"This game does more damage for Ultima than the Phantom Menace did for Star Wars. Seriously."

Ultima IX is one of the most bashed games in computer history. It's release date was pushed back over two years and when it came out, hardly anyone seemed to be able to get it running on their computer.

It has been over a year and a half since it was released and Origin has released many patches to the game, including patch 1.18(yes, there were nearly 18 patches in total), which solved nearly all the games problems.

So, now that this game runs, is it worth it? Well, yes and no. Let's answer a series of questions, most of which you are probably wondering.

Graphics 10/10
Does it look good? Yes, very good. It came out in late 1999, but it looks as good as any Gamecube or PS2 game. I am running it on low detail on a crappy computer and it looks good. At first, this is what makes the game seem like it is going to be a phenomenal experience. Unfortunately, it turns out that they spent way too much time on the graphics and too little in other areas.

Gameplay- 3/10
Does it play well? Not really. You run and hack and slash your way through dungeons and fields. In order to fight, you just click the left mouse button really quickly. Frankly, it gets dull over time. Actually, it gets dull by the time you enter Brittania(about 10 minutes into the game).

Here's the kicker. You don't get anything(other than a little gold) for fighting! You can dodge all the enemies(except bosses) and it makes no difference. Not to mention the uneven distribution of equipment. There is zero good stuff sold in any store, and you spent nearly 40% of the game with equipment you find in the early dungeons. Then, you get some really good equipment and are way too powerful for the next part of the game. Very odd.

So how do you get stronger? Well, every time you cleanse a shrine(the main goals of the game), you get more powerful. Huh? Don't even ask about this one.

Music- 4/10
Certainly they didn't screw up music, did they? Well, yes. It's orchestrated, but repetitive. Terrible. I only recently got it out of my head and I finished it a month ago.

Story 0/10

Now this is the worst of the worst. You get no party even though you run into your former allies. There is a love story that comes out of nowhere. Seriously. You meet a girl, and about an hour later she is telling you that she cares about you because of, ''all you've been through together.'' What? We just met! The whole story is one fetch quest after another. Pathetic. Terrible voice acting. Everything is bad about this.

Well, in the end, there is little to say positive for this game. It's not the worst game ever, but it is one of the worst sequels ever. This game does more damage for Ultima than the Phantom Menace did for Star Wars. At least Phantom Menace was the first of the series, not the conclusion. Skip this game. If you want to know how the whole series wraps up, e-mail me and I'll tell you. It's better than playing 60 hours of this crap to find out.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 06/13/02, Updated 06/13/02