Ultima: Exodus (NES)

RPG week begins!

Difficulty: ****
Sound: **
Graphics: **1/2
Overall: 8 1/2 out of 15 stars

The nefarious minions of Minax and Modain are terrorizing the land! Lord British asks for your aid in these troubling times. But some other ancient evil is spreading fear and death throughout Britannia! FCI brings us the PC hit to the NES, Ultima: Exodus!

Like most old school RPG's you get very little info about where your supposed to go and what to do. You go around and piece together clues from various townsfolk. Without a guide or online walk through, you'll be having a really tough go. But this game will keep you busy. Buying food to keep your party from starving (lol, realism), up keeping your weapons and armour among other things. Oh and did I mention that when you do level up your characters your enemies also get tougher? Ouch...

Let me say this about the sound. Everything but the combat music is very catchy. But for the majority of the game you'll be in combat grinding for gold or experience. And the battle theme is about...two seconds long and then looped! Argh! This could have been so much better.

Graphically, the game is below par. You have a 'fog of war' viewpoint (which is actually cool because like in real life, you can't see through walls!) The various sprites are plain but varied. The paladin, lark and ranger look really sweet. The enemy sprites are not very detailed, and that goes for some of the larger enemies too. There is also a lot of screen tear and flicker. But you get some nice environments to walk around. Oh and when you do find the various dungeons around Britannia, its in 3D!

Ultima Exodus is a challenging RPG. The lack of any real sense of direction is a real let down. But finding a magazine or online walk through will help immensely! There is a lot of screen flicker and tear, but the class sprites are good. The sounds are good but the battle theme is very annoying. If you find a cheap copy of Ultima: Exodus give it a try. The more you delve into it the more fun it gets!