Ultima VII: Part Two - Serpent Isle

The Good
Serpent Isle is a large, well-plotted sequel that removes most of the infuriating bugs from Ultima VII: The Black Gate. The world of the isle is richly textured, with extensive dialogue and a series of quests to navigate. More so than The Black Gate, Serpent Isle is the natural culmination of the Ultima series style.

The Bad
For all the density and complex interaction, Serpent Isle is a far more linear game than its predecessor. Though the game world is larger, you are shown small chunks of it at a time, with specific quests to complete before any further progress is possible. In structuring the game this way, Origin have removed the most attractive element of The Black Gate - unlimited freedom. A large world seems a bit wasted if you're only going on a guided package tour of it: for most of Serpent Isle the player is kept firmly "on quest".

In terms of game mechanics, Serpent Isle trades annoying bugs for verbal diarrhoea. Yes, atmospheric dialogue is great, but some of the game characters appear to have three-act plays in their heads. And a fair amount of the game depends on trade of information, so there's no real way to skip it.

The Bottom Line
Those who like to be marched through a game may prefer Serpent Isle to its maligned predecessor, The Black Gate. The storyline is particularly strong, with classic elements of betrayal, murder, and redemption. For me, however, the game felt too much like a path with high walls; the opportunity to go sideways sometimes would have been appreciated.

The Good
Now, now, burning game boxes won't solve anything, will it? Especially not if you'd earn decent money by selling it on Ebay. Or you could simple give it to me, since I like Serpent Isle as a decent, engrossing fantasy adventure.

Sure, it's not exactly the families brightest child. Okay, you could argue that Origin wanted to milk the engine. And yes, it strains your patience with its infamous memory manager and some vexing puzzles.

But, hey, its still a good RPG. Think about the huge and detailed game world. Think about all those secret caves you discovered, the credible characters you talked to, the joy of exploration. That's Ultima style for you, and you'll get plenty of it in Serpent Isle. If you liked the others, there's little reason to hate this one.

The Bad
That Dupre d... oops. Almost spoiled your fun. :-)

The Bottom Line
Doug, do nothing you might regret! Hand me that box!

The Good
What's with these guys?.. We're talking about an essential classic here. In terms of depth, richness, immersion potential, atmosphere and invention, its sole match may be Arcanum, released 8 and a half years later. Every single ambitious isometric RPG after 1993 had drawn upon Serpent Isle for inspiration and basics. With Ultima7/1, Origin had developed way too masterful an engine not to employ in another game; this is that game. More polished and accomplished than Ultima7/1, it is arguably still the best 2D RPG around.

The Bad
The early, amateurish voice-acting and nothing else. Period.

The Bottom Line
This is the original sacred source of all your fancy Baldur's Gates, Fallouts and Icewind Dales--which were generally put together with much less love and attention to detail (similarly to Origin's own Ultima 8, but that's another story).