Ultima 2: The Revenge of the Enchantress

A few years after the death of Mondain, his passion and student - the sorceress Minax - opens the magic gates leading from Sosaria to Earth. Using the property of these gates to penetrate time, she sends hordes of assorted creatures to several epochs of our planet, seeking to find and destroy the Hero who killed her teacher.

The success of Ultima 1 was not ignored, and in 1982 a sequel appeared on the monitor screens. Continuing the extravagant traditions of the first game, Ultima 2 elevates them to the absolute - what is happening resembles a killer cocktail from the pop culture of the 80s, "Dungeons and Dragons" and Richard Garriott's university games. Here you can find references to Time Bandits, and to Star Wars, and to McDonalds, as well as to find something called Computer Camp - a kind of historical excursion into the 1982 computer environment.

The game world of Ultima 2 has become much more extensive than Sosaria, partly due to several time periods that we have to visit, partly due to the density of interestingness per square kilometer. While in Ultima 1 the cities were essentially faceless copies of each other, here each of them is unique, even if it does not carry the plot load. Five rubles in the piggy bank Ultima 2 brings the appearance of dialogues. More precisely, short monologues of numerous characters of the game, reacting to the appearance of the Hero, which is now the main source of information for the passing game. A step forward in comparison with the need to get drunk in the insole in pubs with the same goals in the previous section.

As in Ultima 1, space travel is an important plot element of the second Ultima. Here, however, they are not loaded with a combat component. With rare exceptions, a visit to other planets is not required for passage, nor does it bring tangible bonuses. The same can now be said about the walks of the main character in the dungeons, which are rather some kind of entertainment than a means to achieve the goal.

The game was published by Sierra On-Line (later Sierra Entertainment) - the only company that agreed with the idea of ​​Garriott to invest in every box a rag map of the game world. It was with Ultima 2 that this tradition began, which continued until the release of Ultima 9. Initially, the game was released on the Apple II, and in 1983 - on the IBM PC. The rights to Ultima 2 belonged to Sierra for a long time, which was the reason why an official remake was not released for it, unlike Ultima 1. Therefore, the results of comparing the appearance of PC versions of both games are not in favor of the second part.

The value of the game for the series as a whole is small, mainly because of the change of location and frivolous approach to the setting. Here, the Lunar Gate appeared for the first time and some characters are mentioned who will play remarkable roles in the subsequent parts.