Worlds of Ultima™: The Savage Empire

When i first played this over 20 years ago, i was stuck - couldn't get past the T-Rex in Urali. There was no Google to get some help. One night, i actually dreamt of the solution - it was magical! Of course it worked! The turtle bait.... So when I found this game, I played it for this part all over again... and i had a ball. I must admit, the lack of in-game map is horrible. There are memories of traversing the endless mesa for days.... (but these days, i can get help online!). And you do need to re-learn (and be patient) with the game mechanics. The story line iis engaging. Quest after quest quest. "Just let me finish one more quest,.." that's what i tell my kids when it's time to make dinner. My bucket list is complete. I am happy. Ok mum's back to reality kids. Chicken nuggets OK? :)

1990: When you opened the box then first you got sort of a pulp- newspaper manual in wich the story started, you got a fabric map on wich you could orientate while playing the game. It sucked me completly in as a Kid ^^.. You had a lot to experiment and to explore and oh boy :D I never forgot the day when I found out that I could not only craft (!) guns and blackpowder and a lot of other stuff.. but handgrenades, wow, they literally saved me from Myrmidex xD 1k times.... Yes nowadays the fascination is hard to explain, But the Scenario is so! 80s or post- Tarzan/ LostWorld combination.. If you are the patient guy and want to play a very unique CRPG I highly recommend this..

While the game takes some practice to play. Get ready to write down notes and print that map. but that's what makes it an adventure. It also has THE best npc conversation mechanic ever made, where you can type: "you mentioned dinosaurs earlier" and the game recognizes the word dinosaur as the key word. much better than ask dudeperson about dinosaurs, i'd pay money for it if it wasn't free

From the onset of the title screen, you can tell that Savage Empire (SE) was made with love and ideas that lingered around Origin’s heads since their childhood. Many game developers have zillion ideas of games. Most will never be made into games. However, SE brings you a world of dinosaurs, invading ant-men, Neanderthal tribes, and gunpowder. The tribes are not only primitive; they are often not very smart. This will trigger many laughs throughout the game. My personal favorite is a T-Rex that keeps coming back for more drunken tribesmen to eat. The dense plant life with huge flowers and open tar-pits complete the feel of being in a prehistoric world. The gameplay is simple but it works. Conversations are short but effective and humoristic. Quests are easy tasks that require no more than one special item, but often require you to come close to a nest of Myrmidex. And yeah, fights with Myrmidex are vicious and great. Unlike most Ultima games, most things in SE are killed by a single blow (or bullet) or two, but the same holds for your characters (to be fair, it is 5/6 hits for a kill). The Myrmidex fights are the best, as they come in large groups and can reach your characters within a few turns. Because of the fast paced action, combat can be somewhat confusing and unpredictable. I think this is a nice touch, because you will never feel completely safe. Outside the quests and some other Myrmidex hotspots, there is little to find in SE. You can come across forested areas that are copy-paste duplicates of themselves. Also, the endgame was much too short. I think the lack of content was the cost of a fun-project, and not being a mainstream Ultima game. Overall, I think SE has a great setting, an average story and delivers good and fun gameplay. I would have loved a sequel back in the days :).

Wonderful. Savage Empire is a tribute to trashy pulp novel science fiction with strange, uncivilized lands to be explored. It uses the Ultima 6 game system, excellent writing and fun characters to evoke primitive surroundings and adventure. Fans of other Ultima games will find a lot to love, including the reappearance of some old friends, the ability to create bombs and firearms, and best of all, battle against dinosaurs. This game is a gem, and it's free! Thank you GOG!