| Product: |
Ultima Online: the Second Age |
| Date: |
24/06/01 (121 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Great Gameplay, Addictive, Huge Variety of Tasks
Disadvantages: Expensive, Addictive
So far there have been erm..... about oooh.... er..... 10 Ultima games? Correct if I am wrong, but it's still a lot. When Ultima Online was first released only 1000 copies were released in Europe so if you got one you were one lucky devil, I didn't get one so I could can't tell you about the first game but I can sure tell you about this one. A rpg at its heart it is totally loyal to its genre by having all the normal things you expect, orcs, monsters, magic and warriors. The thing that makes this game a cut above the rest is that quite obviously it is only playable online through the game. There are a number of shards/servers to choose from (about 20 or more). These cover the world for instance there are Pacific, Europe and Atlantic shards which let you meet people from where you live. In each of these shards there is a whole world, the same world (Britannia) is in each world but with different people and things going on. You can have up to 5 characters on each shard so it is possible to have over 100 characters at a time but this is probably impossible to manage.
Before I continue I must warn you that this is one of the most addictive games around and your phone bill will be through the roof and the heavens. You also have to pay about £6.32 ($9.99) a month to have the service so Origin can continue to update it all the time.
After you register your account you can then create your character, this process has recently been changed to help novices but it is a bit of a pain for people who are used to it. You click through different professions so you can find the one for you, then a screen comes up with the ideal skills and points for your person, you can change these if you want. You then choose what you look like and then you are in!
You start off with any equipment that is needed for your profession, 1000 gold, a book, a candel, half a ticket and a weapon of some sort. From here you can do whatever you want, you may want to go
out to fight some monsters in the wilderness, trust me, you'll get slaughtered by the first damn rabbit you see, so it is best to train first. If you want to save up to buy a house/ship/pet you must find a way to make money in the city/town you start in. For instance you can be a blacksmith and sell your goods to people or the blacksmith(s) or you could be a fisherman selling his catch to the fishmonger. The options are nearly endless, you can start a guild if you want or join other guilds. Then there is the fame and karma systems, these change how NPCs (non player characters) interact with you, and also these affect your title of your character. If you commit a crime (stealing, attacking someone, attacking someones pet or looting) your name appears in grey and if you enter a town the guards will kill you on the stop. This is the same if you are a murderer, also if you are a murderer or a criminal other people can kill you without becoming a criminal. The guards give you protection inside the cities so you are safe in them from PKs (player killers).
Overall this is a very complex game with a very very friendly player community, you can never get bored because there is so much to do. The graphics are not very good but you don't really notice it and it helps to keep the game run a bit faster.
Now UO:Renaissance has been released, which is free for current owners, this now doubles the size of each world. One land is a criminal free zone (Trammel) and the other is a dangerous one full of criminals, player killers (PKs) and heroes (Fellucia - the original land). Also there are a lot more monsters and other features that are too numerous to mention. But this does help the new people entering the game tremdously because they can now stay in Trammel with out worrying they are going to be murdered every 5 minutes.
Summary:
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Last comment:
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rob_writer - 24/06/01 I would love to play this game, but Im kinda put off by the cost....
Good op!! |
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