Ultima Underworld - Retrospective @The Digital Antiquarian

The Digital Antiquarian looks back at the making of Ultima Underworld.

In many ways, Underworld was at odds with the prevailing trends inside Origin, not to mention in much of the games industry at large. Following the huge success of the first Wing Commander, Origin was banking heavily on cinematic games with big, set-piece storylines. The company's org chart reflected the new impetus, with film-making terminology -- producer, director, screenwriter -- shoehorned in absolutely everywhere. Blue Sky, on the other hand, was making something very different, an immersive, emergent, non-linear experience without cut scenes or chapter breaks. Yes, there was a plot of sorts -- the player got cast into a dungeon to rescue a princess or die trying -- along with puzzles to be solved, quests to be fulfilled, and other characters to be spoken to, but it was all driven by the player, not by any relentlessly unspooling Hollywood-style script. Origin, it seemed, wasn't quite sure what to make of it, wasn't quite sure where it fit. And certainly it's easy enough, given Blue Sky's unorthodox working methods, to understand why so many at Origin were skeptical of their ability to deliver a finished game at all.

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Reading this makes me think that Underworld Ascendant needed a publisher with deep pockets who was prepared to let the devs realise their vision. Obviously not a publisher who would slice and dice said game with microtransactions etc.

UA is truly a shame. There's really no resemblance to the way it plays compared to its predecessors. I fell for the marketing hype of industry veterans behind the original games being involved with this - apparently that's a mistake and I won't be making that mistake again. UU1 and 2 felt like evolving game worlds, a real place with characters and factions that changed based on player choices. I wanted that same vibe but with a new, modern coat of paint. Instead we got this weird resetting levels along with game play obsessed with physics. It's too bad, there probably won't be another attempt at making a game like UU1 and 2 in my lifetime.

Originally Posted by TheMadGamer
UA is truly a shame. There's really no resemblance to the way it plays compared to its predecessors. I fell for the marketing hype of industry veterans behind the original games being involved with this - apparently that's a mistake and I won't be making that mistake again. UU1 and 2 felt like evolving game worlds, a real place with characters and factions that changed based on player choices. I wanted that same vibe but with a new, modern coat of paint. Instead we got this weird resetting levels along with game play obsessed with physics. It's too bad, there probably won't be another attempt at making a game like UU1 and 2 in my lifetime.

Never again there will be a game like UU1, and for me UU1 was better than UU2 even with the jumps, iced floor and other improvements and that is because of the levels architecture, exploration and shortcuts. Arx was the best we got.

I still have high hopes that this game will get patched/updated into a much better version than we currently have, but that could simply be just fantasy on my part. I've held off playing it because I'm hoping for more updates, but the real truth might be that this is the best it will ever be. Which is a shame of biblical proportions.

Ultima Underworld is one of the best games I've ever played in my all life. Oh boy, the joys of discovering new places, and running for my life from those gazers (beholders) and headless men…

Yeah, I totally agree, Henriquejr. It was probably foolish of me to think that this new game could recapture those moments from yesteryear, but I was super silly and jumped in with both feet. Lesson learned. I'm still hoping for vast improvements, but the realist in me is accepting it for what it currently is.

I have a different opinion, Carnifex. Underworld Ascendant took such amount of flak that I believe it's impossble for the game to recover itself in a satisfactory way. I do not expect vast improvements, sorry

Originally Posted by henriquejr
I have a different opinion, Carnifex. Underworld Ascendant took such amount of flak that I belive it'simpossbiel for the game to recover itself in a satisfactory way. I do not expect vast improvements, sorry

I think UA can be improved. I just think the game is boring and nothing at all like the original games in terms of atmosphere, exploration, story, NPCs, factions… it just doesn't resemble the old games at all. All the patching in the world sadly won't fix that.

Thanks for restoring a tich of my faith, Madgamer!!! Even just a petal of hope I will cling to savagely!