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Good? Bad? Here is the real deal

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: January 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Ultima Online is a unique game. I have played many Online games, including DAOC, Everquest, Ragnarok Online, Diablo 1&2, Star Wars Galaxies, and many more. So I think it is fair to say Im experienced with online gaming. In Ultima you can do so many thing, there are dozens of skills, and an endless ammount of playing styles. You can be a hunter, a fighter, a merchant, a thief, a bard, a smith, a carpenter, a tailor, an animal tamer. there is SO much you can do in UO.The thing that really sets it apart from the rest of the games out there, is that it has the best social system of any game. You can join a guild, you can join an army, or you can join a mall (a large player owned house of merchants). I have been playing UO for almost 3 years now and I have made great life long friends because of it. Most of the other online games out there, you fight a rabbit-level up, then you go and fight stronger rabbits- level up, then you go fight super rabbits-level up, you dont have much freedom. We know UO is a unique game, now lets get down to the ratings.

Combat 3/5 ( Its fun at first but after a while the automantic combat gets kinda lame)

Sound 2/5 ( the town music is ok, but it gets so anoying after a month or two, you will end up muting it)

Graphics 2D 3/5 ( Its nothing to jump over, but for 2d graphics it is clean and smooth)

Graphics 3D 2/5 ( the 3D graphics have been dubbed 2 and a half D, your char, and monsters are sort of 3D but the background is 100% 2D so its not like you can zoom around)

Gameplay 5/5 ( It has the best gameplay I have ever seen, your first few months will be building your char(s), next 3-4 months will be collecting items, maybe buying or building a house, and finishing your char(s) skills, after that its mainly hanging out with the friends you have made, running vendors, running guilds, fighting other players, doing whatever tickles your fancy. Like I said I have been playing this game for near 3 years, If you can get past the outdated graphics, and are a social type of person you will Love this game). HOWEVER, If you only like to Pvp(player vs player) and need good graphics you will Barf when playing this game, it is all about your style.

Down to AOS its self, it gives you a whole new land, about 50% the size of the normal land, a large new dungeon, a few new monsters, some new weapons&armor graphics, and of course the 2 new classes, Palidan and Necromancer, Chivalry(palidan) is one of the best skills in the game now, it near doubles any combat type char's fighting potential, Necomancy isnt all that great of a skill but its great for roleplaying. so if your already a big fan of UO or a begininer it is worth investing into AOS

Online Critics favor Hack & Slash games

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: September 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I avoided this game for years simply because I heard a lot of bad reviews about it. Online Critics gave poor ratings. Many players complained about the player killing and the lag. My cousin always raved about this game, but I never tried it because it was $10.00 a month to play. Now that many games now charge a monthly fee to play I decided to try it. I feel like I was lied to. This game is one of the best games I have ever played, I can't understand how this game recieved such bad reviews. The depth in this game is unmatched. Many games copied Ultima Onlines skills and concept. Ultima Online is very underated. I can't believe games like Everquest and Diablo II get better ratings from online critics. What are these critics thinking! Everquest and Diablo II have great graphics, but the gameplay is very boring in those games and lacks very much depth. I use a dialup connection and the lag was not all that bad. On weekends and during busy hours the lag is bad, but overall it is not that bad. Lag in Diablo II was much worse I thought. The siege perilous shard and the Great Lakes shard were the funnest to play I thought. The siege perilous is the best shard to play on if you like PvP. Gameplay is close on that shard to what Ultima Online origonally was. I had a lot of fun on siege. The theif profession is very fun to play on that shard. No other game out can match the PvP experience Siege Perilous offers in my opinion. If you like crowds and like to see busy cities the Great Lakes server is the best server to play on I think. Britiana really feels like a city. During primetime there must be about a hundred players all hurdled around the bank trading. I thought before Diablo II had a great trading system, now I relize Ultima Online's is by far superior. The economy in this game I think is unmatched. Even though this game has less people playing than Everquest, I encountered a lot more people during gameplay than any other online game. The crafting is unmatched. People say DaoC is superior, I tried DaoC I think its overated. DaoC seemed too adventure oriented. The large problem with player killing has been fixed. Players that don't like pk's, can play on the Trammel Facet that is PvM oriented rather than PvP. The Mage I think is funner to play on Ultima Online verses many other games. Combat has a lot more to it in Ultima Online. Mage's chant spell words before they cast a spell and they have to use regents for each spell. Not all spells use the same regents. Cities really feel like cities in UO. They just seem to blend in more with the outside world, Everquest's cities feel like they are seperated from the rest of the world. I remeber one Online Critic gave Diablo II a 9/10 and Ultima Online a 6/10. I still puzzle over why this was. Diablo I & II player killing was just as bad. The mounts in this game are unmatched. Players can ride a wide assortment of animals. Ranging from deer - to dragons!

