Preamble: This isn't a review. It doesn't contain critical analysis, just the subjective opinions of one person. The intent is to remember the games I've come across in my life and share the nostalgia, nothing more. And some of those games I didn't play in great depth.

Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness

Developer: Richard Garriott & Origin Systems
Platform: PC (MS-DOS) - First came out on Apple II.
Release Year: 1981
Stephen's Rating: n/a



I'm going to say right up front that I didn't play a lot of this game. By the time I got access to it I had already played Ultima VII: The Black Gate and it was pretty much unplayable in comparison. I did spend a couple of hours playing it, but the real reason I've included it here is that it stands as part of the greatest series (in my opinion) in computer game history.

Basic Plot

The land of Sosaria is a place of magic and because of the harm it had done in the past, all magic was banned across the land. Mondain the Wizard defied these orders after many years of peace, and began secretly training himself in the ways of magery. He creates the Gem of Immortality which allows him to live forever. After a thousand years Mondain enslaves the people of Sosaria with his unstoppable power.


Exploring Sosaria, a city can be seen off to the left.

You play the role of a hero from another world (Earth), summoned by Lord British to save the world of Sosoria. The game involves travelling through space and time to eventually encounter and defeat Mondain and shatter his Gem of Immortality. Lord British describes that the only way to beat him is to go back in time and defeat Mondain before he forges the Gem of Immortality.

Ultima I is the first in a three part trilogy which makes up The Age of Darkness. Each episode involves the hero from another land saving the world from a particular evil.

Gameplay

The game is a traditional RPG. The visuals were essentially stick people and basically drawn terrain and objects. The player went about conversing with NPC's to discover quests and information, battling enemies through a battle interface above ground, and there was a pseduo 3D dungeon view which you used to traverse the many dungeons of the land.


The dungeon view.

Some of the characters who became prominant in the later games are introduced in this game including Lord British, Nystal, Iolo, among many others.

Positives

The game had a pretty decent story, and was pretty cutting edge for the time and the technology available. I'm most impressed by the legacy it left. Without the history built up in these early games, the Ultima series wouldn't have had the gravity that it did.

Negatives

It's a fantastic game for 1981 but truly unplayable now.

Memorable Moments

I first got into the earlier Ultima games from some of the history hinted at in the Ultima VII games. I sought this out and was disappointed at how difficult it was for me to adjust to the old style interface.

Also I've recently released an episode of Oldschool Game Sessions where I talk about the history of Ultima I and play a bit of the game, check it out: