Ultima Online Samurai Empire (PC) (Amazon.co.uk Exclusive)

One of the many things that players comment on in MMORPGs is player housing and interaction. Many games are purely about leveling and attaining the best items etc. Ultima is a true community of towns and player run towns, inns and events. Houses are placed in the gaming world, not in special zones. There's no leveling as such - your skills gain as you use them, you can group with people or kill and explore completely on your own. There's nothing forcing you to do anything and that's the free attitude that keeps the game fresh. Likewise there are now "classes" you can completely design your character as you want him/her and unlike most MMORPGs these days there are actually roleplayers in game, you don't have to roleplay of course but they'll love you for it!

Ultima Online Samurai Empire includes ALL of the previous updates for Ultima over the past 7 years for £16.99, to be honest that's astounding value when you compare it to any other MMORPG on the market today. Sure the game needs a graphical update, but it'll come and in the mean time you might as well get started!

There are some extremely nice Artifacts in the Fan Dancer dojo and the Yamatsu mines. Origami Kits are a new rare drop (1% of Fandancers) and you can make a couple of peices of origami sculptures.

2 Extremely powerful tameable creatures are in, the Rune Beetle which has high poison ability, and a Hiryu, the lesser variety comes in grey form and can be ridden by anyone however there is a greater variety which requires a peace tamer to tame, there are 2 spots and the greater hiryu comes in 6 colours, 2 are rarer than the others, they are 4 slots each and they kick for an awful amount of HP, special ability leaving you prone to a direct attack too.

This has to be one of the Best Expansions EVER!

Few bugs have made it passed the beta stage, which are being fixed as the expansion goes to release.

Now, what you CAN expect :
- a solid gaming community, one that bands together
- a game where virtually ANYTHING is possible
- unlimited combinations of skill sets, design them as you go
- a develloper community that pays attention to the demands of the playerbase

Many people will say that Ultima Online is outdated and the reason for this is that the main (2D) engine still uses many of the graphics it started out with back in 1997. However, outdated as they may be, pixelated graphics like these are what made the game have an authentic feeling. Like playing those old RPGs we all have come to love.

I guarantee that once you get into the game and meet a few people, perhaps even join a guild, it will be one of the best gaming experiences you have had... ever. I have tried many other games such as Everquest, Horizons, Dark Age of Camelot and Star Wars Galaxies. Not a single one of them offered the freedom that Ultima Online does. All other games have some way of following strict class systems and try to guide players along their path.

With Ultima Online you take a plunge in the deep. There is no repetitive questing, there are no set levels and the game does not work with experience gaining. You want to gain in a skill? Simple, just practice it over and over again! You want to become good at crafting? Just start harvesting resources (which are plentiful, all over the world) and prepare to make literally thousands of items before you reach grandmaster level.

This game is truly unique and Samurai Empire, it's latest addition, just adds to the experience. Give it a try, you'll love it! However, after you have been playing it for 7 years, then yes, it may become dull... but hey! 7 years man! That's saying something!