Customer Reviews

Ultima Online: Third Dawn

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(32)

 

 

I recently upgraded to Ultima Online: Third Dawn, and was not at all impressed with the graphics or performance of this new client.

(For new players: the 'client' is the program which runs on your computer to show you what's going on in the game. All the actual information is stored on the server you connect to. Players using different clients can still interact with each other.)

Let me begin by saying that my hardware configuration is well above the minimum requirements. (PIII 800MHz, 448MB RAM, 32MB AGP video) Third Dawn runs visibly slower on my computer than the old 2-D client, with few changes to make it worthwhile. The new graphics simply include 3-D objects and lighting effects which are far from impressive. There are improved sounds, and the containers (backpacks, chests, etc.) are larger, making it easier to organize items within the game. Aside from that, the only real advantage to using the 3-D client is that you can visit the new lands (Ilshenar) In addition to the shaky performance, Third Dawn is filled with bugs. I encountered two bugs in my first hour of play.

Fortunately, the old 2-D client is included on the Third Dawn CD, so you are not forced to use one or the other.

My advice- do NOT pay ... for Ultima Online: Third Dawn.

I've played Ultima Online for over 3 years. I participated in the beta for this 3D add-on for the game. I run a large guild, and host bi-weekly events. Despite all it's problems, I've always been a supporter of the game in general. There is so much to it, and so much to do... it can keep a gamer busy, literally, for years.

This 3D client has the potential to add a lot of worthwhile content to the game. New items, new areas, and new creatures can all be added to the new areas without having to cut new CD's. New gestures, new lands to explore, new monsters to fight. All of which is needed in a 3+ year old game.

That said this 3D client, as delivered, is non-functional. It's got a memory leak so big you can throw a truck through it. Most players refuse to use it anywhere dangerous (such as fighting monsters, or other players... or anywhere that might happen) as more likely than not the 3D client will crash to your desktop before it hardly gets started. Leaving you at the mercy of what you were fighting.

While the environment art is beautiful and some of the new creature art are wonderfully done, the rest is rather childish. They still can't even get the colors to match the 2D client, for the character models. The character models themselves, are ugly till you zoom in close enough that it's the only thing you can see. Most of the creature graphics are just as bad. The "wonderful" character animation you read about in the description, is awful to the extreme.

If you wish to play UO with the same old 2D client, then do so. But don't buy this expecting to play with the new 3D client. This Alpha stage client, that was tossed out as a beta... is barely in what should be considered beta stage, upon release.

A long standing player in the UO community (2 years) I have enjoyed almost every aspect of the game. I was happy when I got my name into the Third Dawn Beta. I spent hours and hours playing Third Dawn, finding bugs and posting them. I was and am frustrated with Origin for sending the game Gold before it was ready.

The game is virtually unplayable (Build 61). Massive memory leaks, crashes, and poor graphics should keep any serious MMORPG gamer away for the time being.

The Game, we must also remember, is part of a virtual community. This community is presumably nutured by the company which made it, however any serious gamer who plans on sticking around will want to make sure they agree, and follow, the companies views of customerism. OSI is not committed to their customer base. A solid 3-4 month lay over of their Veteran 'rewards' program is a good example of their desire for the bottom dollar. Third Dawn was rushed for money, not for your playability.

Instead of Third Dawn, I suggest buying UO: Renaissance and take advantage of the free month of play before you commit to Third Dawn.

After playing Ultima Online for over two years - I joined the Beta Test of this game. They are releasing the game well before it is ready. There are memory leaks, the grahics are horrible and it is laggy as a game can get. Unfortunately, a once great game has been "corporatized" and is dying. I would suggest not purchasing this game as the flaws are too numerous to list. UO is "hoping" to patch this "gold CD" after you buy it. Check the UO.com message boards for more information on how the customers feel.

This game was released too early. Probably within the next weeks/months it will stabilize as new on-line patches are released. However, for now (build 61), the game is just plain too unreliable. Some people claim to be able to run without problems, but I (and many, many others) experience client crashes every 20 minutes or so. Either buy the older UO Renaissance, or wait until this version has stabilized.

I have experienced Ultima Online using both the 2d and the 3d client. Third Dawn, not only featuring new lands, monsters, and improved graphics (which are beautiful), also throws in alot of extras never to be found in 2d. Such as: many body gestures performed in animation, a much clearer text style and placement making it easier to follow what is going on.

However, you do need an ample system to properly run Third Dawn. A good video accellerator card is HIGHLY recommended in addition to CPU speed and a good amount of RAM.

much less the money spent purchasing it, the headache of trying to get it to operate, and the time spent returning it to the store. It won't run, I promise. Not only that, but the support is terrible. Look to AC or EQ, or better yet one of the upcoming games like Fallen Age. Too bad EA said no to UO2.

Having played Ultima Online since it's original beta test over three years ago, all I have to say about UO3D is that I wish it were possible to give it a lower rating than one star.

The 3D art is bad. Kilts look like hoop skirts. Female players resemble gorillas. All the hair looks like a child colored it in with a crayon. To make matters even worse, all the color hues are messed up. If something is blue in 2D, it will be brown in 3D.

Then there's "localization". A feeble attempt to make all the text commands work in several languages. Except that in order to do this, they have completely screwed up the English version. You are forced to use chopped phrases and poor grammar with no punctuation to get anything done. And for the non-English speakers, the translations are a joke. They are done on a word for word basis, which does not convey actual meaning.

Since the only reason to buy this would be for the new art, and the new art looks like children made it, there's no point.

I won't even go into all the crashes and client side memory leaks. This game was released at least six months too early.

I totally agree with other beta testers. This product is NOT ready to be released yet. It crashes occasionally, and lags terribly. It has good graphics, and nice interface - but it should not be released at this time.

Ok let me get something out to all you who complained about it. This is the first giant online rpg and its the best. The new 3d will get better as tiem goes on. I played uo for 4 years, got a 2 story house. I had the most fun ever. I played EQ, spent atleast a 100 hours of time on chars just for the hell of playing a rpg. Now me i hate eq, no fun! AC i heard was great but unbalanced and everything. If you want a classic game get UO its the best. I have a 56k modem think i play 3d? If you want dungeon crawling and camping rats go to EQ!! If you want the greatest gameplay come on to UO ive gotten atleat 20 friends addicted to uo!