When one looks at the world of Ultima, the
various incarnations and expansion, there is a certain admiration for what the
game established, and a certain sedate feeling when entering the lands of
Britannia. The world has struggles, there is adventure, crafting and
exploration, but the pacing is somewhat slower.

The Land of Feudal Lords, otherwise known as
the Takuno Islands, serves as the new territory for this expansion to the Ultima
universe. It was hinted at in the first Ultima title, and expanded upon with new
classes, a new guild system, as well as the usual array of new territories to
explore and new monsters to kill.

But in Ultima Online: The Samurai Empire,
players to the universe are treated to basically more of the same, although with
a decidedly Eastern bent. The new classes follow the ways of the bushido and
ninjitsu, and naturally, there are new skills associated with each. While the
samurai are the warriors of honor, great champions with lightning-fast skills
and techniques, the ninja advance along the thread of the mysticism often
associated with the art. This means smoke bombs, melding into the shadows,
assassination techniques, poisoning and mirror images to fool the enemy into
attacking the wrong target.

The bushido skills include a tasty attack in
which you can one-shot an opponent.

Crafting, as one can imagine, introduces new
items that can be built. The islands themselves offer 15 new mobs, new treasure
drops which fall in line with the classes. The weapons have changed appearance
but essentially offer the same style of play as before. Ranged, melee and magic
remain at the core of the combat system, and little has changed in the
interface, if anything at all.

The guild system has received a new interface
and players do not need to have a guildstone or clan house to form a guild. Of
course, there are plenty of guilds in the game, and players can easily find one to
pledge to. The introduction of the conditional guild wars (in which there is a
way to win the war) is a nice touch.

The game interface is the same, and players
can opt to move existing characters over to the new lands and into the new roles
via the soulstones, which were offered with pre-orders. But exploring the new
world is as simple as creating a character and embarking on the quests the game
has to offer.

Graphically the expansion offers up some
elements that support the Asian theme, but the general environments are pretty
much what players are used to in this world. Moongates still help port players
from one location to the next, and you level up skills through using them.

The new sound elements have a very nice flavor
and support the game very well.

UO: Samurai Empire is a nice expansion that
gives the UO community more opportunities in terms of crafting and guild
matters, but while it offers new lands, the game itself has not really changed
direction all that much. Is this a bad thing? Absolutely not. The samurai and
ninja are fun to play. The game treads new ground but much remains the same. UO
is the granddaddy of online gaming and with expansions like Samurai Empire, it
still has life in those aging legs.

Gameplay: 7
Nothing has really changed here. The game interface is still the same, and the
game plays at the same pace, with the same combat elements.

Graphics: 7

The general look of the game remains
essentially the same. Top-down view with the same graphical quality that is the
Ultima 3D world. Add some buildings, equipment and armor with an oriental flavor
and you have the expansion summed up.

Sound: 7.9
The new musical score is very soothing and pleasant. Therein lies the only major
or noticeable difference.

Difficulty: Medium

Still a challenge and still fun.

Concept: 7.8
The new lands are fun, and the new guild attributes really make for a better
guild dynamic.

Multiplayer: 7.5

Still a good community and players, for the
most part, are friendly and helpful.

Overall: 7.5

While this definitely expands the world of UO
in terms of new territories, it still offers much the same in gameplay aspects.
The new classes are fun to play and the new music is a delight. UO is showing
signs of its age, but with expansions like Samurai Empire, the game is still
offering enough to keep it lively.