"The Avatar is back! Yay for moongates."

Ultima. What a series. The 5th game of the series, is actually the 2nd game in which the story and world become relatively static in nature. The first 3 games were loosely related, and the map changed with each game (II took place in 8-bit Earth!). Starting with IV: Quest of the Avatar, the game focuses on the story of The Avatar.

Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny picks up where IV left off. The Avatar completed his quest, and became The Avatar, symbol of virtue for all to behold. He then returned to his home on planet Earth.....

Then one day, disaster struck again in Britannia, as Lord British has been imprisoned in the underworld. Lord Blackthorne arises in his absence, and his three Shadowlords begin doing his bidding. Iolo and Shamino, two of the Avatar's closest companions send a moongate to transport the Avatar back to Britannia to help.....and thus begins the journey to save Lord British.

Story: 10. This is the best segment of the Ultima saga. Period. The Avatar must journey throughout Britannia to piece together the mystery of Lord British's disappearance. He must also uphold true virtue, by discovering the secret to defeating the Shadowlords.

Music: n/a. There is no music, technically. The C64 version, when played on a C128, had music. The NES one had music, and the PC one "doesn't" it is possible to patch the game to have .mid versions of the C64 music. Pretty simple to find too. The music is great too.

Sound FX: n/a. Ok, cmon, it is DOS beepin'. Bleep blop blip boop crackle. The standard stuff. Scoring this would just be silly. There is no good way to use a DOS speaker musically! :) I will admit that the ambient noise is cool though. Water sounds only come on when youre in a decent vicinity, and fade out accordingly. The harpsichords are fun to play too. 1-0 on the number line of the keyboard let you play notes! Pretty neat for 1988.

Graphics: 10. EGA glory. The cutscene snapshots of the opening story are amazing for the year of production...just amazing. The detail of the one scene, is about as accurate as you can get to the cover of the game box. The battle and overhead graphics are also pretty detailed for the year....you even get real time light movement from light houses and such. Nice touches. The first person dungeons have nicely detailed screens, and the monsters are very interesting. What really makes the graphics standout for me are the animations! It is very neat. Your team mates have comical little battle dances, and the jesters juggle balls...and for being such an old game, it is really nice.

Gameplay: 10. I love the gameplay. This + the story is why Ultima V is my favorite of the 13 Ultima games. Yes, 13. (Akalabeth, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7 part 2, both expansions to the VII games, 8, and 9). Anyways, you start off in Iolo's hut, and are left with no general plan. It is your job to explore the world, and interact with the townsfolk. You must ask them questions, and look for clues as to how to defeat the shadowlords, how to get into the dungeons, where key items are located, and other things like that. Without talking to people, you cannot finish this game. You can also recruit people to your team, and even have them stay at Inns so you can recruit MORE people! There are tons of characters you can have, which is very cool. There are mages, fighters, rangers, barbarians. It is very diverse for 1988! You also have to mix spells to cast them which requires planning. There is also the runic alphabet that alot of the games signs are written in, so you have to learn that via instruction booklet, or online text, so that you can decipher things. :)

I like the game because it is very open ended. You pick what to do. You are not forced to go anywhere, you just have to make sure you save Lord British! There is plenty to do, and alot of puzzle solving. It is not a game you can whip through on your first try.

Buy this if you see it. It is very collectible. You will not be disappointed with it at all. It is by far one of the most involved, challenging, and fulfilling RPG experiences you will ever have.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/25/06