a step back from my beloved part 2 where you could go travelling anywhere on the huge over overland map. here in part 3 the story plays in riva for most of the time. still a nice and nostalgic rpg with good quests and nice graphics for a small german studio at that time. anyways guido henkel later made planescape torment and more... i was always wondering, because in german witcher series "geralt of rivia" is called "geralt von riva", if there was any connection between geralt von riva and the city of riva here ;)
dont forget your blankets, coats, swords, ropes, winterboots, water and food when you start travelling ;) this game can be very unforgiving when wandering around the landscape without beeing prepared for any kind of weather and terrain (and of course orks), so save often. your warriors could catch a bad cold, get sick or just die of hunger while trying to get over the next snowy mountaintop. while at the same time it feel very "real" and motivating to explore the map... there is a lot to see! the most hidden corners of the map, are often the most interessting... a lot of (sometimes random) text encounters are on the road and many times you have to use your skills or choose one of your characters to do a certain job ,according who has the skills that fit like swimming, climbing, hiding) micro management of your group is absolutely necessary to survive. cities and dungeons are built in 3d while travelling is on an overland map. those 3d cities are sometimes really huge and makes your feel greatful that they implemented a good auto-map into the game. nonetheless, cities are huge and one could get lost easily. at least as a kid i found its sometimes really difficult to figure out what to do next and where i should go. combat can be very lenghty since its turn based and slow, but in overall its a nice nostalgic game, which i enjoyed very much (a real GOG). good memories, i am sure i will install it again and travel around see what i can find on the way
its amazing how seamless piranha bites mixes different settings. from medieval villages to high tech cities in a world full of green landscapes, rivers, deserts, swords, broken roads and abandoned buildings of a once modern world... in this game you can find the huge immersive beauty of skyrim mixed with laserguns and hightech of a fallout game on a huge and free open world map. i really enjoy it and i have to say its one of the best games i have played in a long time. it keeps me totally addicted and even if its sometimes really difficult to survive, thats also an incentive which motivates me a lot - you have to be creative when killing monster: for example you can drag enemies into other enemies territory so that they fight each other, then you take advantage. you have day and night cycle, people will react in different ways in the night or when u try to steal something (in ultima7 manner), or walk in an npc`s wifes bedroom ;) your answers in dialogues and choices will have real impact on other people (almost like in a dragon age). some of your companions will like your choices while others might disagree. really nice job they did with that game!
i know a LOT of old ultima fans built up their hate for this game, but honestly, if u are not an (hardcore) ultima fan and enjoying the freedom of early 3d games, this game is for you. i admit it doesnt have the best story (due to hard deadlines during development they had to cut out most the the awesome story), but if you install the latest inoficcial, the dialog patch and beautiful britannia mod, you have a really cool game which you can really enjoy... not a good ultima, but a good game
