User Reviews (1 - 11 of 66)

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Excellent -- if you can get your hardware working right

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 46 / 48
Date: November 27, 1999
Author: Amazon User

When I first got my Ultima IX, I set it to a resolution of 800x600, with the options set for 16-bit texture graphics, highest performance and highest quality. It crashed on me every 5 minutes.

Then I changed my resolution to 640x480 with all the rest of the settings left the way they were, and it worked beautifully! I almost concluded the software was buggy, but I guess it was the gamut of graphic components in my CPU that wouldn't cooperate with each other.

Anyway, I like the interface -- very easy to use. If you have played Ultima Online, you will find this game more interesting than people who haven't due to the similar objects in the game (e.g. backpack, pouch, music).

I have played the latest of Might and Magic, a definite competitor of Ultima IX, but I feel Ultima was much more immersing due to the more realistic weather, lighting, and sound effects. I found myself oftentimes enjoying the sky and the scenery! It is an experience one should go through to appreciate! The dungeons were wonderfully made, and creepy!

However, the manuals weren't very enlightening. For example, it says bringing up the map shows your location with a red push-pin. I didn't see a red push-pin for the longest time, causing me to get lost often in the game. I could've sworn I didn't see the red push-pin appear until I got a sextant, but the manual makes no distinction or warning on this.

I have to tip my hat to Origin though. Despite the frustrations they caused me in Ultima Online, I have to say they did a superb job with Ultima IX! If their coming Ultima Online 2's interface will be anything like Ultima IX's, I will definitely play Ultima Online 2!

I haven't finished the game yet, but I am certainly enjoying it immensely!:)

Ultima Ascension

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 21 / 23
Date: November 29, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This game is breathtaking...graphics are beautiful, sound is as realistic as it gets, storyline just as good as the other Ultimas. This game would get 5 stars from me, however I had to buy a 3D accelerator and Sound Blaster Live sound card to get the game running without crashing (which is what I probably should have anyway) and the grand total of hardware additions alone set me back more then a couple of hundred spots...

Good game, but it's a pig

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 14
Date: November 29, 1999
Author: Amazon User

The playability of this game is good, although I would love to be able to turn using arrow keys. The graphics are beautiful and the story, so far, keeps on moving without dragging. The real downside to the game is that you need a screaming machine in order to have smooth movement.

Greatest game ever made!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: December 01, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This game is breathtaking, the graphics and technology behind it is amazing. I get totally lost in another world when i play this game. Only problem with the game, which i only see as a temporary problem, is that the game requires the fastest and most equipped computer money can buy and most people wont be able to play this game. But even if you have to struggle through low framerates and crashes on todays computers, its worth it because the game itself is a work of art, and i can see myself playing this game again a year from now with even better performance with a better computer.

After 11 years of playing Ultimas, I've fallen in love again

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 03, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I built a computer this fall knowing that U9 was coming out, got all the recommended things, and I am HAPPY I did. I have had no trouble with crashing, only a little lag at the highest settings. I find myself playing U9 like I used to play games as a kid--for hours on end without even realizing time has gone by. Just looking around is a treat; being able to play with everything in sight has me waiting to see what I can do next. This is the cure for all those lame pseudo-RPGs since the last serious Ultima--move over, non-tactical combat and set-in-stone storylines, Lord British is finally back!

Tons of potential, but desperately needs finishing patches

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 04, 1999
Author: Amazon User

After playing approximately 1/2 of the game on a very powerful, fairly new system, I would like to reiterate that the game is visually stunning and the sounds (music and game sounds, including character speech) are done extremely well. Although I am not normally a fan of non-FPS (first person shooter) games, I got used to the look and feel and now find it a little more appealing. If you want to know what it looks like, it has a similar look and feel as Heretic 2 or the Tomb Raider games, in my opinion. As a fan of this long-running series, I was eager to play what has been billed as the conclusion to the Ultima line.

I rated the game as 4 stars, but I feel that it has the potential to go to 5 stars, once it has been patched appropriately. There are numerous bugs (that have been acknowledged by the developers, to their credit) that affect basic gameplay (crashing to the Windows desktop and freezes, etc.) as well as bugs that affect the storyline. One patch has already been released and more are on the way, as of early December 1999. There is also a good user community that answers questions for novices online (this is also true as of December 1999) at the official website.

