The hype around Ultima IX over this past year has garnered the game some serious attention. Ultima fans and critics, alike, are in for a real treat this time around. This game brings new innovations to the series, as well as resurrecting the good 'ol fashioned 'Utilma-ness' that we've all been desperately awaiting (especially after the theme was beaten up a bit by the likes of Ultima VIII: Pagan, and Ultima Online).

So, the big question: "Is it truly an Ultima?"

You know, at first, I was a bit hesitant to answer that positively. Especially after playing the demo, and being thoroughly disappointed in performance. After all, the game must be playable to be enjoyable. But after playing the first dozen or so hours of the retail game, I gotta tell ya, I'm hooked. In fact, I don't think I've had this much fun in Britannia since my days of Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, on a Commodore 64.

The plot (although fairly linear for about the first 1/4 of the game) is definitely compelling right off the bat. The Guardian has returned to wreak havoc on the lands, the populace is acting all kooky, and there's an overall sense of doom hanging heavy upon the world. If that's not a true mission for the Avatar, then I don't know what is.

In the tradition of the Ultima series, practically the whole world is manipulateable (You want that bucket? Yours for the taking), there are dozens of subplots that offer new, unique adventures, without deterring from the main storyline. There are so many unique items in this game, that I know I'll never find them all. But, again, in a traditional Ultima role, that's what we were all looking for.

Exploration in this game pays off. You can literally climb almost any mountain, swim across vast expanses of water, find hidden caves, tiny villages, expansive ruins, and roam mile upon mile of wilderness. The great thing, is that the designers kept these natural investigative tendencies in mind when building the game world. You can almost always be sure that spending the next hour trying to jump up on that little perch, will most likely reward you with a unique item, or at least a stunning view that you know many people might not ever see.

So, is it an Ultima? I'd have to say so. The game world is vast, the item variety seemingly endless, the plot seems solid, and has twist and turns to help keep gamers compelled, and the Avatar definitely has his hands full saving Britannia from utter destruction (again). Old friends from previous Ultima's are back like Lord British (duh), Iolo, Shamino, and good old Lord Blackthorn, to name just a few. The landscape is stunningly beautiful, and the towns are equally as impressive (just wait till you see Moonglow ;p), and dungeons are suitably creepy, filled with nasties, traps, secrets, puzzles, and of course loot.

There are a couple areas that I suppose I should address concerning the state of gameplay at the moment however.

1) Microsoft's D3D, especially in conjunction with DirectX7, is only marginally supported as of this writing. This forces many of us with non-GLIDE compatible video cards to play with lowered visual quality to improve performance, and can drop framerates in some scenes quite drastically. A patch is in the works at this very moment to remedy this situation however, and should be available sometime around mid-December (we hope).

2) Bugs. There's a few of them that can, and have forced players to revert to savegames that could be hours, or days old. Of course, in this day and age, it's close to impossible to expect a game that is 100% bug-free, so we'll just hope the dev team realizes the errors, and rectifies them in future product patches (ASAP hopefully).

Additionally, the user interface can be a little clumsy, especially at first (although a couple hours of gaming should have you completely comfortable with the UI). Inventory is limited to a certain number of 'tiles' per pack, unlike previous Ultimas that had space limited only by weight one could carry. This is deemed as a conscious design element to reduce item crowding, and does end up working well enough, especially after you get a couple extra bags.

Is it an Ultima?

This gamer definitely thinks so. Everything from getting started (with a beautifully done introductory, voice-acted tutorial), to character creation via choices of virtues, to entering Britannia, and forging ahead with your role as the Avatar, just literally screams "Ultima". Much like the Ultima's of days past, I find myself sitting engrossed by the storyline for hours, nay, DAYS on end discovering new things around every corner, and loving every minute of it. The plot, the characters, the environment, the excitement, the exploration. It's everything I imagined and more. Besides a couple quirky qualities that we hope to see resolved soon, I see this game emerging as the crowned champion of the Ultima series. A true solid ending to one of gaming's greatest legacies; that of the Avatar, and that of all Britannia.