Ultima IX: Ascension

"What a sad way to finish a great series..."

Once I opened the package to Ultima IX, I felt I was opening the start of what games were made for; to stun the player. Once I opened it, I was amazed my the items. In just the regular version, I was greeted by a clth map of Britannica, Cards from the game, and 2 manuals. I thought right then I was going to play one of the most exciting games ever designed. I was dead wrong.

First off, once you enter the game, the game goes straight to the gameplay. No big intro (besides a pretty cool movie)it just goes straight to the game. You start out in Avatar's house. Once you see the screen, you jaw drops. But the instant you move your mouse, the game falls apart. Even with all of the graphic options turned down, the game is WAY to choppy. The only good parts of the graphics are when you DONT move, showing BEAUTIFUL scenery.

The story is nothing out of the ordinary. You are the worlds savior, come to save Britannia from the evil Guardian. Exciting. You also need to know a brief history of past Ultima games, since this is the conclusion to the series.

Personally, I think the controls are a bit hard to use. You control Avatar with the mouse. You can't change that. I like when you can just point to the place where to go, or you can easily manuver your character with a joysitck or keyboard. Sorry, no customizing.

Where the game really falls apart is the gaem itself. The game is FULL of bugs. I have incountered at least 5 already, and I was left having to start the game over. Almost immediatly after the selling of the game, EA brought out a patch that fixed 20 or so bugs. Thats pretty bad.

Graphics: -7 (with a liveable framerate)-10

Story: -8

Gameplay: -5

Playability: -3

Stability: -1

OVERALL: 4

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 12/15/99, Updated 12/15/99