Ultima VI: The False Prophet

1990 SyksyThe first part of the Ultima saga came out as far back as 1980. Since then every instalment of Ultima has been a legend even before its release. Does Ultima VI continue this time-honoured tradition? The plot of Ultima VI picks up where Ultima V ended. Although a little time has rolled by since Lord British and the Avatar (that is, the player) last saw each other.

The seat of evil familiar from Part Five, the Underworld, has collapsed, and evil has taken a new form: the Gargoyles. Nobody knows exactly where these rascals have come from or why they are destroying even whole villages in Britannia. Rumour has it they are after the Avatar in person (to be delivered preferably in one-kilo bags, naturally). Since hardly anyone wants a new pet for themselves, the mission is unusually clear...

For backup, the player starts out with three old pals. Both the player and the other members of the party are real novices at the start, but to everyone's delight U6 also offers the option of using old game characters, in which case some of their attributes carry over.

The party can hold at most eight people, although Britannia has vastly more adventure-hungry folk than that. Usually all the members of the group move together, but the player can also pick solo mode for one of the members, in which case they move only that one while the rest of the group stays put. If the group leader, say, gets paralysed in combat, control always passes to the next one. And if that sounded confusing, that's exactly what it is in the game too, since some commands can only be given in party mode, which muddles things even further.

Another feature that gets in the way of playing is movement. The group members are pretty thoroughly interactive, so they also wander around a lot on their own. This, among other things, is why my first game lasted just under a quarter of an hour - I decided to go and take in the scenery on the coast of Britannia, but apparently I walked too briskly, because after admiring the sea for a moment I noticed I was all alone. I didn't have to suffer the loneliness for long, though, as I soon felt a warm breath on the back of my neck... Funny how those demons tend to get so people-friendly at times!

By far U6's worst blunder is in its playability. Unlike the earlier Ultimas, the sixth one's user interface is built mainly for the mouse. Why? The old system at least had some of that 'handed down from father to son' glow. Oh, the misery, when someone used to keyboard control tries to poke at slightly undersized icons with the mouse. Good thing there's keyboard support too, at least.

To get everything possible out of the PC version of the game, in my opinion you have to own a 386, since the game feels a bit clunky even on a 286 (though there's no point getting too fussy: there's going to be a C-64 conversion of the game too, after all). It would also be advisable to own a VGA display and preferably a music card as well.

Ultima VI's graphics were clearly made for a VGA display in the first place. The programmers' laziness shines through in the EGA version: the colour choices are dreary, the animations jerky and the graphics grainy. In places it's impossible to tell members of your own gang from the enemies, and what the icons mean only becomes clear by trying them out. The VGA graphics, on the other hand, look downright delicious.

Without a sound card, U6's sound on the PC is limited to a few familiar blurts. With the basic sound there's (thank God) no actual background music at all. With a sound card you get to enjoy considerably nicer sounds, including background music that changes every now and then, sparing the nerves of the player and everyone around.

U6's game area has grown significantly compared with its predecessor, although the actual map of Britannia hasn't seen any big changes. The area's mighty size comes from the fact that the towns and the terrain are now on the same scale. The terrain has been given a level of detail that brings more realism to the game (alongside the pretty graphics sections). Sometimes, though, it feels as if the game's 'realism' is tearing the player's nerves to shreds. A small tree can block the way to the other side of a god-awfully huge mountain range.

Ultima's expansion work also shows in the revamped way of communicating. When talking to people you no longer have to guess at keywords; instead they are in a different colour from the rest of the text. This makes playing easier, but on the flip side the conversations are really extensive and rambling. There are so many interactive characters that at times you get downright desperate.

Naturally there have also been additions to the membership of the monster club, and to the spells. The spells are now in plain language, and mixing the ingredients happens automatically.

Although plenty of people will surely think Ultima VI is the Ultima of all time, nothing will change my position: in my opinion the best Ultima is still number five. The reason is mainly the new user interface and the sheer scale of the game. In U5 you at least still felt you had the threads somehow in your hands. In the sixth one they slip away for good. On top of that, my copy of the game at least was a tiny bit buggy.

Despite everything, Ultima is always Ultima!