Exodus: Ultima III

aka: Ultima 3, Ultima: Exodus, Ultima: Kyōfu no Exodus
Moby ID: 878

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Critic Reviews add missing review

Average score: 76% (based on 3 ratings)

Player Reviews

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 40 ratings with 5 reviews)

The first classic Ultima game

The Good
This is the first game in the series that really feels like a Ultima. It has a lot of the standard elements that were in the later games such as moon-gates, an underworld and familiar towns like Yew. The modern technology has gone and the game takes place in a true fantasy environment. The game also has a musical soundtrack (with the upgrade patch) which although basic helps the atmosphere no end.

You control a party of four adventurers and combat takes place on its own screen, where you can move your characters around, attack or cast spells in turns. This is far more interesting than the mindless attacking from the earlier games.

The characters in the towns still only offer one line of conversation but there are far more characters that have something worthwhile to say. These tend to be hints you need to complete the game, and it adds another gameplay element where you have to search through the towns to get all these clues.

The game also adds line of sight so you can't see around corners, and viewing distance is limited in forests.

The Bad
Some of the spells are not as useful as they should be. The light spell lasts about 8 turns before you are in the dark again and with wind blowing out your torches all the time, you need a serious supply before tackling any dungeons. The clerics heal spells seemed a bit underpowered at the start of the game but are even worse later on.

Ships are far too rare, in this game considering you need one to show up before you can finish the game.



The Bottom Line
This game is a real classic - the beginnings of everything that Ultima developed into can be seen here. The gameplay is far more balanced and varied than the previous games and it doesn't feel like a load of elements thrown together ad hoc. It was fun to play through 25 years after it came out. I did use the upgrade patch from http://exodus.voyd.net. This adds a frame limiter, midi music (previously missing on the PC), EGA graphics and also a very useful restore hot-key (this required a restart otherwise).

If you are an Ultima fan and can see past the technology, this game is still worth playing even these days. Back in 1983, had I been old enough to appreciate it, it would have been truly outstanding.

DOS · by Pix (1172) · 2008

This game actually made me like CGA graphics.

The Good
The packaging for this game was unlike any other that I'd seen at the time. (early 80's) A cloth map, spellbooks with textured covers, each printed on heavyweight paper. The ultima world was HUGE for a game that came on 1/2 of a 360k disk. (the other half was the character/user disk)

The Bad
Considering the timeframe this game was released in, absolutely nothing.

The Bottom Line
There was so much attention to detail in this game. From the above mentioned extras in the packaging, to being able to have a party of adventures, each separately controllable in combat scenes, to the scale of the ultima world itself, with dungeons and towns and castles to explore. The game is somewhat complex at first, with each key on the keyboard controlling different elements of the game, but the learning curve is fast enough that the keyboard control seemed natural within a few hours.

After reading the other reviews of this game mentioning the lack of music, I honestly didn't even realize it was missing on the PC version. Like the other reviewers, this was my first RPG game, and I was so engrossed in the storyline and building up my characters that I actually played this game consistently for over a year. I just couldn't get away from it. I played this game so much in fact, that I was depressed that Ultima IV used EGA (16 color) graphics. It just didn't look right to me!

DOS · by jeff leyda (1842) · 2000

Fabulous role-playing adventure.

The Good
This is actually the first CRPG I ever played, so admittedly I may be biased. But I think it was a lot of people's introduction to the world of computer role-playing.

The tile based maps were large, and with towns and an alternate world to explore (Ambrosia) there was a real sense of scope to this thing.

This was the first Ultima game to introduce multiple characters in the party, and combat screens.

There were dozens of character class and race combinations and the spell books were thick and very descriptively written.

The Bad
Character conversations were EXTREMELY limited. In fact, you didn't "talk" with characters, but "transacted" with them - and they replied with a single sentence. The truly frustrating aspect of this game for me was that since EVERY character in the game (except Lord British) only says one thing to you, and once you've heard it there's no need to talk to them again, I assumed Lord British was the same. Of course, transacting with him is the only way to increase your characters' hit points. I had a 63rd level Fuzzy Mage before I found out I could up his stats by talking to the king!

