[2] Ultima III hosts further advances in graphics, particularly in animation, adds a musical score, and increases the player's options in gameplay with a larger party and more interactivity with the game world.

This differs from the two previous games in the Ultima series in which the player is simply depicted as trading blows with one opponent on the main map until either is defeated.

There is a choice between 11 classes: Fighter, Paladin, Cleric, Wizard, Ranger, Thief, Barbarian, Lark, Illusionist, Druid, and Alchemist.

Horseback gives the player character the advantage of moving faster while consuming less food, making getting away from unwanted fights easier.

By denying the player the ability to see what's behind mountain peaks, forests, and walls, the overland maps contain many small surprises such as hidden treasure, secret paths, and out-of-the-way informants.

The look of the game is no longer based on certain characteristics of the Apple II hardware; it is rather a carefully designed screen layout.

[5] The game is named for its chief villain, Exodus, a creation of Minax and Mondain that the series later describes as neither human nor machine.

Although a demonic figure appears on the cover of the game, Exodus turns out to be something like a computer (possibly an artificial intelligence) and to defeat him the player has to acquire four magic (punch)cards and insert them into the mainframe in a specific order.

The player is summoned by Lord British to defeat Exodus, and embarks on a quest that takes him to the lost land of Ambrosia, to the depths of the dungeons of Sosaria to receive powerful magical branding marks and to find the mysterious Time Lord, and finally to the Isle of Fire itself to confront Exodus in his lair.

[citation needed] Ultima III was the first game in the series published by Richard Garriott's company Origin Systems.

[13] In turn, Exodus was itself influenced by Wizardry, which Richard Garriot credited as the inspiration behind the party-based combat in his game.

[15] Softline stated that Ultima III "far surpasses" its predecessors, praising the "masterfully unified" plot and individual tactical combat.

[16] Computer Gaming World's Scorpia in 1983 called Ultima III "unquestionably the best in the series so far ... many hours of enjoyment (and frustration!

She complimented its graphics but criticized the audio, and stated that the game did not adequately use the computer's user interface, describing using the mouse as "aggravating".

Fitzgibbons concluded "Even though the Mac conversion is far from ideal, Ultima III is a very enjoyable game, and well worth its hefty price".

[18] In 1993 Scorpia stated that Ultima III was the best of the first trilogy, and that its "surprisingly quiet and nonviolent" defeat of the villain presaged the later games' "resolutions that are less combative in spirit".

[19] The magazine stated in February 1994 that Exodus "was really the first [Ultima] to have a coherent plot beyond the typical dungeon romp".

It noted the cloth map and the extensive documentation, the "thrilling" 3-D dungeons, the game's use of time, and the spell system.

[22] The Chicago Tribune called Ultima III "one of the best" computer games, providing "an epic adventure which can last for months".