Mixed Feelings

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: April 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Ultima Online is a fun game but I have mixed feelings about this latest version. I've spent countless hours playing this game over the past three years. However, this latest version just doesn't have the same feel. The new character classes are great and I think they accomplish what a lot of players have tried to do over the years but, don't get sold on the custom housing feature. It's a really neat feature but, you will probably have to spend even more money online to buy a house before you will get to use that feature. If you are a veteran upgrading you will probably find this to be a whole new game. If you are new to Ultima Online you will find plenty to excite you and keep you entertained for a long time.

Surprisingly Addictive, Immersive, Absorbing MMORPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: March 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Of course Ultima Online (UO) is nothing new to the world of online gaming. In fact, it is probably one of the most succesful MMORPGs (ie, online role playing games with a persistent, massive universe and a large number of other players) in commercial terms. That may seem surprising initially because when compared with some of its competitors like Sony's Everquest or Mythic's Dark Age of Camelot, UO suffers from older generation graphics and visually is not as appealing as these other titles. With this latest edition, the graphics have been somewhat improved, with a 3d version available that essentially makes your character 3d in a 2d world, but even with that UO's graphics lag behind the competition, and graphics are often the first -- and sometimes the only -- thing that a prospective gamer looks at when evaluating a game.

Well, UO is the quintessential case of the danger of judging a book by its cover. Notwithstanding its graphical limitations, UO is quite simply the deepest, most complex, immersive, varied and thoroughly addictive experience that the MMORPG genre has to offer. Unlike many games where you have 6-8 character classes to choose from, perhaps a few more if you are lucky, in UO you have no classes per se, only skills that can be used to develop into professions based on skill levels ... and the list of possible professions you can end up with is long -- 25 plus, including not just the typical warrior and mage professions but a number of interesting ones like merchant, miner, blacksmith, tailor and the like. Your character advances not so much by experience points but by enhancing skills through using them over the course of time. There are so many to choose from, the possibilities for customising your game experience are nearly limitless.

The game is thoroughly engaging, the goals are challenging, advancement is steady but challenging as well and rather time consuming, but the results are very, very satisfying. The world is very social, the players like to communicate with each other, and it is a huge world environment as well. The game world is divided into facets, with the largest environment being divided between the Felucca facet and the Trammel facet, the difference being principally that the former, known as "Fel", allows for player killing, while the latter allows this only under limited circumstances.

The learning curve is steep for UO, but that is part of the fun. The message boards and guides at stratics.com are very helpful in learning the game, and there are numerous approved add-on programs that help make the game experience flow more smoothly. But in the end it is the clever design, the outstanding variety, the combination of challenge and satisfaction that make UO almost unique among MMORPGs, and clearly head and shoulders above others in terms of gameplay and player satisfaction.

I'm giving it five stars because...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 23
Date: January 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Ultima Online has some of the most out dated graphics you can find today for an MMORPG.

What UO does offer though is excellent gameplay. All the other MMORPG's available to date are so much alike in the ammount of time needed to advance to high levels within the game and there unreplayability. There is a reason why people have been playing UO longer than Everquest has ever been out.

Game play.

If you want pretty visuals, go some place else. UO's 2D model (yes they do offer 3D but who wants that?) is not ugly, its just out dated.

This expansion looks like a very thorough update bringing back a lot of the classic ideas that started the craze for this game. I can't wait. Plus if you pre-order I hear you receive some nifty in-game trinkets.

1 Star is the last shread of optimism

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 13
Date: February 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The reason I give this expansion 1 star is because I have some optimism for it--but not much as you can see.
AOS was supposed to bring about land and 2 new professions.
THERE IS NO MORE LAND-despite what leaders in the UO community have said about land being "available" to build on, it is my belief that this land does not exist!! As far as the new professions go, Necromancy is a bunch of shape shifting not to mention the spells fail nearly 80% of the time (same for mages) and Paladin spells [arent that great]! The effects of nearly all the new spells don't last longer than a few secs. Many changes to old spells that are definately not good changes (para only para's for approximately 2-3 seconds if that) I think OSI totally nerfed alot of this game..

LOOT is terrible, MONSTERS hit harder (purposely done says ORIGIN), MONSTERS take less damage, and tamed animals are weak and take huge stat losses...these are only a few of the game changes that have changed the way Ultima Online now plays.

UO's ECONOMOY and player trading are a joke. The economy is in shambles because of recent decrease in monster loot. The economy and player trading have been impacted due to recent item changes and their unuser friendly qualities. The previous makes it difficult to put fair market prices on things. AND real estate is in shambles with the "house rush" (for land in MALAS) and the coming of the long overdue "PHASE 3" of housing which won't even be started until after AOS bull is figured out!

