Hours played: about 1,000 hours I picked up the game in 2021 and have been a regular since then. I decided to join the official server and ended up with Napa Valley. I never did well in UO when I was younger. As an older player, I now have successfully maxed out my skills. My experience on Napa Valley was good, but there was hardly anyone playing anymore on that server. So, it was more of a 7/10 experience for me. I chose Napa Valley because it seemed to have the best ping for me. In 2022, I moved my character to Lake Superior's more populated server. Again, it seems the population is low even in this new server. Of course, I am comparing it to the game in 2003 on the free server of The Alter Realm, where there was constant PVP by Brit bridge. Brit bank was loaded with characters at all times of the day. In my opinion, currently, it feels as if the game has died or is dying. Maybe it is still bringing in money for EA, but it has lost the UO experience. When a free server makes the pay servers look unpopulated, you know something is wrong with the game. So, this year my opinion of the game continues to drop. Is there only one populated server like I found on the free servers (Atlantic, maybe)? This depopulation of the game, which is only as good as its players, makes me rate it a 5/10 - currently. It is okay to play, but the excitement is gone when you find Brit streets empty on Lake Superior. There should be more activity on a server like that. It is reasonable for this game to end. It does not offer the experiences it used to due to an overly aged player population that keeps gathering more and more things to stuff their Luna houses with. What drew me to the game was the other players, not overly decorated houses with all the rares. There are not enough people playing to bring in the novelty UO once did. So, average the scores: 7/10 in 2021. and 5/10 in 2022. That makes this game a 6/10 for me. I have mixed feelings about it, but I tend to lean on the positive side of this game. I would suggest it to someone, but the magic I used to feel for the game has faded with time. That is not bad; it is typical for a game to fade in popularity as time moves on. The only thing that keeps this game afloat is money to EA and players' nostalgia from past experiences in the 2000s. UPDATE: April 15th, 2022 6/10 => 8/10 I consider UO: Mugen and UO: Siege Perilous to be their own games. You have to start all over again to play them and cannot transfer a character out of the servers. I only played the classic client. After playing the enhanced client (really an update as many things graphics the same) for about 6 hours, I can say that playing the enhanced client bumped up my score in UO. 6/10 => 8/10. As Ultima Online is the first MMORPG, Mugen and Siege Perilous are dead servers. They only matter if you have decorated your house over the years on the servers. So, Mugen and Siege Perilous are more a Multiplayer Role Playing Game; it is in no sense massive. On Mugen I only was able to see two people at Luna Bank around peak hours. At Siege Perilous, I could not see anyone at all-around peak hours! Napa Valley is practically dead, though some players have hung on there - certainly not massive multiplayer. The ONLY shard I could find with a community one could equate to massive is the Atlantic Shard. I could find about 70 players around Luna bank and Brit bank at peak hours. It appears to be thriving (and the only server thriving at the time). It will certainly need more players in the future and a younger crowd to stay competitive against World of Warcraft and other software. I find Atlantic being the only MMO server in Ultima Online. Thus really, the only game worth playing is on Atlantic. In conclusion, I have looked at the best-pinged server in Hawaii, which is Lake Austin. It appears it, too, is barely hanging on. After roughly 1,000 hours of gameplay, I would never play the game again. Once I became fully skilled in UO (720 skill points in areas I wanted to be skilled at), I had no desire to play the game again. It is a good compass as to if the game belongs in the green or yellow here at Metacritic. A game in the green needs to be a game someone would play again. A mixed game is more where UO belongs, but I give a solid nod to it as a green-yellow mixed game, belonging at 7/10.
The time I spent playing this game: 20 hrs 47 mins There is much hype that this game increases mental sharpness. I find that this doesn't make much common sense and note that the scientific studies were funded by PopCap, which do not make them unbiased discoveries. That said, for a 2010 game, the graphics are great. The game is fun and rewarding to play. It is a classic and widely known to be an excellent game for a puzzle game.
The time I spent playing this game: 383 hrs 57 mins 2.3, the current user score is far too low when I write this. This game is much better and is generally being undersold. For example, I would bet big money that those writing a poor review for this game have not spent over 24 hours playing it. At first glance, yes, the game looks terrible. However, after playing it past 24 hours, I enjoy this game. Why? 1. Choices. This game offers a vast number of play styles and choices. Want to fly in the air or travel on the ground? Do you want to fight solo or support a team by being a medic? Want to fight up close or far in the distance using a sniper rifle? 2. The maps are great. They are massive, with enough for 128 people having 5-6 mini battles throughout. 3. Talking here only for the PC servers, since I have not checked out the cross-servers, this game's skill level is very high. Many highly talented players play this game, and you are sure to find competition at ALL levels. Think you are the best in the game? You will very likely find another player with your skill level or higher. 4. I think the graphics are amazing. Battlefield 2042 has incredible artists making the clouds in the game - yes, the clouds. I think the mountains and all the nature bits of the game are fantastic and artistic. Running through the forests and mountain ranges alone is... actually fun. Take it from me - I have died probably more than anyone else in this game. However, it is STILL fun to play. The gaming community is underselling this game... and frankly makes it a rare gem. If you buy this game, try and play it long enough and be humble. UPDATE several months later: The flaws of this game: 1. Scoreboard only includes your squad and not everyone in the game. It does compare your squad with other squads, but that is not accurate of individual performance. 2. I found I have to play cross-platform in order to play. If I play only with PC users, there can be instances where there are not enough players to start a game. 3. This game is riddled with bugs. Some bugs are easy to live with, but several bugs crash the game. I have heard of people getting stuck and having to redeploy. I have heard of people getting stuck in the sky or the earth. I have had it that all players and vehicles become invisible for a long time, and only their guns are seen. These bugs continue and, in some way, are getting worse in the game since its launch months ago. 4. There is no way to play nonviolently. Every aspect leads to violence for anyone that wants to chill out in this game and relax - probably not the game for you. 5. In the in-game chat, I have heard racist remarks. Swearing is consistent amongst users, but this is **** starred out. 6. This game is competitive. If you are playing to have fun, get ready for abusive language about your performance in the chat. 7. Overall, the community is low in this game. Either nobody is chatting, or there is some argument happening. Trolling is pretty consistent in this game's gaming community.
The time I spent playing this game: 10 hrs 40 mins I loved the graphics of this game. Also, it continued to be a pleasant challenge to drive, and I was able to adapt my skills as the game went on. The story mode is entertaining, and the graphics for the story mode are pleasing. The game is played with the left hand, and the right hand on the mouse does nothing. I found this somewhat limiting to my hand-eye coordination enjoyment. The multiplayer was dead primarily and probably an aspect of this game that should have fallen off a few years ago. I attended about 4 or 5 races with users, but it took hours to find the users on the multiplayer. The races are limited to about eight cars. It is also worth noting that my computer is a new PC model, and it had some struggles running this program. I had to have max fans on to prevent overheating in my CPU, which makes my computer sound like a jet engine... lol sort of. This is mainly due to the high graphics in this game, but it could also be lousy programming. I left this game happy that playing it was over.
