Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn Review
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When compared to other games, Ultima Online doesn't possess a fraction of the classes and/or races available in the majority of today's titles. Rather than viewing that in a less than favorable light (as I'm normally wont to do), I think in this instance, it lends to the game's strengths. By limiting the number of choices, it has allowed the development team to focus more on the fundamental aspects of the game and its classes.Who cares about classes when you have dozens of meaningful skills. Ultima Online still has one of the most advanced character specialization systems of any MMORPG on the market.
Ultima Online is not a game of levels. Initially, this was the strangest thing to get used to for me. I'm a level kind of guy, as it's a quick and easy way to have a general idea of a character's strength. Not necessarily for PvP purposes, but as a tool for creating a mental image of the character when thinking of what to do or where to go. In Ultima Online, skills are the name of the game and unless you've played the game before, you wouldn't believe how many of them are available to you. No longer do you have to be a tree hugging hippie of a ranger to have an animal companion or pet. No longer are you restricted to one or two weapon types dependent on your class. Want to have a timber wolf for a companion? Start training your animal taming skill. Want to learn how to use a new weapon? Pick one up and start using it. It's as simple as that. Every skill is increased in the most organic method available you learn by doing, and it's brilliant.