The LAG is terrible and you get disconnected from the game with every step you take. BUGS BUGS AND MORE BUGS!!!

NO INGAME HELP!! Customer service is beyond non-existant (like being in a test shard). UO does not take customer support issues by email.

IF you pay for this expansion, you're basically paying for a code to play a beta test. This expansion was released prematurely...don't WASTE your TIME, EFFORT, or MONEY in ULTIMA ONLINE.
Goodbye UO, AOS is truly an "Age of Shadows" for you.

Getting better, but not there yet...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: March 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

UO is a great game. A lot of the complaints people have with it stem from their playstyle, not the game. There is a lot to do, if you go beyond just bashing monsters (magic item crafting, pvp, being a merchant). With a huge skill list (swords, magery, and other typical fantasy skill, many types of crafting, and odd skills like detect hidden), the number of possible characters is endless. With the skill system, a perfect maxed out character isn't always needed (one of my favorites doesn't have a single Grand Master skill).

As for the complaint on the dialup, OSI is working to fix that. One true complaint about UO is there are always bugs, but that is true with any game that is constantly getting new content. Some of this new content often upsets people (their character isn't a god anymore), but often this new content does add depth to the game.

UO has improved a lot over the last 5 years. Its not perfect, and its certainly not for every player (what game is?). However, as a veteran of the game, I can say that the ability to do pretty much anything makes it worth playing.

Ultima Online

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: June 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I've played this game since it's release September 1997 at a friend's house constantly. Then in 2001 I finally got a pc and of course I got Ultima Online. I love it. But of course, I need to be reviewing the newest expansion Age of Shadows :) It comes packed with extras. It contains installation for both 2d and 3d version. I use the 2d version more than the 3d version because I am so use to the 2d graphics of UO that I have been playing for so long. The 3d version is very pretty, though. The only gripe about the 3d version is that the characters look like anime cartoons in the face. The magic effects are beautiful and lush. Some complain that the 3d version runs very slow and is buggy. That's nonsense. I have MSN DIAL-UP v.9 and it works just fine. My connection usually only gets up to 50kb/s which makes the 2d run perfect, and the 3d version run good.

This expansion comes packed with new monsters and a whole new map to explore. Most of the new map is just housing plains, but that's fine, because there are some interesting monsters. It also contains the map Ilshenar which was recently only available on the Third Dawn expansion.

If you havn't joined UO yet and you plan to don't buy this now, but wait for the 7th Anniversary to be released this year (2004). It will contain all of the expansions and some rare items, and a full Ultima game included. More bang for the buck.

The most important aspect of any game is the gameplay. In UO, it's flawless. It's not like Everquest where you just fight to gain level. On UO, you fight to live and thrive in the beautiful world or Britannia. Another great thing about UO is that gaining level is more flexible and realistic. You don't just gain HP, you gain other skills and attributes as well. The currency system is easy to grasp onto.

Countless skills to learn and master, and countless gameplay hours. This is the best MMORPG ever. Probably the best video game ever as well.

So you'd like to play UO?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: May 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

UO is a unique game. Not only can you go on quests, battle, and get a job, but so much more is available. You can create a whole new life for yourself, get a job, buy a house on some remote island, decorate it the way you want. The heart of the game is in the community, though. The graphics *arent* great, and the PvP isnt the most spectacular, but that's not what most players are there for. It's all about friends and relations. It's easy to meet people, and with friends, even the most mundane of quests becomes incredibly fun. If all you want is PvP, this is not the game for you.

Many people are dissatisfied with the OSI shards. They talk of how frustrating the countless bugs are. However, I think they were simply too quick to judge. At first, there *were* tons of bugs, but now, months after the release, there are hardly any. As for lack of space for housing, it is simply a testament to how popular the game is. If you're patient, there is always room for one more house. If playing on OSI shards is what turns you off of the game...there are always *other* possibilities. Look closely, they're there.

UO is an amazing experience, and one I wont forget. It has something that many other games dont, and that is what sets it apart.

Some bugs, but getting better

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

What happened with the Age of Shadows launch surprised everybody. The login and registration servers got hammered. Why? Because more people ordered AoS than anybody had a right to expect. What does that mean? People still want to play UO.

There are a lot of changes in AoS, and change scares people. MOST of the changes are decent, keeping the game fresh, which is a challenge for a 5 year old title. When you do massive changes to a title, your bound to get bugs. The Development team is working 7 days a week working on fixing the problems. Age of Shadows is a must have upgrade, but be warned - there are some major bugs still. Give it a month and things will definatly be much better.

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