Rating: 
Summary: why
Review: Couldn't they just have added new lands to the old 2d game. I think the 2dgame is great but uo3d they might as well not charge a monthly fee.Save us the trouble of wasted money.
Rating: 
Summary: You guys are crazy...
Review: Well...i just gotta say in origins defence...this game rocks, the graphics are FINE. This game wasn't made for graphics it was made for good online play. some may say it's a bit laggy, but with my cable modem it works just fine...You guys dont understand how much increasing the graphics will increase the lag. they did that on purpose. And the game is hard to learn cause they added so many cool features...you guys complain way to much. Cool off, actually take the time to appreciate the game, maybe get a house, join a guild, or a faction, i like boats ^_^. Just give it a chance.
Rating: 
Summary: Some improvement
Review: Since I wrote my original review there have been several patches: Build # 62 has addressed some of the problems with the game and has made it *somewhat* playable. If they HAD to release a version early this should have been it. Graphics are better, the memory leak seems to be tamed; character art still needs to be improved. Give it a qualified, "Try it."
Rating: 
Summary: Beats EQ easily!!!
Review: I tried EQ, UO, and UO:TD...By far the UO and UO:TD are far better. Easier manuverability mainly. I can't stand using the keypad. Gimmie a mouse anytime!! And yes, the graphics as of now, April 2001, are not perfect. But everyday there are new patches and it gets better and better. If you think it looks bad now, you should have seen in 4 months ago. It looks 90% better. And if you have SmartMouse, you can zoom in on the creatures to see them close up. Fairies and unicorns look the best with this tool. Word of warning as well...if you don't have a high speed hook-up, it does lag considerably...So bad, a friend was being beaten by a headless one, logged off, logged onto UO itself and was able to beat it still. All in all, I do enjoy this game.
Rating:
Summary: An utter disapointment
Review: As a longtime player of Ultima Online, I am really really disapointed by Third Dawn.The graphics are superb and to play UO in 3D after years of playing in 2D was fresh. And that's about the only thing good about the game. I tried walking around and the whole thing was jerky and slow. Bad enough I already lag badly playing UO but add that to the screen jerkiness and you can see my disapointment. Add that to the number of times the game crashed and you have a crap game. I don't dare bring my character to the Third Dawn world to hunt because I am scared I will crash and die. A sad addon to an otherwise great game.
Rating:
Summary: EQ wannabie scam by EA to get your money.
Review: Ultima been unique world with many aspects to it for last 2 years until about a year ago when OSI&EA started gearing all toward making it more like monster bashing camp-o-rama EQ. UO lost its uniqueness and if you want same but better experience buy yourself Diablo2 and spare pains of monthly fee, system lag and unstable clients with overloaded servers at prime time; with simplistic magic system (only 64 spells and about half ever get used), primitive melee fighting (you can only bash) with hardly functional magic items system (uses worthless spell & chares system) and bad 3D graphics. After all these disadvantages game requires HIGH end system and don't expect it to run any good on anything below P600 256Mb ram and TnT2 32MB card (UO3D has barely supports Voodoo and ATI cards).
Rating:
Summary: What to say, what to say...
Review: ...well, I have to tell you that I for one am not impressed with this latest release. The only way I can play it with any type of speedy movement is if I'm zoomed all the way in so my character fills the whole screen. I can't see more than 3 feet in front of me. There are also numerous problems with the client itself, including a pretty bad memory leak that causes my computer to freeze up after about 20-30 minutes of play. You would need the fastest hard drive on the market, the best video card, 768mb of ram, and a 1.2Ghz CPU...then you may be able to play it for more than an hour. Many actual players of this game have to use special Memory Managers that automatically free up ram as the Windows Swap file is filled up to capacity. Ridiculous if you ask me. Since I beta tested the product, I didn't buy it (thank the lord) but take this as a word of warning..."This game is not ready for retail".
Rating:
Summary: Put it on the shelf
Review: Although the box makes a lot of promises, it's best to put it on the shelf after you buy it and save yourself from the headaches. The interface is clunky and it's harder to get things done. I battles (PVP or PVM) you'd be better of using the 2d client because the 3d client will slowdown and jerk, keeping you from being effective, thus causing death. Assuming you don't venture out very far, the 3d client leaks a LOT of memory, and in 10-15 minutes, the client will render you computer useless and it will need a hard reboot. EA has consistantly showed bad form to its customers by blatantly caring more about money than satisfying its customers. UO3D is a prime example of this. Despite their so called improvements, the client cripples the diehard UO player. A top-of-the-line system is no match for the slow play of the game. You can compare the performance between the 2d and 3d clients and see how it isn't playable at all. The fact that its 3D is no excuse, I've played lots of 3D games on my system and they perform quiet nicely (p3 450). The positive reviews you see here, are from EA. They are worried about the negative press, not because they are upsetting their players, but because it will cost them money. Because money comes first, before the customer, according to them. They've ruined Ultima 9, and their about to ruin Ultima Online. Maybe 4 months from now the 3D client will work as promissed, but for now, it's a downgrade to playability.
Rating:
Summary: Frustrating
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Minimun System Requirements are a gross error
Review: The listed minimum requirements for this game are completely inaccurate. Even with a high end system you will have to do some major tweaking to get this game to work. Only certain video cards are supported and I advise anyone considering buying this game to check it out to find which video cards are supported before you purchase this cd. If you are new to UO and want to play then the 2d client is a good way to start. My advice to anyone buying this CD is to expect to play on the 2d client (no memory leaks, hardly ever crashes, runs perfectly well on low end systems and the graphics are far cleaner) until the 3d client is fixed. The 2d client has enough content to provide a new player years of playability without ever needing the new lands introduced with Third Dawn. Take a hint from the veteren players who have been in UO for three plus years, very few of home play on the 3d client with any regularity. If you remember one thing from this review then let it be this: The 3d or Third Dawn aspect of the game will most likely NOT run on your PC straight out of the box. It takes some pretty intense tweaking to get it to work. Make sure you install the 2d client as you will find it unplayable on the 3d client.
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