"The Birth of the Avatar"

Ahhh Ultima...the best series for any PC...sure we have Everquest and Diablo II but hey! Ultima inspired and created EVERYTHING...

Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar is the FIRST part of the Age of Enlightenment Saga. Having saved the land of Britannia (Called Sosaria at the time), from the evil of Mondain, Minax and Exodus, the adventurer from another world stumbles unto britannia yet again. This time no quest to kill the big bad guy/girl. This time, you must become the Avatar to lead Britannia in this new age.

To become the Avatar you must study and practice the ways of the 8 Virtues: Compassion, Humility, Spirituality, Honor, Valor, Justice, Sacrifice, and Honesty.

The actions you do in the game will effect how well you are enlightened in the 8 virtues. Giving money to the poor will increase compassion, fighting in battle and not fleeing will increase valor etc. etc. You can even steal and kill people...but it has some serious consequences.....

The game starts you off by asking 8 questions. The final question will decide your class and starting city. From there you must travel the land searching for 7 companions to aid you. You must travel to many dungeons in search of magical stones. You must learn entry words and mantras to gain your ultimate goal ''The Codex of Ultimate Wisdom'' and become an Avatar. This isn't as easy as it seems. Monsters and horrible things seek to stop you. You must brave them all and enter the Stygian Abyss!

The game system is great! You now have to mix reagents to make spells and you can converse with the people as if you were actually talking there with them.

Graphics: 5/10: The graphics aren't the GREATEST but hey for their time, they were state of the art. There is a graphics update...it adds VGA graphics and midi music to your game...only I dont think I can give the link...you can just search for it...it shouldn't be too hard to find...

Story: 10/10: This is the greatest story for an RPG. It makes good sense and is rememberable.

Gameplay: 9/10: The gameplay is similar to Ultima III: Exodus, only the battle engine is better. The controls are easy as well....the same command keys as usual...the only complaint is that you can only move 1 space per battle....I don't like that....

Replayability: 8/10: The only reason to replay is to play as a different class and start in different spots...also there are some secret items you can get...and even destroy a body part of a certain gem creating wizard....other than that...the game is always the same.

Fun Factor: 10/10: This game is really fun...I play it over and over...it has a fun story and it is very enjoyable. The game doesn't get annoying at all...never will you find yourself stuck in some dumb place or find a monster you can't beat...you can always beat whatever you fight...there are no bosses :(.

All in all this game is sweet! It is worth buying in the Ultima Collection CD...or trying to find the 5.25 floppies on ebay or something for your Apple ][ , C64 or old 286 IBM.

Buy/Rent? Uhh....Buy? I don't think you can rent this game...unless you find a place that rents NES games...but the NES one isn't as cool.!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/02/02, Updated 08/02/02