The game retcons almost EVERYTHING in the other ultima games. Everything. Nothing makes sense. The game is bugged up the ass. The AI is worse than braindead. The hit detection is barely there. Back in the day, it would crash every couple of minutes. The cutscenes suck. The story sucks. The environments suck. The acting is worse than suck. The graphics were alright for the time, if you could get them to work. Nothing. Fricken. Works. And most of the game you're fighting giant bugs and rats. Wonderful. I hate this game. With a passion. It is the worst game I have played. If you're not a fan of Ultima, then you're buying a bland, boring, repetitive, and broken RPG that offers nothing to you. Spare yourself, don't buy this game.
Ultima is one of the greatest game series of all time. It really is. I say this so you know I'm not just biased against it. Ultima VII may be one of the greatest RPGs ever made. The game that followed it set up the rest of the series. By that, I mean it sets you up to realize how much of a failure the rest of the series will be. Ultima online and IX are terrible. I can understand some of the changes like there are no companions. That makes sense, no one knows who or what the avatar is on Pagan. But there are so many other things. There is platforming. I don't know why but there is, and the isometric perspective makes it impossible to judge distances so you'll be falling into a lot of instant death pits. Every level in the game is grey. Not joking. Even the beach you start out on. Every. Freaking. Level. There's no real combat, you only get one handed weapons in one repetitive overhead swing type attack. It's not really an RPG anymore and your character's appearance never changes. Not like that matters since there's no character creation at all. The game is bugged up the butt. The magic system is so amazingly overcomplicated I'm amazed I figured it out. The game is also broken. Within half an hour of starting it, you can max out your strength. No joke. And even then, it still takes 7-10 hits to put down the main enemies in the game. Zombies and ghosts. Those are what you will be fighting. The story looked like it could have some potential, but most story lines were cut. And I do mean most. The ones that stay in never go anywhere because they were cut too. Even if you do stay this game all the way through to the end, it looks like a promising set up to the final Ultima game. But it's not. Because Ultima IX contradicts almost everything VIII. And all the ones before that. To sum it all up: Avoid unless you are a die hard Ultima fan.
Short review. The game is an incredible show in storytelling, as well as interactivity. It's basically one long quick time event, but it's done well enough to where it doesn't feel stupid or frustrating. Overall, its alright. Unfortunately, it has a stealth section in a flashback that sucks REALLY hard, and has one of the worst endings ever. Its worse than a steven king novel ending. However, it's fun, enjoyable, and a nice little trip through a story.
This game may be a gross example of why politicians hate videogames, but its waaaaayyy fun anyway. Run around and kill, dismember, burn, and urinate on people. Or not. Just running errands. And killing people.
