Ultima VII Part II: Serpent Isle

"Best game of the Ultima series"

Introduction: Ultima 7: Serpent's Isle directly follows the events of Ultima 7: The Black Gate and takes place in a far different land from the earlier Ultima games. The Black Gate and Serpent's Isle are considered by many to be the high point of the Ultima series considering the lackluster Ultima 8 and the bug-ridden Ultima 9. Considering there are now several ways to play this gem that get around the problems of being a DOS game, this is an excellent time to try out this game.

Gameplay: (23/25) Serpent's Isle features a very detailed and interactive world. Hundreds of objects can be moved and used in this game like baking bread and turning dead bodies into ashes via an incinerator. The equipment system is one of the best in any game despite the game's age. It features a “paper doll” system that allows you to place and pull various pieces of equipment from a character and see what it looks like. Many pieces of equipment can be attached to any character. The backpacks and various storage bags are also very useful in organizing your inventory. Interaction with NPCs is also highly developed with a large amount of branching dialogue that is often critical for solving the game's many mysteries.

The battle system is not as well done as the aforementioned gameplay features. You only control the Avatar and can only give basic strategies to follow to the remaining 3-4 party members. Once you choose a strategy, the party members will follow it to a reasonable degree, but a system like that in Baldur's Gate would have done wonders for this battle system. It is also somewhat difficult to keep track of the damage dealt to your party and often you find out that a character is close to death when they go running for their lives from their enemies.

Story: (25/25) The game opens up with the Avatar and his party reaching a hidden new land in pursuit of Batlin, a religious leader aligned with the Guardian that is the main foe of the Avatar in the last Ultima trilogy. Lord British has outfitted the party for this dangerous journey with very valuable equipment that should be useful in a new land. However, when the party lands they are struck by a mysterious lightning storm that constantly affects Serpent's Isle and they find that all their inventory has been replaced with random items from throughout Serpent's Isle. The Avatar and his party thus find themselves in a mysterious land without their equipment pursuing a dangerous foe. A lot of exploration is needed to discover the mysteries of this new land and to recover the missing equipment that was taken from them.

Graphics: (14/15) I give this ranking considering that this game is quite old. The graphics were quite good for their time and still hold up fairly well today. The world is very colorful and very detailed. The towns look particularly beautiful with unique styles that match wonderfully with the themes that each town has. Fawn, the town of beauty, is full of white marble and courtyards full of colorful flowers and plants. Moonshade, the town of magic, is full of magical oddities and forceful personalities in the resident wizards. Dungeons are not as well done but they fit their intended purpose.

Music/Sound: (7/10) The music in Serpent's Isle never strays far from the background where it is not noticed that much by the player. There are a few tunes that players of the Ultima series will be familiar with and a few new pieces as well.

Play Time/Replayability: (23/25) The world of Serpent's Isle is quite large and gives the player quite a few places to explore. The game is more linear than the Black Gate although it still takes more hours to finish than that game. I would estimate that it would take between 50-75 hours to finish assuming that the player will explore a bit and not make a beeline for the end.

Overall: (92/100) I believe Serpent's Isle is the best of the Ultima series with the strongest story, the most surprises and perhaps the most challenging of the series as well. Don't let the age of the game prevent you from playing this game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/06