"A Real Surprise"

Vivox's Review of Ultima VI: The False Prophet for the PC

Lucky you, person who's looking at this review! This was my first ever GameFAQs review, and after about 5 years I've decided to come back and rework and revise it a little bit, kind of like the Star Wars Special Editions George Lucas did, except in my case no one will notice or care...

Introduction: There was only one real reason I decided to get this game, and that was because my computer is so bad, it wouldn't play Ultima VII or VIII. Because of that, I got Ultima VI, not expecting much. And boy, was I surprised.

Story: The story is pretty good. The opening ''cinematic'' and introduction to the game set up the games story. You, the Avatar, have been gone from the world of Britannia for a long time. One night during a storm you find a pebble, and a moon gate suddenly opens up. This Moongate leads to the land of Britania. So of course you jump in, and end up almost sacrificed by a bunch of crazed gargoyles! Your saved by your old buddies from the previous Ultima games. After this you return to the king, Lord British, who informs you of the growing gargoyle menace in Britania. It is now up to you to go out and stop the gargoyles. The story isn't the best in the series, but the way the game is set up makes it easy to get into and enjoy the story even more. The Story gets a 8/10.

Graphics: The game was released in 1990, so the graphics can't really be compared to any of todays games, but they are pretty good for their age. You can tell what everything is, and the environments don't look too shabby either. The game also has a night and day system, which when I first played the game thought looked absolutely fantastic. For its time, the game must have looked pretty good. The Graphics get a 8/10.

Gameplay: The gameplay of the game is by far the best part. You do what you want when you want, kind of like The Elder Scroll's games. You venture anywhere you want, taking on small jobs if you want. Don't feel like walking? Buy a horse, or a boat. Feel like kicking back and chugging a couple of cold ones? Go to the bar and get drunk. Somebody in town give you a hard time? Kill them with extreme vengeance. Don't feel like buying the necessary equipment? Steal it! Also, all the people have there own behavior. Like the castle jester, who can be seen wandering the throne room, and at a certain time wandering into the kitchen for something to eat. Night changes to day, meaning that the stores close at certain times and open at certain times. You'll also venture into dungeons overrun with monsters, and you'll have to fight your way out like most other RPG's in order to gain the necessary experience points to level up at the shrines. The Gameplay gets a 10/10.

Music/Sound: This game has no music at all (the first Ultima game to have music was Ultima VII). There are some sounds in the game, but for the most part, you'll hear nothing at all. I've given the Music/Sound category of my review a mercy score. The Music/Sound get a 6/10.

Buy or Download?: I don't think the game can be legally downloaded, but if your willing to splunk down some cash you can pick up the Ultima Collection (like I did). Expensive, yes, but worth it if you like the Ultima games.

Conclusion, Five Years Later: Ultima VI: The False Prophet is a great old-school PC RPG that is still fun to play to this day. One of my favorite Ultima games, it really is too bad that the Ultima series is now pretty much dead.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/23/03, Updated 05/13/08

Game Release: Ultima VI: The False Prophet (US, 1990)