Ultima VII: The Black Gate



Ultima VII: The Black Gate is the seventh installment of the main series, and the tenth in the entire series, if Worlds of Ultimas and Ultima Underworld I are counted. It was released and published by Origin in 1992. The port for the SNES console followed in 1994. It is the first installment in the "Age of Armageddon"-saga (since it isn't a trilogy).

Ultima VII continued where Ultima VI left off in the technical development, refining all the virtues of its predecessor, it pulled the whole power of a 16-bit PC. The graphics used the whole spektum of the 256-color VGA graphic cards, the music was ecellent and digital sound used for the first time for the voice of the Guardian. The big, seamless world with its overflow of details and very good design simply appeared real. The controls were more refined, and everything could be done with the mouse, the inventory and battle system improved, talking was not longer done by typing the keywords, but by selecting them in a list. And the world and story itself had also become really grown-up. The player in confronted with problems like drug-useage, racism and political corruption. The Guardian uses a clever plot to take over the land, and doesn't act in the slightest like a clichèd villan, making him really dangerous. Many words, short meaning: Ultima VII is definitely one of the, if not the best Ultima in the series.

Ultima VII was a hit in 1992, and sold very good. But it wasn't enough to prevent the takeover by Electronic Arts later in the year (just after Underworld II was released). Many see this installment as the best in the entire series, the peak of the series and representative of the whole series.

Coming with the game
The release of Ultima VII included these things with the game:
 * The Book "The Book of Fellowship".
 * A cloth map of Britannia.
 * A Fellowship Medallion (same as in the game).

Differences between the ports
Only two ports of the game exist. The original PC-port, and the port for the SNES console. The SNES-port is quite a story in itself.

The SNES-port is clearly inferior to the original game. Not only was the story horribly shortend, streamlined and censored (murders become kidnappings), but the whole game itself was changed into some totally differen, to the much worse. The interactivity is near zero, the world map smaller and more primitive, and the quest is much too simple. There is no party, the Avatar is alone, and the game has become a Zelda-like action game with little resemblance to the original. Crowned is this by the inferior music and much worse graphics of the game.

The SNES port is therefore a good example how a good game can be miserably ported.

The Story
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A long time of peace has gone by in Britannia, with no great threats disturbing the lives of the people. And yet, something is amiss in the land. Magic seems to die, with mages becoming mad. The people are unhappy and feel spiritually empty and betrayed in life. And a new sect called "The Fellowship" gains more and more members in the lower classes, and gain power through their prominent members, who ascend to leading positions.

The Player again is the Avatar. One evening, a demonic red face appears on the computer screen, and declares to be soon ruler of Britannia. Alarmed, the Avatar goes to the circle of stones, and a moongate is already there, sending him/her to Trinsic. A horrible murder has happend. Starting research, the Avatar discovers murders in the past similar to this one, and more of them happen on the way. The Fellowship becomes a suspect, especially their leader Batlin. And a mysterious voice from time to time seems to give the Avatar not so good advice. Finally, after many perils, the Avatar meets the Time Lord, and everything becomes clear. The Fellowship is the puppet of the red-faced being, who is called the Guardian. The Guardian wants to enter Britannia through a Black Moongate, and uses three Generators to spread his influence. The Avatar destroys the Generators, than proceeds to destroy the Black Gate. In a brutal battle, the murderers are brought to justice, while Batlin escapes. Just before the Guardian can come through, the Avatar destroys the Gate.

Britannia is safe for now, but the Avatar stranded in Britannia, and the Guardian still at large. Thus this is the beginning of the Age of Armageddon...

Spoilers end here.

Trivia

 * The first Ultima exclusively produces for the PC, the SNES port can only be seen as a totally different game, when looking at all the differences between it and the original.
 * The last Ultima produced by Origin before the takeover.
 * First time digital sound is used. In this case, to create the booming voice of the Guardian.
 * Richard Garriot had the idea for the Fellowship after seeing hoe Scientology ticked. The whole structure of the Fellowship, their mannerisms, language and secrecy, are a parody of them.
 * The whole takeover thing is also played at several times in the game. The Generators form the old ECA-logo of that time. Elizabeth and Abraham stand for EA (short for Electronic Arts). The Guardian is called the Destroyer of Worlds, while Origin's motto was: "We create Worlds".

Forge of Virtue
The add-in disk, published by Origin in 1992. With it installed, a totally new quest becomes available, which can be played at any time in the game. Today, it is included in the CD-ROM edition of Ultima VII, and one with the main program.

The Isle of Fire rises out of the sea during the game, and Lord British fears the worst, the return of Exodus the Destroyer, sending the Avatar to see how big the danger is. The Avatar has to master the test of the three Priciples, getting posession of the Black Sword. In the end, a plan of the mage Erethian has to be stopped and the Dark Core sent into the Void to prevent Exodus' return. With this done, Lord British declares the Avatar to be a real hero, and all stats are maximised.

Coming with it is the "Guide the Isle of Fire" pamphlet.

Upgrades
Ultima VII is so far developed in terms of graphics, sound and gameplay, that upgrades aren't needed. However, it is almost totally impossible to run the game on modern computers. If you want to play it anyway, Exult is the solution. Exult is a program that makes Ultima VII playable under Windows without problems any many improvements. Look at it here: The Exult Project.