Ultima 7: The Black Gate + Forge of Virtue

I met Ultima relatively recently. What can I do, I can hardly play the previous games of this, of course, a magnificent series, because I’m already too used to mouse control and the fact that you don’t have to go into a thick guide to learn how to open doors or drink a bottle of drug . But I just have to admit that Ultima is a whole world. The world is extraordinary, inimitable. The world of Ultima is the world of a good fairy tale into which our cruel reality broke. This is a world in which there was originally no place for evil and destruction. But it appeared. And in order to save this world, there must have been a savior, a messiah, an Avatar.

I will not be able to completely retell the events of the past parts, as I am not very familiar with them. I will try to do it only superficially, in the course of the story. Yes, references to them can be found as the game progresses in numerous books and character dialogues. So I want to give you the pleasure of immersing yourself in the world of Ultima, to feel its depth and elaboration. And believe me, in the seventh part (and even if you install Exult) you can feel it visually, unlike the previous parts, in which the graphics were very far from ideal. Of course, the resolution cannot be called too high. But the picture is still very clear, you can see even quite small details.

I would say that the graphics are fascinating. Floating clouds, birds in the trees, watery surface, everything is done very harmoniously. It is possible that a sufficient number of frames were not spent on the character animation, but note that the game was released in the ninety-second year ...

But the main part of the seventh Ultima - is its amazing interactivity and detail of the life of the characters. Take, for example, an ordinary baker. In the morning he gets up, has breakfast and goes to his bakery. There he pours flour on the table, adds water, kneads and ferments the dough, then puts it in the oven, the resulting loaf of bread he puts in a pile. Then he repeats the process. In the evening, he goes to listen to the mass, then comes to his home, lights a candle, wanders around the house for a while, then puts out the candle and goes to bed. Isn't that impressive to you? And if I now say that each character has a unique daily routine, portrait, manner of conversation, its own history and a bunch of topics that you can talk to? And so absolutely with each character, in more than twenty British settlements? This was, perhaps, only in Gothic released nine years later.

Likewise, the hero is given incredible freedom of action. He can build a ladder from drawers or furniture in order to climb onto the roof or barricade the door with them. He can also bake bread, go to church masses and mine ore in mines, and this, of course, is not a complete list of all possible actions. Of course, the system is not perfect. For example, I could not forge my usual sword ...

But in the course of one of the quests you are instructed to forge the Sword of the Demon yourself, an incredibly powerful weapon endowed with its own soul. I will not tell you how much labor will be required to put a demon in stone. But I will only mention that you have to forge it yourself, exactly repeating the whole process.

A team can have up to eight characters, each with its own biography, unique manner of behavior (recall at least Dupre, a paladin who leaves the team every time Avatar does a base act) and combat. True, I would not advise to allow busting with the number of characters, because all of them must also be fed, and the food must be dragged on itself ...

I can not mention the magic system. It is gorgeous and unique, no less than the same system in Darklands. You have to not only learn spells and reach a sufficient level of experience to use them, but also to find the necessary ingredients. And the use of the spell itself is accompanied not only by graphic effects, but also by spell words. It is interesting that Lord British (Richard Garriot), the creator of the game, himself invented a language and writing, more precisely, borrowed it from archaic English (I find it difficult to say how this dialect and writing are called scientific language). Many signs are written in cuneiform, and characters use words and verbs that have become obsolete a long time ago. If you played Vampire: The Masquerade Redemption, you may recall all the unusual speech turns used by the characters. Only in Ultima 7 it is much more natural and soon you will begin to take it for granted.

I will mention about the plot. Avatar lives in our world. And only when the danger hangs over the world of Ultima, Lord British summons him, opening the portal (moongate) in the circle of stones located behind the Avatar's house in our dimension. It is worth noting that in Britain, time flows differently. In our world only a year can pass, and in the world of Britain a century passes. But people live there longer. For example, the bard Iolo, the faithful companion of Avatar, has already exceeded the second hundred, and he continues to pursue his favorite craft - to make and sell crossbows. And how many years to Lord British himself, no one knows. And so, in the circle of stones the lightning beats again, the portal opens again. But now it is not blue, but red. What does this mean? Avatar steps into the portal ...

In the world of Britain, Avatar comes in a new body, known to every “educated” British resident (unfortunately, there are not so many of them) as the body of Avatar. Blond, gigantic, piercing blue eyes, the noble face of a stereotypical fighter for justice. But since this body has not been used for hundreds of years, with each coming Avatar forgets the abilities and skills that he acquired in his past adventures, so that all will have to learn anew.

The portal slams behind his back, and Avatar sees in front of him his old friend Iolo, talking to a frightened peasant. It looks like something terrible happened in the stable ...

The game begins with a detective story and develops into a global adventure designed to save the magic of Britain and the freedom of its inhabitants. This game can compete with the most modern RPGs, and in many ways even surpass them. If you are ready for a huge, exciting adventure with lots of fights, dialogues, unexpected plot twists and a fair amount of humor, go ahead, Britain is waiting for you!

Ultima 7 consists of two games, united by one plot: Black Gate and Serpent Isle. The second part is made on the same engine and for the same role system, so everything said about the first part is also true for the second part.

According to the plot in Black Gate, you could not kill the dastardly priest Butlin, and he ran away to the north, where the Snake Island is located. Your squad, fearing new evil deeds, goes after him.

You sail behind the batlin on a ship and moor to a deserted beach. But no one knows where the storm and multi-colored lightning take all your friends to where it is unknown, and you are left alone. Again one.

Compared with the first part of the second, there is much less travel, due to the size of the island. But this is complemented by an interesting storyline that would honor any JRPG and new discoveries in terms of interactivity. I would advise you to install both games together with the Exult program, which noticeably improves the graphics due to the anti-aliasing effect, makes the menu much more convenient and adds additional features. It can be taken from the Utilities section.

Richard Garriott has already retired, but his ingenious creations remain forever. I'm glad that he will no longer create the Ultima games. Because it would be practically impossible to create something more perfect than Ultima 7, and something less completely worthy of wearing the name Ultima ...