Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2 - Martian Dreams

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.