Also, the trouble of travelling to Ambrosia to increase characters' other stats meant that I only made the trip four times, once to increase each of my characters stats in their prime requisites.

And, through no fault of the programmers (but rather the hardware) the IBM version featured none of the glorious music that made the Commodore version (where I first played it) so much fun to listen to.

The Bottom Line
An extremely good RPG for its day, and a true piece of computer gaming history.

DOS · by Jeff Sinasac (391) · 2000

The foundation of what a lot of Video-Game RPG's are today

The Good
A good storyline with great places to explore.....when I first bought the game way back in the mid 80's I had no idea who the enemy was etc. but the game unravels its storyline as you play. Excellent design and a cool soundtrack (Commodore and Apple only I believe). My first Ultima and I will always have a soft spot for it....:)

The Bad
Well I remember when I first played it way back I had no idea what to do after a while since clues were hard to piece together etc. These days you can find tons of spoilers and walkthroughs though. I won't put down the graphics or other in-game limitations because nothing else featured these innovations in 1983.

The Bottom Line
A foundation for the Ultima series and for many games thereafter. Its a classic RPG which is not too complex since it came out so long ago. It is quite addictive and the music featured (on non-DOS machines) is really catchy.

DOS · by cimerians (49) · 2001

Great design, great atmosphere -- still highly enjoyable today

The Good
*** WARNING: Mild spoilers ***

Unlike Ultima II, whose bad game design truly appalled me, Garriott got nearly everything right here. I really was afraid that Ultima III may be just as bad, but thankfully, it's quite the contrary.

Character generation already is the first sign of some good game design. This is the first Ultima game in which you lead a party of characters, not a single maverick. Although character creation is very basic (choose name, sex [including 'other'], race and class; distribute points; done), there are enough classes that assembling a cool, balanced party is already quite challenging. There are four base classes, but several mixed classes. In fact, I created three parties in the course of playing the game, and I still haven't found the "perfect" one.

Once you start playing, you'll notice pretty soon that Garriott took MUCH more care in designing the maps and NPCs. Ultima II actually is bigger than Ultima III, if you just count the number of squares -- but one thing I hated about U2 was that many of those maps just were unnecessary for the game, and some of them (as in space) were even totally empty. If not, most of the NPCs just gibbered nonsense.

Here, each location serves a purpose, and each has its own feel, and often some special that only appears there. While Britain is more or less a straight fantasy setup, Yew is a small village full of clerics and dark forests. Grey is a somewhat dubious town; unlike in Britain, the guards here will bark a "Watch it Bub!" as a greeting, and the pub is crammed full of fighters, with the much-needed thieves' guild in a backroom. Or that mystical place called Dawn, which you'll try to reach in the beginning of the game. "Dawn lasts only a brief moment" -- which means that it only appears at a special time, indicated by the moons. (Yes, Ultima III introduced moongates.)

Back in 1983, this was a degree of detail and atmosphere of the game world absolutely unheard of in role-playing games. For me, atmosphere is one of the most important things in games. It helps to create an image in your mind. And even if you'll have to grind a lot in this game too (RPGs should be called "Grinding games" anyway), it didn't get boring a bit. It took me a while to find a good grinding route, and though I must have plundered this poor town dozens and dozens of time, it was fun. I mean, the guards literally invited me, telling me to bribe them.

There are many other examples of Garriott's great game design -- which I strongly started to doubt while playing U2. This game keeps surprising you. For example, I once stumbled upon an easily accessible room full of treasure chests in a town. I never dreamed of stealing it -- being level 1, I wanted no stress with the guards --, but just went to have a look. Once inside, a thief hidden in an previously unseen corner of the room attacked me. I had no choice but to defend myself -- however, the guards don't like fights in their cities and went after me. Although this example is a little unfair, I just loved it. It was a great use of the game mechanics to give the player a nasty little surprise.

