Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2 - Martian Dreams

The Good
The graphics were small, but very well done. The music was original. It was very evocative of the 1800's. Even a friend of mine who dislikes computer games couldn't help commenting on the music and how great it sounded. The storyline was imaginative and interesting, and the Martian civilization was original to me. I also liked the idea of the Dream Machines. The fact that you could talk to many different people from that era was wonderful--it was a bit of a dream come true. I know many people did not seem to like this game when it first came out, but I loved it. It was the first Ultima game I ever played, and it still remains my most favorite. They even had the Face on Mars there! This was a very clean-running program.

The Bad
Not much. The endless walking around could get annoying, but eventually you'd do less of it as the game progresses. The Dream Worlds tended not to be as interesting as the rest of the game itself. I thought this was a refreshing break from Britannia.

The Bottom Line
Though it isn't set in Britannia, this is a wonderful game nonetheless. Give the game a try, and you won't be disappointed.

The Good
It has every strange twist one can ask for . THIS is high-adventure and the thrill of RealTimeStrategy made onto the planet-board ; it is rare to experience this journey of mind in other TurnBasedStrategy-games or RolePlayingGames , Bravo Lord British !

The Bad
That it's annoying to install 5 diskettes ?

The Bottom Line
A sophisticated chess-game mixed with travelling upon unsolid grounds ...

The Good
One of the most important parts of an RPG is the plot and this game has one of the most original and well constructed of any game I've ever played. It develops well as you get further into the game and you even get the re-appearance of some your old adversaries from Ultima V.

The dialog is well written and all of the characters in the game have lots to say. You type in conversation topics rather than just selecting from a list and this gives you more of a feeling of control than later ultimas.

Although there are plenty of creatures to fight, the emphasis of the game is on exploring and adventuring rather than hacking and slashing.

The Bad
There isn't much to dislike about this game. The biggest criticism I'd have was that some of the distances you had to walk early on in the game were a bit too much. Various shortcuts open up after a while but until then you may find yourself doing a LOT of walking from one end of the planet to the other.

The Bottom Line
This is definitely one of my favorite games in the Ultima series and a welcome change from wizards, orcs etc... Unfortunately, at the time it was released the Ultima 6 engine it used was too old to attract new fans and the plot too far off the mainstream ultmas to attract many of the old ones. It has never been rereleased and its not exactly easy to get a copy of. If you do find one though I would recommend you pick it up immediately as this is one of the finest examples of adventure/role playing ever made.