Ultima V: fan remake of classic RPG launches after 5 dev years

Boing Boing reader Gil says,

Ultima V is back, guys. The 1988 retro classic RPG Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny has been remade, being released for free this Christmas 2005.

It's been FIVE YEARS in the making, an up-from-the-ground fan-made remake of the original using the Dungeon Siege engine (required to play: last seen on Amazon has it for under $10 USD), with all the modern bells and whistles: 3D graphics; all the original tunes re-mastered; every single character in the entire game re-written; and of course, a vast and challenging world to explore.

It's available for Windows and Mac, and is also being released in French & German. A first game for under ten bucks. Anyone who owned an Apple ][e, or a Commodore 64 or an early PC remembers the Ultima series of tile graphics RPGs, known for their in-depth plots and awesomely detailed worlds. The project has the personal blessing of gaming industry legend Lord British (AKA Richard Garriot).

Of course, the best thing about this project is it's being released for free (as in love, beer & thought) in a couple of weeks. Team Lazarus is responsible for all this – featuring the talents (not to mention blood, caffeine-enriched sweat and salty tears) of a bunch of Americans, an array of Australians, a plethora of Finns – and we all hope you enjoy our effots: Ultima V: Lazarus is finally finished.

Take a gander at the teaser trailer (10mb) available from the main site OR start downloading the game via BitTorrent and please seed it if you can (again, we're not making any money out of this, so please share Lazarus if you can.)

Link