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Ultima 2 isn’t a great game. I know that. It probably isn’t even a good game. It is much maligned by fans of the series. But it was my first, and I love it, and I’ll try to defend it in a rational way. It is probably worth travelling back to 1982 to give it its due. Crank up some Asia and compare it to games of the day and it doesn’t look that bad. If you played it on the PC you might be confused by why it looks so much worse than its predecessor. Well, Ultima 1 got a face lift, but 2 and 3 did not. So you get four color CGA graphics. (Fan created patches not only fix the game breaking bugs of some releases, but also bump it up to 16 color CGA.) Every numbered Ultima game from 1 to 9 got a brand new engine, and 2 implemented cities you could walk around rather than view the whole town at once in a different scale. This opened up more exploration and secrets. I’ve heard fans complain about the setting. Back in the day you often had to rely on the manual to explain the story. The reason why the game takes place on Earth is explained, so at least the inclusion of a space shuttle is a little more logical than in the first game. Also, the time doors that predate the Moongates of future games are “borrowed” from the film Time Bandits, so there is even an explanation of why different technologies exist in different times. (As a Rush fan, I hope that the inclusion of Earth in 2112 was no accident.)
So that’s my rationalization of the complaints I most often hear. The actual game? I’d call it average for the time. There’s a bad guy you have to take out, and there’s a unique mechanic for the fight. I’m not sure I’d have ever figured out the game without reading some hints, but once you know it its all pretty straightforward. Increasing your stats is presented in an odd way. Collecting the gold you need for health, armor, and said stat increases is tedious and slow even with shortcuts. Getting required items as random drops off of thieves can make getting your first boat or plane really slow. But being an elementary school kid in the 80’s, taking turns with friends, the game had a kind of magic. So my heart gives it an 8 though my brain knows it shouldn’t be. The true greatness of the series comes later but 2 is another admirable building block on the way.