Ultima

Ultima (later titled, Ultima: The First Age of Darkness) is the first game in the Ultima series of role-playing video games created by Richard Garriott. The game was one of the first definitive commercial computer RPGs, and is considered an important and influential turning point for the development of the genre throughout years to come.

Released: 1 June 1981
Platforms: Apple II Atari 8-bit FM Towns
Genres: Role-playing
Developers: —
Publishers: California Pacific Computer Sierra On-Line
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: First person Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Fantasy Open world

About

Ultima is a series of open world fantasy role-playing video games from Origin Systems, created by Richard Garriott. Electronic Arts has owned the brand since 1992. The series had sold over 2 million copies by 1997.

Alongside Wizardry and Might and Magic, the Ultima series is considered to have established many norms of the computer role-playing game genre. Several games of the series are considered seminal in their genre. Their innovations, particularly in the early installments, were widely copied by other games.

›Story

Hail, Noble One! Our land is in need of a stalwart hero, one who will brave perils too horrific to consider. A plague has befallen the Realm, a scourge is upon the land! Our villages lie sacked, ruinous mounds of ashes where once trod peasants stout of heart and sound of mind, where once lay fields of grain and fruit, where kine and fowl grew fat upon the bounties of our fair Sosaria.

All manner of wicked and vile creatures prey upon our people and ravage the land. ‘Tis the doing of one so evil that the very earth trembles at the mention of his name.

Mondain the Wizard hath wrought his malice well. Our nobles bicker amongst themselves, and each hath retired to the confines of his keep in hopes of watching the downfall of his rivals. Verily, the Evil One hat heaped indignity upon curse by releasing upon the Realm a host of creatures and beasts so bloodthirsty and wicked that our defenseless people fall as grain before the reaper’s scythe. These denizens of the underworld hold sway over all that can be surveyed, save for the strongholds of the nobles besotted with their own ambition. Nowhere in our once peaceful country may a traveler find safe passage or lodging, save in the keeps of the self-proclaimed kings—and they demand hard labors for their indulgences.

Only the young Lord British remains steadfast in the vision of a peaceful and united Sosaria. In his castle and his towne the pure of heart will find an ally and replenishment for the needs of one who hath chosen to fight for the Realm. Aid us in ridding our land of the scourge that hath befallen us, O Noble One. We beseech thee, for without thine aid we shall surely perish before the onslaught of the maleficent necromancer. Slay the evil Mondain!

Keywords

time travel
dragon
spaceships

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Reception

In the United States, the first five Ultima games had collectively sold more than 470,000 copies for home computers by 1990. In Japan, total sales of Pony Canyon's Japanese versions of the Ultima series had reached nearly 100,000 copies on home computers and over 300,000 units on the Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System), by 1990.

In 1996, Next Generation ranked the Ultima series as collectively the 55th top game of all time, commenting that, "While the graphics and playing style change with the technological leaps of the day, [it] has been the most consistent source of roleplaying excitement in history." In 1999, Next Generation listed the Ultima series as number 18 on their "Top 50 Games of All Time", commenting that, "Most PC RPGs are about hacking and slashing through anything that moves, usually while crawling through a dungeon. The Ultima series, however, has always been firmly grounded in a world where a character's virtues are as important as their armor class in determining success." In 2000, Britannia was included in GameSpot's list of the ten best game worlds, called "the oldest and one of the most historically rich gameworlds."

Legacy

The Ultima series helped popularize the party-based combat introduced by Wizardry. Other innovations of the early Ultimas became standard among later RPGs, such as tiled graphics, a mix of fantasy and science-fiction elements, and time travel as a plot device.

Ultima III: Exodus (1983) was particularly influential because it used a written narrative to convey a larger story. Most video games – including Garriott's own Ultima I and II and Akalabeth – tended to focus primarily on things like combat. The game influenced the development of RPGs, including Excalibur and Dragon Quest, and is considered by many to be the first modern computer role-playing game.