UO: Kingdom Reborn unveiled at EA/Mythic event
By Michael Lafferty

“Tile-for-tile redraw” brings a graphical upgrade to the granddaddy of the MMO genre

Released in September of 1997, Ultima Online is widely viewed as the grandfather of the modern massively multiplayer online video-game genre. The game featured dynamic quest systems, a player housing system that is still one of the best in the MMO field, and a series of expansions that continued to evolve the world.

The biggest “expansion” is about to be unleashed, and was unveiled during a visit to the EA/Mythic studios Thursday. Come this spring, Kingdom Reborn will launch and upgrade the graphics for the game. Do not expect the series to lose that isometric look – that is not going to happen. In fact, from a distance the game looks the same, more or less, than it did before. But pay attention to the details and you will see a vast improvement in what Kingdom Reborn will bring to the game.

Kingdom Reborn “rebuilds the classic Ultima Online,” stated producer Aaron Cohen, during the press event. “UO invented – well, not invented, but made popular MMOs – and Kingdom Reborn rebuilds this classic. UO is becoming more and more a game where you can make your mark on the world.”

The inspiration for KR comes from the community itself. “What you are about to see is what they have been asking for for five years,” Cohen stated.

Using a new graphics engine, Kingdom Reborn redraws the world, introducing a higher-resolution world with enhanced particle effects. The overall look is much more organic, and Cohen stated that the original vision of the game’s designers has finally been realized.

But the changes don’t just end there. The game will sport a new interface, and the new player experience is much easier and a “much more educated experience.” Cohen stated that this will allow new players to enter the world, still be able to create the class that they wish – evolving their avatars how they see fit – but with a solid foundation to see where they are taking the character. Cohen also said that the new look will bring a new energy to existing players.

“The game that started it all will start it all again,” he stated.

It was important to note that this is a technology upgrade and is not a mandatory update to the game. However, the new expansions, including the summer’s Stygian Abyss, will require that Kingdom Reborn is installed. As for the price of Kingdom Reborn … well, that was one of the major announcements held for the end of the media session – it will be distributed free. As for Stygian Abyss: It will be released in the summer, will feature the UO franchise’s second playable race (the gargoyle) and will be the largest dungeon in UO history.

Hands-on revealed a game that followed the formula of the UO franchise very closely in terms of movement and encounters. This, though, was a build considered pre-alpha, so there were bugs and the overall movement needed to be polished and the collision points provided some awkward movement moments. The interface was much more intuitive, and even though UO fans are used to the old-style system, the changes all seem like they should be welcomed.

Kingdom Reborn does not reinvent the game, but merely advances it, graphically, several years. The overall look remains the same, but the new particle effects will mean that gas clouds won’t be green walls, instead they will consist of mist wafting upward and fire that shimmers. As Cohen stated, it is a game that uses a “3D engine that they tricked to look like a 2D top-down engine.”

“Everything is a tile-for-tile redraw.”

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