Pix grabbed himself a copy of Lowlander after reading about it here on the Codex, and has shared his thoughts about it:

The Ultima influence is immediately apparent on entering the world and anyone who has played the original trilogy should be immediately at home. The influence only goes as far as gameplay mechanics however, so no copyright infringing Ultima characters or places make an appearance although it does get close on occasion (E.g. Theeves Den). The interface has thankfully been streamlined for a modern audience with the biggest addition being an automap on the middle right of the screen.

That sounds promising, at least. Did the game hold up under further scrutiny? You should, of course, click on through to read Pix’s in-depth analysis of the game and its systems. But here’s his conclusion:

…I found that Lowlander really chewed through the phone battery as a result, far more than I would expect for something this simplistic.

Other than that, I loved it. I’d say the gameplay was just about perfectly balanced throughout and really captured the spirit of what it was like playing an Ultima for the first time. There aren’t any game guides up on the web yet so I was entirely on my own figuring everything out which ultimately added to the experience. It’s all too tempting to get answers via Google these days when you get stuck and I would have succumbed if it had been an option.

Anyone who enjoyed the early Ultimas or other RPG’s of the era should try this out. I could imagine some Ultima fans being put off by it being inspired by Ultima II (it is usually most people’s least favourite in the series after all), but this is a far better game by modern standards and perhaps recaptures the spirit what it would have been like playing Ultima II back in 1982 before we all knew better. Despite using the Ultima gameplay formula, it is still far enough removed to stand on it’s own and no knowledge of the series is required.

So there it is: if you want a retro Ultima experience on your mobile device, grab thyself a copy of Lowlander. It’s available for Android at present, and the iOS version should be available again soon.