Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams
A time-travel adventure to Victorian Mars.
Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams is a role-playing video game in the Ultima series, published in 1991. It uses the same engine as Ultima VI: The False Prophet, as did Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire. The game was re-released for Windows and Mac OS via GOG.com in 2012.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Origin Systems
- Designer
- Jeff George
- Producer
- Warren Spector
- Composer
- Dana Karl Glover
- Released
- May 1991
- Genre
- Role-playing
- Modes
- Single-player
- Platforms
- DOS
Facts from the source article.
Story
After the events of Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire, the Avatar and Dr. Spector receive a book from a strange red-haired woman. The book, which Spector will write himself, explains how to use the Orb of the Moons for time travel. Following its instructions, the duo arrives in the Victorian Era, where Percival Lowell has built a space cannon to launch volunteers to Mars. Sabotage causes the cannon to fire during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, carrying several dozen famous people and leaders to Mars. A second cannon is prepared to rescue them. On Mars, the player finds a ruined plant-based civilization with cities and canals. The first tasks involve restoring the world power station and melting polar caps with a solar lens to fill the canals. Some of the stranded people have gone insane after using a device called the Dream Machine. In reality, the original Martians, after massive soil poisoning, entered an alternate dimension called dreamspace to preserve themselves. Those using the Dream Machine became trapped there while Martians took over their bodies. Much of the game involves visiting and clearing people's nightmares. Eventually, robotic bodies are created for the Martians, as their plantimal bodies cannot grow. After a confrontation with the evil Raxachk, who caused the soil pollution, all Victorians can return home.
Reception
Computer Gaming World's Scorpia in 1991 appreciated the Victorian setting but found travel tedious. The magazine considered the game an adventure disguised as an RPG, with combat largely separate from the story, and suggested it would appeal most to those who prefer non-combat activities. Peter Olafson was more positive, calling it an epic adventure with the depth and complexity of the Ultima series, accessible to new players. A 1993 review by Scorpia was also positive, approving of the storyline and concluding that the game requires patience and attention to detail but is otherwise enjoyable.
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