Playing Ultima IX: Ascension is like eating wax cake. It looks delicious and appetizing, but after the first bite it's anything but delicious. Ultima IX is undoubtedly the most eagerly anticipated roleplaying game of the last several years. Since Origin first announced it was working on the ninth game in the series, fans have been slavering for every tidbit of information they could lay their hands on. Now it's here, and players all over the country are wailing with frustration and anger.

The reason? Quite simply, the game was designed from the ground up for the 3dfx Voodoo accelerator. But because it couldn't release the game as Glide-only, Origin had no choice but to include Direct3D support for the multitude of non-Glide video cards out there. Unfortunately, in Direct3D mode the game runs about as fast as a pregnant sloth, even on a PIII running with a TNT2.

Needless to say, the high system requirements don't help the game's playability factor; while it's possible to play it on a D3D card, it's certainly not preferable. And then there are the bugs. The god awful bugs. Ultima IX is as bug-ridden as an Ethiopian outhouse, and some of them will crash the game altogether. The most common bug is the one that crashes the game while trying to load a saved game - I haven't played a single session without having to restart and reload at least twice. There are also bugs with clipping and inventory management.

Of course, you've already probably looked toward the end of this review and seen the final score. "80 percent?" you thought to yourself. "Why would he say it's a bug-filled travesty, and then give it an 80 percent?" Well, the answer is simple - despite its technical ills, this is still, hands down, one of the best roleplaying games ever created. The game begins with the Avatar minding his own business in his house on Earth. After collecting the necessary items, talking to a gypsy, and stepping through the gate, you find yourself in a Britannia in which the eight Virtues have been corrupted. Now it's up to you to search out mysterious pillars formed by the Guardian, and restore the shrines of Britannia so that the Virtues will again flourish.

Ultima IX's gameworld is gigantic, and the Avatar will travel from one end of Britannia to the other. He'll control ships, teleport to locations, repair lighthouses, and, of course, combat a plethora of creatures bent on his destruction. The 3D support problem has a simple origin - the graphics are downright incredible. Vistas from the top of promontories inspire awe. Textures in dungeons and cities are always new and fresh. And spell effects will cause tingles to run up and down your spine.

Viewing the action from a third-person perspective, players manipulate a centrally fixed cursor to pick up items, initiate conversations, aim spells and ranged weapons, and use objects. Hot-keys give access to everything, including the Journal, which stores clues and information from NPCs, game options, and a history of Britannia (the world's history from the first eight games). Alchemy sets provide a means to mix new potions from reagents, and books scattered all around provide recipes and clues about what's going on in the world. Just about everything in the game can be picked up, moved, carried, or otherwise manipulated. Gameplay is quite simply a roleplaying gamer's dream come true.

Playing Ultima IX is one of the most immersive experiences you'll ever have on your PC. As The Avatar, you'll journey all over Britannia, and that's a lot of space to travel. And this is a real world; as you explore the countryside, birds pass by overhead, wolves howl in the distance, and weather effects light up the environment with lightning and sprinkling rain. A day/night cycle also affects visibility and the need for appropriate lighting. Sound effects bounce off cavern walls, birds chirp in the trees, and even the subtle music shifts depending on the situation - mellow for gentle exploration, hurried and anxious during combat, and even a royal fanfare tune for wandering in Lord British's castle. With a sound card that supports Environmental Audio (EAX), even more nuances such as positional audio and echoes add to the sensation of actually venturing through Britannia.

Area transitions are handled well. When the Avatar comes to an entrance to a dungeon, it's a simple matter to wander inside. Rather than using the traditional (and immersion-jarring) loading screen, the transition from outdoors to indoors is as seamless as running down a corridor with only a minor pause to load the new textures.

And boy, are those textures varied and beautiful. Each area of the world appears to be hand-crafted. You never know what you're going to find when you turn the next corner, and that makes the game a joy to explore. Dungeons look completely different from each other, and characters are unique - you won't see the same model running around in different towns. Even the facial expressions of the NPCs change with the conversation.

While combat is real-time, it's hardly necessary to click frantically to win a battle. Much of the fighting is strategic, and knowing the proper weapon for a particular area lessens the need to worry about fighting and provides more time to contemplate the game's puzzles - most of them require finding certain items, but a few rely on piecing together tidbits of past information.

While some jumping puzzles present a more physical challenge, the interface lets players simply place the cursor in the spot they want the Avatar to land - there's no danger of becoming frustrated by a tricky jump. The lack of purely physical challenges like combat and jumping lends the game even more immersive qualities, since it's far more important to explore every nook and cranny than worry about pulling out your warhammer in time to take down the goblin heading your way.

When you get right down to it, Ultima IX may be technically flawed, but its brilliance as a game ultimately outshines and overshadows any of these failings. Origin is currently working on a patch to improve compatibility between the game and the TNT Detonator drivers, and future patches promise to improve Direct3D performance. But it still seems very perplexing that Richard Garriott would throw body and soul into this game, one which he proudly proclaims represents the end of an era spanning three decades, only to stumble at the final hurdle by allowing the product to ship with so many bugs. Why not finish the damn thing properly before releasing it to an eager and expectant fanbase?

So here it is: if you have a fast system backed up by a good Voodoo card, you'll find Ultima IX to be fast, beautiful, and a joy to experience. Everyone else should definitely hang around for those inevitable patches to correct the Direct3D issues before diving in. It'll be worth the wait.

-Michael Wolf