Akalabeth: World of Doom

The Good
This is the game that started the Ultima bandwagon rolling, even if it doesn't carry the name. Its hard to review a game this old in a modern context but I'll give it a go. The game is extremely simple - most of the time is spent navigating around a 3D maze fighting monsters. Lord British gives you a sequence of quests where you have to delve into these mazes and kill a particular creature. Once you complete about four of these quests he makes you a knight and the game is over. You can complete the game in about 30 minutes if you know what you are doing.

The Bad
The graphics may have been OK at the time but they are beyond extremely basic these days. Everything is made up from straight white lines - there isn't a hint of colour or a rounded edge anywhere. There also isn't any sound to speak of.

The mazes are randomly created so they don't always make much sense or have an up ladder connected to a down one. Once you've started they are all exactly the same every time though, including the positions of the monsters.

Finally, the way to win the game is just to keep using the magic amulet, and repeatedly turn into a lizard man (every time doubles your stats). If you tried to play it without doing this exploit, the game would be nigh on impossible.

The Bottom Line
Despite the age, this game is still a fun enough way to while away half an hour while it lasts. It would be long forgotten were it not linked to the Ultima saga but for a game written by a student in his spare time and not intended for commercial release it holds up pretty well. Its a lot better than Escape From Mount Drash which followed several years later.

The Good
Well I suppose the game is a starting point for the "overworlds and underworlds" game design concept. The game's overworld and dungeons could not be much cruder. I'd want to play this game even if it was complete crap, to see the starting point of games like the Phantasy Star series. Of course this game more directly led to the Ultima series and the first Ultima game, released the following year, was a vast improvement on this.

The Bad
Well the game IS complete crap. Even considering its point in history. Crude graphics I can forgive and even appreciate, but the game is programmed, or rather allowed, to be an utter bastard. The random, computer controlled creation of overworlds and underworlds can create some totally unforgiving situations. I did my best to meet the game's challenge, but eventually decided that it was stupid to put so much time and effort into such a bad game. Rogue was first released in the same year I believe and of course that also gave the computer control over level creation, but I think Rogue is a hell of a lot better, despite the original having even cruder graphics i.e ASCII characters

The Bottom Line
Actually, if you're interested in seeing how RPGs began, I'd recommend watching a video of SOMEBODY ELSE play this game. Even if you love classic RPG, I can't see any point in subjecting yourself to actually playing it.

I'm saying this under the assumption that the original Apple II version is just as unfair as this Windows/DOS version i.e earlier versions of the game might be worth playing if there is some programming in them that helps you stay alive a bit longer.

The Good
Still has the "feel" of an Ultima (almost). The magic amulet was pretty neat, too -- it had a bunch of random effects on your character each time you used it.

The Bad
No real plot to speak of, just questing and killing monsters. Also the food usage rate is horribly inconvenient, and you die the instant your food quantity reaches zero. Frustrating to imagine a battle-hardened warrior dropping dead from starvation just outside the town wall.

The Bottom Line
Play the other Ultimas first, and become a diehard fan. Then you'll appreciate this game.