''Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar'' was a free-to-play, cross-platform, online,

action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...

developed by Mythic Entertainment and Escalation Studios and published by Electronic Arts. It was formally a part of the '' Ultima'' series. Information was previously released by BioWare in mid-2011 and more information was released on July 11, 2011. It was officially announced at the San Diego Comic-Con International on July 12, 2012 and it was fully released for iOS on August 7, 2013. The game was shut down on August 29, 2014.

Gameplay

The game was based upon ''

Ultima IV Ultima may refer to: Places * Ultima, Victoria, a town in Australia * Pangaea Ultima, a supercontinent to occur in the future * ''Ultima'', the larger lobe of the trans-Neptunian object 486958 Arrokoth, nicknamed ''Ultima Thule'' Companies and p ...

'', but was considered by Mythic to be an "action role-playing game". ''Ultima Forever'' included both online play with a group, as well as a single-player mode. Unlike Ultima IV, there was a Lady British character instead of

Lord British Lord British, or Lord Cantabrigian British,Chuckles reveals Lord British's name as "Lord Cantabrigian British" in '' Ultima V'' when he welcomes the Avatar at the entrance of Castle Britannia. is the fictional ruler of Britannia, a kingdom in the ...

. This was due to Richard Garriott retaining the trademark rights after he left Electronic Arts. Mythic emphasized that the Virtues from the Ultima series would play an important part. ''Ultima Forever'' featured a top-down

isometric The term ''isometric'' comes from the Greek for "having equal measurement". isometric may mean: * Cubic crystal system, also called isometric crystal system * Isometre, a rhythmic technique in music. * "Isometric (Intro)", a song by Madeon from ...

point of view, with "hand-painted backgrounds and 3D characters."

Development

On March 31, 2011, an image was leaked on to the internet, from a presentation being given by Paul Barnett. The official Twitter account became active on April 4, 2011, and was discovered by the ''Ultima'' community at the end of May 2011. The official website was registered on March 17, 2010 and went live on June 2, 2011. On June 11, 2012, Mythic Entertainment General Manager Eugene Evans revealed at the Develop Conference that a new free-to-play online was going to be announced on July 12, 2012. Later that day, the official Facebook page became active, and the official website was updated to a new design, with a brief description of the game, and a link for Beta applicants. Paul Barnett revealed on Twitter that the game would be announced at San Diego Comic-Con International.

Reception

Reception for the game ranged from mixed to negative. Most reviewers criticized the microtransaction system used. Forbes gave it a 6 out of 10 rating.

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gave it three out of five stars. Eurogamer gave it a rating of 2 out of 10, calling it 'a game built for idiots, a Cow Clicker with a beard'.

References

External links

Official site

Official Facebook page

Ultima Forever Twitter

Official Press Release at UltimaCodex.com
{{Play4Free Role-playing video games Free-to-play video games IOS games IOS-only games Mythic Entertainment games Ultima (series) 2013 video games Inactive massively multiplayer online games Products and services discontinued in 2014 Video games developed in the United States