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This is one of my all time favourite games because of the complete freedom you have to do whatever you want, while still
maintaining an excellent story. This review is covering all of the Ultima VII games. These are made up of Ultima VII: The
Black Gate and then its expansion The Forge of Virtue; then there are also Ultima VII: Part 2, Serpent Isle and its respective
expansion The Silver Seed. Take in mind that these games were all made in 1992, therefore you won't have ultra realistic graphics
(although hardly the same can be said for today's RPGs either). Anyways, this game is the pinnnacle of the series, being one
of the most hailed RPGs of old-school time (although #'s 4-6 were also considered the best as well). It takes place in the
land of Britannia, a fantasy world where humans and gargoyles live together peacefully (thanks to your actions in Ultima 6,
where the gargoyles declared war on the humans because you stole one of their holy artifacts in Ultima 4). You play as the
Avatar, a human being from our very own Earth who has been summoned to Britannia with a Moongate. It has been 200 Britannian
years since your last adventure in Ultima 6, but once again all is not well. A mysterious cult calling themselves the Fellowship
has appeared throughout the land claiming their religious superiority and attracting many within their ranks. At first they
seem peaceful and well intended, but later on you discover more sinister wrong doings within the highest powers of this organization.
There is more troubling news. There has been a recent murder in the city of Trinsic, and a mysterious entity calling himself
the Guardian haunts you and attempts to destroy you. Some how, all these things (the Fellowship ordeal included) are linked,
and you along with your numerous old comrades and several newcomers must stop whatever malicious plot is brewing must be stopped.
This is your task in part 1. The Forge of Virtue sees you returning to the re-risen fire isle, where you conquered your main
enemy in Ultima 3. This is the island where you acheive the mighty Blackrock Sword, the best weapon in the game.
*SPOILER WARININGS WITHIN SERPENT ISLE PLOT OVERVIEW* (Highlight below to see plot overview)
Part 2, Serpent Isle sees you chasing down Batlin, the leader of the Fellowship, after he attempted
to bring the Guardian into Britannia through the Black Gate, so that he could conquer this world like so many others (as you'll
see in Ultima 8). It turns out that Batlin has fled to the Serpent Isle where he intends to try this again. You and your comrades
(minus Spark) have been sent by Lord British to hunt him down in Serpent Isle, but once you leave Britannia, there's no turning
back.
*END SPOILER WARNING*
Ultima VII Part 1 was the very first game I ever played on the computer back in 1994, and I played for hours and I never
even touched the main plotline. I had oodles of fun just committing crimes in this virtual world. On the whole, the story
wasn't incredibly deep like some games such as Baldur's Gate, but you have to understand that this game was made in 1992.
However, it wasn't entirely the plot that surrounded this game in awesomeness, but it was the villain The Guardian
who really added that feature which kicked the game into high gear. The Guardian haunted your dreams, spoke to you, and encouraged
you when you were going against the will of Britannia's people. Of course, when he appeared in your dreams it scared the crap
out of me, as you see a more faded version of the Guardian's red face. The graphics...well...for today, they just stink, but
its hard to recognize them when you're having so much fun in a horse carriage or unravelling your magic carpet for quick transportation.
The same goes for the sound, it's not very well done for today's standards, but for the complex bleep's and bloop's and
the occasional blip, this was literally orchestral quality. Gameplay was very non-linear, as you could do whatever you wanted,
use whatever transportation you want (you had a choice between magic carpet, horse/horse carriage, Moongates, or a boat).
If you decide to be evil, your comrades will leave you in disgust, and you will be hunted down forever and ever by the guards.
There was also a very unique feature in this game (and all its predecessors) which forced you to eat. This actually made you
go and buy food (or magically create it) and give some to all your party members. You also had to sleep, although for some
reason it was usually only the Avatar and no-one else in the party that slept. This added some realism to an already excellent
piece of software. The whole game starts off with a bang, and throughout the game, this bang never wears off, as the climax
and final ending wrap up this terrific story.
Serpent Isle was a much different experience in comparison with The Black Gate. It was much more linear, but the story
was still as excellent if not sort of a rehash of the Black Gate's. While the Guardian doesn't haunt your dreams anymore,
the Serpents do, which still kind of annoyed me as I didn't look forward to another encounter with them. Everything was still
the same as part 1, so I won't go into more detail, but I will say that the ending leaves a massive cliffhanger that was filled
in Ultima 8. Also, there is a very sad occurence close to the end, as something happens to one of your comrades who you've
known through all of the Ultima games.
All in all, this is probably one of my favourite games of all time, but the sequels kind of destroyed the potential to
have an awesome trilogy with the Guardian. They were boring and nowhere near as much attention to detail went into them. However,
if you're going to buy any of them which aren't Ultima VII, get the second trilogy, Ultima IV, V, and VI. The Complete Ultima
VII is a very enjoyable experience which can be found today in the Ultima Collection, which has all of this plus all the predecessors
and Ultima 8.
-Gandalf
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