When I played Ultima IX in the year 2000, I had not played any of the previous Ultima RPG games (except the 2 Underworlds). And I was amazed at the beauty and massive nature of this game. By this time, the major bugs had been patched and I had no problems running the game at all. I didn't have any preconceived notions of what to expect, and I was truly blown away. For the first time in a 3D "adventure" (which is what I would call the game) the world was alive. Bird, bees, butterflies flitted around. Water flowed, dogs and animals milled around, signs swayed in the breeze. The landscape was incredibly detailed, and not flat at all, but hilly, craggy, mountainous, etc. You could walk from one end of the Isle to the other without ever pausing to reload the game. Then you could get in a boat and sail all around it. It blew my mind with its enormity. There were things I didn't particularly like about the game, but nothing that detracted from my fun nor kept me from completing it. You could walk through a pasture, kill all the beasts, turn around and walk back through and have to kill all the same exact (respawned) beasts again... in fact, the previous instances of their dead bodies were still on the ground! I was also amazed at how the rats you killed managed to store so much gold in their furry little bodies! But I had a great time playing through the game, and loved every minute of it. This game probably has the best "jumping mechanic" of any game I'd ever played, before or since. There is a tiny cursor in the middle of the screen... mouselook to put that cursor on a spot on the ground where you want to jump, and hit the spacebar. You will land PRECISELY on that spot, unless the cursor was red (meaning it was too far away) instead of white. Just move the cursor down (a little closer) and jump accurately! Graphically the game was miraculous at the time. Cities at night were shrouded in mist and glowed in the dark, especially the city of Moonglow (natch!) I enjoyed having to gather the regents to cast spells, saving the land from the calamities involving the 8 virtues. Some 12 years later, I can't wait to play the game again. I understand how disappointing a "series" of games can be when the final game strays so far from its roots. But I think if you can play the game for what it is, instead of what you might want it to be, you'll have as much fun playing it as I did.
I love this game... but I have to admit that I agree with some of the unflattering comments about Chaser, especially this many years after its release. First of all, the combat is HARD, or perhaps I should say "unfair". Every 10 minutes or so a corridor will lead into a big room with an enemy ambush chock full of dead-eyed sharp shooters who can see you through chainlink fences or wiremesh overhead walkways before you see them. You will die a LOT in this game. Save after every kill, because even with 100% armor and 100% health it often only takes about 3 well-placed shots and you are an ex-Chaser. Thankfully the game has a BLINDING FAST quicksave/quickload feature, especially on today's hardware. And make copious use of the "Adrenaline mode" to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n the enemy while you aim and shoot at normal speeds. MaxPayneLike. Graphics... are functional. The levels are full of machinery and plumbing and walkways and platforms. Lots of "stuff", but it's not got much in the Texture Department. Characters are kinda blocky, and wheels on vehicles are probably octagons with painted-on hubcaps, but if you spend much time counting the polygons... you're ex-Chaser material. Architecture... is awesome. Every level is an absolutely massive "complex" of some kind. Warehouses, or harbors, or lighthouses, or train tunnels, etc. This isn't DOOM, so there are no hidden doorways in the walls with monsters that have been hiding in a hole since 2004 waiting for you to happen by. These are all "real" buildings with functional rooms and floors and with lots of equipment and props that make it all very believable. They just happen to be populated with lots of enemies waiting for you to walk into their scopesight. I would go farther and say that the layout of the levels is what "makes this game" for me. I'm obviously not a fan of dying, and the combat is trying at times. But when levels are this massive and believable, it is just My Idea of Fun(tm) to explore it all and figure out how to navigate my way through! And to make it even more challenging... there is NO AUTOMAP. In fact, no map of any kind. You have to use your wits and sense of "situational awareness" to figure out where you need to go and how to get there. For example, in the lighthouse level, you start on the beach and have to figure out how to get inside the top of the lighthouse. You will shoot your way through a dock location, work your way into a sewer system, and eventually find a ventilation shaft that will lead at a 45-degree angle for a LONG WAY UP, and you think to yourself "I'll be at the top when I get out!", but no! You're only about halfway up, and you fight your way through a series of security corridors until you eventually wind up in a huge spiral rampway that is obviously going to lead you up to the top! But when you get there are the doors open? Noo! You have to throw a switch, and run allll the way back down the rampway to the BOTTOM of the lighthouse, and... well I don't want to spoil the rest of it. Most levels are like this. Many faceted "puzzles" in huge facilities that are chockful of enemy sharpshooters. If that's your idea of fun, you'll like this game too. As someone mentioned the plot is loosely similar to the movie Total Recall, and you will end up on Mars. That's where the levels REALLY get mind-blowingly huge! So yeah, it's not perfect. But it's a lot of fun. There are a variety of different mission types to keep you entertained. And remember where you bought it... good OLD games!