Your experience with the game's performance will probably be dependent on how new and powerful your system is. I won't lie to you: there have been times that I have been very frustrated by the bugs I have encountered, but I am encouraged by the patch that has been released and the patches that are coming down the pipe.

To summarize: if you are a fan of the Ultima series and you like games that are beautiful with deep, rich, immersing content that take a long time to play, this one is for you. I would recommend buying this game, but I would wait to start playing it seriously until after the second (or later) patches have been released. Just make sure you have a modern, VERY robust system!

A good game but it requires a MONSTER machine to run...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 04, 1999
Author: Amazon User

First, the when the guys in Origin sit down to write a game, I am pretty sure that it is gonna be a hit. Now, the game is really good, the graphics are stunning if you run the game in enhanced mode, however, before you consider buys this game I recommend that you consider your PC (coz it aint fun to pay $$ and have a choppy game play). What the guys from Origin are saying is b.s., the PC you need needs to be much more powerful than the recommended requirements. For optimal performance: CPU: 600+ Mhz Memory: 256Mb 3D Accelerator with at least 32Mbs of memory. 1.6 GB of Hard Drive (you dont wanna switch disks, right). If your PC can meet that, I strongly recommend this game (my PC doesnt)...

A Diamond That Needs To Be Dusted Off A Little

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 05, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This review for the final release version of Ultima IX would have been 5 stars had it not been for the buggy state the game was released in. Some examples are a few broken quests, wolves strangley floating backwards in midair during combat, some game crashes. This is a lesson to be learned by the game companies that try to push software out just to make the seasonal buying sprees. Fortunately, a patch (and future subsequent patches) has already been released to fix some of the problems. Technical support has been quick to acknowledge and correct bug reports from the game players.

Be forewarned that a full install of Ultima IX will take up approx. 900 Megs of hard drive space and is the preferred install method out of 3 choices. Also, there have been some issues with Direct3D that are being ironed out but 3DFX users should have no problems. Finally, if you don't have a 350mhz or above computer with a minimum of 128M of RAM, this game will crawl. Hopefully, future patches will speed up performance.

With all bug issues aside, Ultima IX concludes the epic RPG series with spectacular graphics and, most importantly, an immersive story and excellent gameplay. I have enjoyed playing the game for the last few days and can't pry myself from it. Once some of these issues are fixed, it will definitely become a classic.

Ultima IX: Ascension

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: December 07, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Ultima IX is really a great game. It's graphics are fabulous, the gameplay is awesome. I really get involved, its also huge, this will take you quite a while to finish, i've been playing it for a long time and i feel like I havn't got anywhere. There is one huge problem with the game. The system requirements. If you do not have a top of the line computer, wait for a little while before getting the game. That way it can get patched up and you may be able to play it. I have a P-3 600 with 128 ram and a Voodoo 3 and it's still pretty slow. But, i'm actually considering buying more ram, just for the reason of playing this game in its full glory. Ultima is awesome. Trust me.

Great game....suffers only from playability

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 07, 1999
Author: Amazon User

U9 is currently like the most beautiful woman in the world...but with a big, festering, hairy mole on the end of her nose. You just know it is amazing...but its hard to get past the glaring faults at first.

On a P2-333 w/two 12 mb Voodoo2 cards (right now, 3dfx chipset cards seem to be the only bet, with the Voodoo 3's the best choice) with options turned down (but not all the way) I am getting pretty playable framerates, though. I am of the old school where Gameplay is the master of Graphics though...to some, my setup might be too "ugly" to be playable.

The game itself, is immense, immersive, fun....and definitely worthy of the title "Ultima." Unless you are a diehard fan of the series though, I would recommend waiting a bit on this title, for many of the problems to be cleared up.

Once things (graphic card support, AI, glitches, optimization, etc...) are fully tweaked, U9 will likely take the throne as "Best RPG of All Time."

Either suffer through the wait for it to be fixed...or suffer slightly while playing it as-is now. Either way, the suffering is/will be worth it.

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