong. The magic gets out of control and a mutiny turns the mines into a wild territory now controlled by the most violent prisoners."

Gothic is a single-player dark fantasy RPG with a loyal cult following, and not a ton of fans outside of that. The remake's playable teaser doesn't represent the full game, and THQ says they're planning on shaping its development based on community feedback. Although, the studio also made it clear that if there isn't the turn-out, they're open to abandoning the project altogether and "leave the heritage and the great memories associated with it untouched."

Reviews on Steam range from cautiously optimistic to downright disappointed. Common complaints include frequent, lengthy cutscenes and clunky combat, while plenty of praise is given to the visuals and loot mechanics.