Do you hold the Ultima franchise of computer games and Richard ‘Lord British’ Garriot in high esteem and wish that someday someone would make a game that allows a proper return to the greatness of those games from Origin Systems? Well, if that is the case run far, far away as fast as you can from Lord of Ultima. If, however, you are open to checking out a new browser-based MMO based on the Ultima franchise, read on!

Here is EA’s Press Release:

EA’S PHENOMIC INTRODUCES STRATEGY GAME ‘LORD OF ULTIMA’

Free-To-Play Web-Based Game Transports Players to Legendary Ultima Universe

Guildford, UK – April 20, 2010 – Phenomic™, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) studio, announced today Lord of Ultima™, a new browser-based online strategy game is available worldwide for free* starting today. Lord of Ultima immerses players in a brand-new, deeply-rich strategy game set within the Ultima universe. The game introduces innovative social features, such as advanced trading, alliance creation, online chat and community forums, which make for an endlessly entertaining experience.

“Lord of Ultima was designed to ensure that everyone, from strategy newcomers to diehard fans, can make it to the top of the leader board,” said Volker Wertich, Creative Director at Phenomic. “Phenomic is committed to building dynamic communities that delight players as they interact with the game, each other and the legendary world of Ultima.”

To become the Lord of Ultima, players will master the arts of diplomacy and trade, as well as the military activities of spying, plundering, and the takeover of enemy cities. Set in the new world of Caledonia, players start the game as eager conquerors in the early stages of raising an empire, and then move from developing a humble village and evolving it into a prosperous, highly customized capital. Players can flourish as peaceful merchants by trading resources over land or sea and using diplomacy. They can also become feared conquerors, by creating mighty armies of knights and mages to crush enemies.

Lord of Ultima is a free-to-play MTX browser-based game. No download or installation is needed and players do not need to register to play. Lord of Ultima is available in English and German and is playable now by visiting www.lordofultima.com.

*Internet Connection Required

Naturally, when you take an established franchise and change the genre, focus, and so on, there are bound to be critics. Like this guy.

The reality is this: EA owns the name Ultima, and is free to attach it to anything they want. They are not the first ones to do it, other examples of somewhat incongruous match-ups include Fallout 3 and more recently the puzzle-game Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes.

There is inherent distrust of EA and other industry giants to properly handle revered old franchises – and that distrust is sadly based in history (such as EA and the ill-fated Ultima IX). What folks need to do is pretend the word ‘Ultima’ isn’t there, and just check out the game.

But there are also sites that have sprung up that offer a great look at the workings of the game from a more objective standpoint.

The game is a free-to-play browser-based strategy game, and looks quite friendly and engaging. I was unable to log in due to heavy server load since it just launched, but will definitely be checking it out.

Anyone else like these browser-based MMO’s and strategy games? Lord of Ultima comes from the folks who made Battleforge, which was quite well done … so this is very promising!

Source: Lord Of Ultima