Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle



Ultima VII/2: Serpent Isle is the eighth installment of the main series, and the twelveth in the entire series, if Worlds of Ultimas and Ultima Underworld I and Ultima Underworld II are counted. It was released and published by Origin for the IBM-PC in 1993. It is part of the "Age of Armageddon" saga.

Ultima VII/2 uses the same engine as Ultima VII, only more refined and with additions, therefore there isn't much difference in the technical aspects of the two games. The story and world however, are quite different. Compared to its predecessor, Ultima VII/2 is much more linear and is built around scripted scenes - the player can't expore the whole world right from the beginning. The story reflects this as well, and is very different, being set away from Britannia for the fist time since Ultima III. Ultima VII/2 is different, but that doesn't mean that it is bad. The story is very complex and has many layers, forming a huge epic of love, hate, war, peace, balance and imbalance. Sadly, the game had some cuts in the story, because of a deadline issued by Electronic Arts.

Serpent Isle sold quite well, and received much praise. After Ultima VII, it was the next good game in the main series (not counting the excellent Ultima Underworld II).

Included with the game
The release of Ultima VII/2 included these things with the game:
 * The Book "Beyond the Serpent Pillars".
 * A cloth map of Serpent Isle.

Differences between the ports
Ultima VII/2: Serpent Isle was the first game exclusively produced for the PC, therefore there doesn't exist any other official ports of the game.

The Story
Half a year after the events of Ultima Underworld II, a scroll is discovered, where the Guardian sends Batlin to the Serpent Isle to catch up with Gwenno. There he would further plans to destroy Britannia. The Avatar, together with Iolo, Shamino and Dupre, follow Batlin through the Serpent Pillars, to stop him.

The land in which they arrive is not very friendly. Settled by people who had something against the path of Virtue set by Lord British, the inhabitants were either corrupt, self-serving or shallow in their beliefs. Also, mysterious teleport storms are playing havoc on the land. Are these events connected with Batlin? Mastering many hardships, the Avatar finally catches up with Batlin in Spinebreaker, who in turn wants to betray the Guardian to become immensly powerful. This at the end costs him his life when the Guardian kills him. In a apocalyptic holocaust, the three Banes of Chaos, posessing the Companions, slaughter nearly all of the inhabitants of the Serpent Isle. In the end the Avatar has to stop the Imbalance from destroying many worlds, including Britannia, by reuniting the three magical serpents of Chaos, Order and Balnce. Dupre sacrifices himself, so that this task can be done.

However, as soon as this is done, and balance restored, the Guardian abducts the Avatar, to a place unknown....

Trivia

 * Richard Garriott had decided that no two Ultimas should use the same engine. Since Serpent Isle did this, it was name "Ultima VII Part Two".
 * Originally, Both Ultima VII and VII/2 should have been one huge game, but time problems and the practical problems in the time of floppy disks prevented this plan, and the game had to be split in two parts.
 * The deadline of Electronic Arts resulted in a number of unfinished things, and plot cuts. Most well known is, than Cantra can't be cured of her madness (the text can't be activated but is in the usecode).
 * Probably the last "classical" Ultima.
 * Originally there was a longer intro. But since it would have meant many more floppy disks, it was dropped and the current intro created.

The Silver Seed
The add-on disk, published by Origin in 1993. 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/2, and one with the main program.

The Xenkan Monks find a mysterious Amulet, the Amulet of Balance, which they give the Avatar. Using it on a Serpent Gate, he/she and the companions travel to the past, into the time of the War of Imbalance. The Avatar has to find and plant the Silver Seed, to prevent the imbalance from destroying the world. Finding many fine artifacts on the way, like the Ring of Reagents and the Belt of Strength, the Avatar succeeds in this task, thus saving the world from ultimate destruction.

Included with it is the "Silver Seed Play Guide" pamphlet.

Upgrades
Ultima VII/2 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.

Exult
If you want to play it anyway, Exult is the solution. Exult is a program that makes Ultima VII/2 playable under Windows without problems any many improvements. Look at it here: The Exult Project.

Ultima 7 in Windows
Ron Windeyer (aka Gaseous Dragon) has developed a utility to run the original Ultima VII natively under Windows 95/98/ME/2000/NT/XP. See his website for more information.