Here we go again: this is the sequel to Nonterraqueous, and you must do it all over again: apparently you failed your mission in the first episode, because the dictatorial computer is more bugged than ever, and feels quite unstable too, and so is projecting its self-destruction, which would mean the destruction of the whole planet too, including the surviving humans. So once again, these people build a robot, but, this time, they put a tormented human mind in it [the soul of the title], longing for self-annihilation, in short, a suicidal, which can only solace in the eternal rest when in proximity of the wicked computer, because his technological part will only allow him to do so in these circumstances. So, once again, nice sci fi ideas, described in only a few lines, and nonetheless intriguing, without accompanying the game with a whole novel or an inifinite narrative introduction in the instructions. But, this same review is becoming long as a novel. Better concentrate on the gameplay: which is different from the first one because the whole control system has changed. You can't levitate effortlessly, and you are affected by the infamous Underwurlde syndrome: you will automatically jump once reached the end of a platform, and, you will bounce around if you collide with an enemy [or even a platform, or an intermittent laser]. Moreover, there's specific key with which you can control the entity of your leap, which must be calibrated to reach the spot where you want to land, without the above mentioned bouncing consequences. The result is that your robot seems the most awkward and clumsy ever, and it's really difficult to get the grip of its controls. I thought it wasn't gonna be good as Nonterraqueous, but once I managed to move around in a more respectable way, it started to be fun enough. The aliens are more annoying, as described above, than in the prequel, so it becomes much more important destroy them once you enter a room, and it's done in a very satisfying way, to me, because the sound effect accompanying the explosion gives me a sense of destructive fulfillment, which happens quite rarely with the beeper. Moreover, once you destroy the aliens in the room, they don't reform, which makes it a little less frustrating than Underwurlde [although they appear again if you exit and re-enter], and it's more difficult to lose a life by falling, in comparison to the Ultimate's classic. Flashing pyramids, though, mean the immediate ending of the game. Anyway, personally I find it even more atmospheric than the first episode, in a creepy and sinister way, with lots of space skeletons barring your way. Sometimes it looks like Go To Hell or Soft & Cuddly, only with a proper gameplay behind the graphics.
Well, in short, it's 4/5 for me.
P.s. Ah. I forgot. These guys [Stephen N. Curtis, Mark Jacobs] put nice little ideas in their game, and this time you can fly BUT to do it you must push the same key repeatedly and without pause, essentially like in a Daley Thompon game, and your robot will stretch his arms and shake them, looking like a sardine desperately beating its fins, but this will cost you lots of energy [even in the game], for example, I consumed half of mine, trying to reach the top of a room. I don't know it's really useful, somewhere.
