Ultima Forever Preview at Gamezebo

Gamezebo managed to score a hands-on preview of Ultima Forever at GDC recently, and have some favourable things to say about the game:

Fans of the originals will find a lot to love about Ultima Forever, both in terms of story and mechanics. The game is a spiritual successor to Ultima IV, for example, and even features some of the same characters and locations. If that isn’t a brilliant example of fan service, I don’t know what is.

The short preview includes a few more details, including some comments about how the game controls on an iPad, and ends on an equally positive note:

Ultima Forever will also feature the virtue system first introduced in Ultima IV. There are eight virtues in total to master (such as humility and compassion), and doing so will require you to help out friends as well as fulfill quests. In one instance, I was shown a pig farmer in need of help. I had the option of A) assisting him or B) blowing him off.

In all, Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar appears to be coming along nicely. It has all sorts of nods and story beats that reference past games, but prior knowledge of the series or its narrative is far from required to enjoy it.

As well, the preview featured two screenshots that we (at least) hadn’t seen before. These have, of course, been added to our screenshots page.