Ultima V
| Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny | |
|---|---|
Cover art
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| Developer(s) | Origin Systems |
| Publisher(s) | Origin Systems |
| Designer(s) | Richard Garriott |
| Composer(s) |
Home computers: Ken Arnold David R. Watson NES: Martin Galway |
| Series | Ultima |
| Engine | Ultima V Engine |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64/Commodore 128, MS-DOS, FM Towns, NEC PC-9801, Sharp X68000, NES |
| Release date(s) |
Apple II PC |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing video game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Apple II
PC
Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny (1988) is the fifth entry in the role-playing video game series Ultima.
After having mastered the eight Virtues, attaining Avatarhood and retrieving the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom in the previous game, the Avatar is summoned back to Britannia by his old comrades Iolo and Shamino using a magic coin, which was included as a trinket in the game's box. Upon arrival he is greeted by Shamino but they immediately come under attack from the three powerful beings known as the Shadowlords. After apparently repelling them with his Ankh amulet (a feat that cannot be replicated later in the game), the Avatar brings the heavily wounded Shamino to Iolo's nearby hut where Iolo fills him in on recent developments: Lord British has been lost on an expedition into the Underworld, and a tyrant known as Lord Blackthorn now rules Britannia in his stead. Blackthorn enforces a strict, rigid version of the Virtues, which leads to results that are anything but virtuous (such as, "Thou shalt not lie, or thou shalt lose thy tongue", "Thou shalt donate half thy income to charity, or thou shalt have no income" or "Thou shalt enforce the laws of virtue, or thou shalt die as a heretic."), while the mysterious and terrifying Shadowlords terrorize the eight cities of Britannia.
Over the course of the game the Avatar learns that the Shadowlords sprang from three shards of Mondain's Gem of Immortality (destroyed at the conclusion of Ultima I). Representing Falsehood, Hatred and Cowardice - the antithesis for Truth, Love and Courage, the three principles of the Avatar - they have corrupted Blackthorn and subverted his rule.
With the help of his old companions and some new ones, the Avatar forms the Warriors of Destiny in order to eliminate the Shadowlords, undermine Blackthorn's rule, and rescue Lord British to restore him to his throne.
Warriors of Destiny featured much more polished writing (earlier games were riddled with some spelling errors and uneven vocabulary) and considerably greater detail than previous games. It was the first Ultima to implement a time-of-day system in which the sun rises and sets, and non-player characters follow daily routine schedules. This game has been lauded as realistically portraying a culture living under a dictatorial regime; its tone is much darker than that of Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar.
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Wikipedia