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The saga of Ultima Ascension (nee Ultima IX) has had many twists and turns over the last five years, but finally the tree has borne fruit in the form of a demo. This 450 megabyte monster was originally a Computer Gaming World exclusive in the form of a cover disc (apparently to newsstand copies only though, as this subscriber didn't get one), but distribution to the 'Net at large has been given the okay by Origin and CGW.

During the past five years, computer games have changed dramatically. It should come as no surprise that this demo doesn't really resemble any previous game in the Ultima series. In the same way that Ultima 7 was a quantum leap from Ultima 6 (full screen visuals, streamlined mouse interface), Ascension is a dramatic evolution from Ultima 8. The gameplay style, however, should be familiar to anyone who has played a third person 3D game in the last couple of years.

What about the plot? After a brief introduction from Richard "Lord British" Garriott himself, the opening movie begins. A farmer is pushing his cart along next to his fields, when a giant volcanic column rises up from the earth, shattering the peaceful countryside. There is no other explanation given for these events. A full detailing of the plot will have to wait for the full game.

Most reports regarding Ultima: Ascension over the last few years have been in the vein of "good news/bad news," and this demo is no exception. As this is just a demo, I'm going to focus on what's good about it, because there is quite a bit that's good, despite many technical problems.

The demo is composed of two major areas; your house on Earth and a segment of dungeon Despise. The house area serves as the game's tutorial, where a faceless narrator explains how to use the interface and get equipped. After practicing swimming and combat, and a brief encounter with a face from the past, the Avatar is sent to a dungeon for some real gameplay. This includes small puzzles to solve, many items to pick up, and a reasonably sized area to navigate.

The user interface is almost a 3D reinvention of the interface used in Ultima 7. Control is via keyboard and mouse; in its basic state the mouse is used to move the view around, a system that feels very natural after using it for a short while. I never had to fumble much to get the camera where I wanted it, although there were a few times when a Sonic Adventure-esque (read: blocked) camera angle was displayed. There is a "use mode" that, when activated, allows you to move the mouse pointer around the screen in order to grab items while the Avatar remains stationary.

The inventory, a point of major concern for many past Ultima players, seems to have made it to Ultima: Ascension in a useable form. Inventory is slotted, and consists of your backpack as well as any other containers such as bags that you might fill it with. There is also a utility belt with 12 slots that correspond to the function keys. Drop an item or a magic spell into the belt and you can activate it in one keypress. This is a very flexible system, and works very well within the game.

Combat is, as expected, a clickfest - switch into combat mode and click for your life. You can still move while in combat mode, although your speed is greatly reduced. Most combat situations I encountered consisted of one on one fighting, which is entirely appropriate given that you are only controlling a single character.

Movement, even at a full run, is slower than your average first person shooter. The camera follows naturally behind the Avatar, easily making its way around corners and tight spots, giving the game a very console-like appearance.

The graphics are very well done, but not significantly more detailed than most modern 3D games. I felt like my 450mhz PC was working much too hard for what I saw on the screen, but then there's always more going on than meets the eye. The movies included with the demo are exceptional, and give a good glimpse at how certain characters from the series have evolved over the last five years.

Those concerned about interactivity with the world and items in it need be concerned no more. The world is full of things to pick up and play with, and most things that you see have some function. You can sit on chairs, manipulate light switches and torches, throw objects around the room, and destroy barrels and crates that you come across in the dungeon. This is very much in line with Ultimas of the past.

The puzzles in the demo are extremely simplistic, and hopefully are only there to represent what the game engine is capable of creating. While the puzzles were varied in approach, I found nothing that might have required a spoiler or hint. Anything that needed a hint had one blatantly placed in front of it, so even the most careless of players could solve it. Hopefully these are just for demonstration purposes and not part of the final game. If not, they don't belong anywhere but in a starter dungeon. Puzzles at this level of difficulty cease to be puzzles at all and simply become a minor stumbling block before moving on to the next part of the game.