"A solid (but not great) RPG that's one of a kind."

Ultima IV was released way back in the 1980s for the PC. I remember playing it when I was just a young lad on my Laser 128 (eat my shorts, Commodore 64 users!). Being so young, I had no idea how to play. I just enjoyed attacking everything in sight. Years later, I have come back to the game, and now since I actually know what to do, I can appreciate it THAT much more.

The premise for Ultima IV is different from most RPGs (at least the one's I've played). There's no princess to save, no evil conglomerate bent on sucking the life of the planet, and no hideous beat of an evil nature that must be vanquished. The goal of the game is to be NICE. Well, not so much be nice, as there are good deal of monsters to slay (yeah, everyone likes that!) but you have to be an example on how others to live by improving yourself on eight different virtues: compassion, justice, honesty, honor, humility, sacrifice, spirituality, and valor. Accomplish all eight and you become an Avatar.

You start out the game by answering a series of questions to determine what class you are. The classes are bard, druid, mage, paladin, shepherd, tinker, ranger, and fighter, with each class being strong in one virtue. Of course, you are questing to become and Avatar, so you (the character you start out with) must master all eight. Each class has various differences in stats (i.e. Mages are the best magic users and Paladins and Fighters are the best for physical combat). Throughout the game, one person from each class (except the class you began with) will be able to join your party with a max party size of 8.

Other RPG elements are present, such as towns, magic, various modes of transportation, and monsters. Monsters are your typical RPG fare, ranging from lowly Skeletons to heinous magic-using Balrons. There are a total of 26 spells to choose from, however, they must mixed from reagents before they are cast. Most of the reagents that are in the game can be purchased in shops, although some are not available for purchase: they must be searched for. As for transportation, foot is the default method by which to travel by, however horse, ship, and even balloon are available to be used.

Now that I hope you have a premise for the game, let's get to the nitty gritty. Namely being, the review itself.

Gameplay: Now this can be a great and really fun game...if you have patience. This game is highly non-linear. You can go to any of the towns in any order (even the town you start varies with the class you begin with). Sometimes it's very difficult to get to where you want to go because not everything is accessible by foot. It is possible to capture a ship, but the trick is to wait for one to sail near you, and that takes time. Bottom line is that you have to have some sort of patience to tackle this game because it can get very slow in parts. 6/10

Graphics: If you get games based solely on the way they look, THEN AVOID THIS GAME. Remember, these graphics were created when Ronald Reagan was still in the White House, and simply put the technology just was not present. 1/10.

Sound: This game runs strictly on PC sound. There is no music of any kind. So don't expect to be using this game to test out those new sub-woofers you got. Just the non-descript blips and beeps of the computer here. 1/10

Replay value: It depends on your tastes. Some gamers won't have the patience to go through the game once. Those who beat the game might not have a lot reasons to play again either. Sure, you could try starting at a different class, but since you're able to get one member from each class anyway, what's the point? BUT, since the quest is so non-linear, it might be worth trying something new. 5/10

Overal Score: 6/10 It's a good, solid game, but not quite great. If you have the time to beat it, this game presents the type of challenge that you don't see in most other RPG's. However, if you like quests with some linearity involved, skip this one.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/01, Updated 08/08/01