Another example is that whirlpool that moves randomly out in the ocean. After I had won my first ship by fighting the pirates (using that cool "Pirate ship/land combat map" I remember well from Ultima IV), I had left it by the coast while riding to another part of Sosaria. Suddenly, the beeper makes a weird noise and I read: "A ship was destroyed." I knew that could only be the whirlpool. When, after much searching, I found another ship, I took care to always leave it at the source of the longest river I could find, so that the whirlpool is less likely to reach it. I also was terrified of that whirlpool while sailing the oceans, looking for that mystical "Ambrosia" people kept telling me about, and kept sailing away from it as soon as I saw it (it moves lightning-fast, the bastard). Of course, after some time, the pool got me... And oh, what a surprise that was! Another moment in my personal gaming history I won't forget.

I also liked the way the game unfolds. Never once I was stranded somewhere, not knowing what to do. In fact, it would have been the other way round if I hadn't kept notes (a "to do" list). While exploring, you'll learn about cards, marks, panels, shrines and whatnot, and slowly, you'll learn what they are, how they work, and what they've got to do with your quest.

Apart from the great game design, there's a lot of smaller and larger technical details that add to the experience. For example, U3 introduces line-of-sight visibility and makes great use of it. For example, many hints (or city guards) are hidden in deep forests. Although this makes exploring a little hard, it is rewarding, as -- unlike as in U2 -- if the NPCs say something, it either adds to the atmosphere, or it contains some hint.

I can't complain about the gameplay either. You'll learn the basic commands pretty soon (most are similar to other early Ultimas), and the game plays quick and smoothly. Some of the dialogues are a bit uneven (sometimes requiring player first, then direction; sometimes the other way round), but there wasn't many of those fun-killing "Huh? What the fuck does that stupid game do now!?" stuff.

One last thing I have to mention is the combat. In U2, you had simple "bash me, bash you". Here, similar to U4, a combat map opens, depending on the territory you're on, and you'll have to fight intelligently, developing several strategies and tactics, to survive. It reminds me a lot of SSI's Gold Box games, albeit much simpler.

The Bad
I have a few gripes about Ultima III. My main one being that leveling up is quite uneven. You level up every 100 experience points, regardless of your level. Which means you'll spend HOURS getting to second level (my party died three times) at the beginning of the game, when lowly orcs are a challenge. However, at the end of the game, when even Lord British refused to level me up any higher, it took me a mere MINUTES -- a few fights with guards -- to gain another level.

Another annoying thing was that autosave feature: The bloody game saves your characters as soon as one of them dies. I mean, being a roguelike fanatic, one should think that I'd appreciate that "permadeath" feature. But permadeath is only okay if it doesn't take hours to build up the character. Here, I just found it annoying. However, once you get past the difficult beginnings, dead characters become less of a drag, with having more money and even spells.

As mentioned, some of the user interface could have been a bit smoother, but it didn't suck. Also CGA graphics aren't my cup of tea, but then again, there's the Exodus Upgrade which gives you U4-style EGA graphics, but which I didn't use as I wanted the original.

The Bottom Line
All in all, Ultima III is actually pretty amazing for its time, and still worth playing today, after 29 years (and counting)!

It's got tons of atmosphere, a consistent, imaginative and varied game world. It's game mechanics pretty simple, so the game is easy to get into. But the game design is great, and it uses its mechanics to maximum effect, providing lots of surprises, some nasty, some nice. I really enjoyed the game from start to finish, thoroughly exploring the world. I even continued after I solved it, to answer a few open questions. Like: Can you kill Lord British? (Answer: Yes, you can, even if Garriott made him invincible in combat. But he forgot that ship in the castle.)

After Ultima II, which is extremely uneven, boring and just plain badly designed, Ultima III shows that Garriott knows how to create great games. It definitively is a big step towards Ultima IV -- in fact, I had the feeling that all basic game mechanics are already present and working in Ultima III (but I played U4 about 15 years ago, so...).

In fact, I can imagine that I may like this just as much or even better than Ultima IV. U3 isn't politically correct. And even if it's not much in my role as saviour of the world, I enjoy being evil and nasty, slaughter entire villages and rob their gold, from time to time. I also liked Lord British's luxurious torture chamber, where he burns and drowns jesters who were naughty. I think I'll miss that in Ultima IV, which I'm definitively planning to play some time soon.

DOS · by General Error (4329) · 2012

Contributors to this Entry

Critic reviews added by Alsy, RetroArchives.fr, Patrick Bregger.