Spam Spam Spam Humbug: Episode 21 – Ultima Not So Forever

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It’s difficult to find a way to start talking about Ultima Forever, I find. I was really heavily invested in the game — personally, emotionally — and even now I still feel kind of impacted by the loss of it. Of course, what I’m feeling (and, to be fair, my level of involvement and investment in the game) no doubt pales in comparison to what the Ultima Forever team at Mythic must have felt when the studio was shut down on May 29th, 2014. I don’t want to try and put myself above that, and it has been with considerable relief that I’ve seen various people from Ultima Forever’s development team end up on different game design teams…some within EA, some at other companies.

Still…leaving aside the freemium aspects, Ultima Forever was an excellent game, in spite of being unfinished. I liken it to Galaxy on Fire 2 in some respects; it might be a bit light, content-wise, when compared to the PC games that very obviously inspired it, but within the context of mobile gaming it stands out as a truly excellent example of just what the mobile platform is capable of, and of the excellent gaming experience the platform can deliver when a game really pushes its boundaries.

And in some way, Ultima Forever was something I contributed to. And I stuck my neck out for it, vocally supporting it to the Ultima community. And now, a year (and change) after its closure…let’s talk about that a bit.

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