Worlds of Ultima II - Martian Dreams

History: Although the sales of the first Worlds of Ultima game has been discouragingly bad, Origin released a second game just a short time later. It is a strange, almost surreal game which also uses the Ultima 6 engine. It has the best graphics of all three although the red sands of Mars can be a little monotonous. There is no magic in this game besides a few psychoactive berries, so you will have to rely much on modern distance weapons.

Like Ultima 6, Martian Dreams has a very beautiful VGA introduction.

Just landed on Mars. Next steps will be to open the hatch, then go find some oxygen.

Background: In pursuit of several famous personalities you travel to Mars in a story which could be told by Jules Verne. The creatures of the mars are either plants or worm-like creatures, there also is a hidden race of martians which seems to have possessed some of the missing persons. On your quest, you do not only reactivate the technical equipment of the martians, you also enter the dream realm to fight there for the spirits of the possessed people. The Foozle in this game is the evil Rasputin and you will also meet the Shadowlords of Ultima 5 in the dream realm again.

Fighting tentacled horrors on the Mars surface...

...and mutated worms in deep, dark mines.

Recommended Version: This game was planned for the consoles, but never released. It is available only for the PC. A third Worlds of Ultima game named Arthurian Legends was planned for the Ultima 7 engine but it has also never seen the light of the day.

Another character which looks strangely familiar. The portrait of Shamino in Ultima 6 was inspired by Richard Garriott.

Oh, no! Not even on the Mars you are safe from biometric controlfreaks!

Statistics:

Party with 1 created character and up to 4 NPCs.
No magic spells
Dungeons/Outdoors/Buildings 2D
On-Screen-mapping: No

A first glance at the sinister Rasputin.

It's always nice to meet old friends again.

Morale: Like in Ultima 6 you learn much about the martian race and finally begin to help them, the plot unfolds in a very linear way. There a a lot of logic and ethical puzzles, especially in the dream realm and at the Shadowlords.

Mars