Underworld Ascendant - Interview

Underworld Ascendant interview with OtherSide Entertainment and 505 games

As you might remember, back in August it became publicly known that 505 Games is to publish the long-awaited fantasy rpg “Underworld Ascendant” for PC. Well, since I just happen to have grown up playing “Ultima Underworld” 1 and 2. I simply couldn’t resist the urge to do an interview with OtherSide Entertainment and 505 games about “Underworld Ascendant“. So, that’s exactly what I did And that resulted in us talking about everything from the old “Ultima Underworld” games, old memories and the plans for “Underworld Ascendant”.

So without further ado, please enjoy our interview with OtherSide Entertainment’s Joe Fielder.

Robin TGG
We always start off our interviews with having people introducing themselves to our readers. So please go ahead and do so

JOE
I’m Joe Fielder. Former game journalist, turned level designer, producer, and writer. I’ve worked on games like BioShock Infinite, The Flame in the Flood, BOOM BLOX, and [redacted]. I’m the game director and writer of Underworld Ascendant.

Robin TGG
Would you be so kind and explain what “Underworld Ascendant” is all about? (the story, etc.) And how, when, where and why did the project came to be?

JOE
Underworld Ascendant is a first-person, emergent RPG, where the player is plucked from modern-day earth and dropped into a deeply-immersive, fantasy world, full of conflict and intrigue.

The game takes place in The Stygian Abyss, an incredibly dangerous, underground environment on the borders of The Underworld. It’s a place where life shouldn’t exist. And without your help, it won’t much longer.

You may have visited before, in fact.

Underworld Ascendant’s the modern follow-up to Looking Glass’ Ultima Underworld series, which has been credited with inventing the “immersive sim” genre and influenced developers of such games as System Shock, Deus Ex, BioShock, Thief, Fallout 4, Skyrim… Even Minecraft.

It’s our goal to follow-up on Looking Glass’ legacy of innovation, to make a game takes the immersive sim forward in some intriguing, new ways.

The game promotes experimentation and rewards creativity using The Improvisation Engine, a series of interwoven systems that oversee and direct the player experience to keep the game challenging and fun.

As far as how it originally came together? Paul Neurath, who co-founded Looking Glass, helped create the Immersive Sim, and designed the opening levels of Ultima Underworld, started OtherSide a few years back with the intent to bring back classic series like Ultima Underworld, System Shock, and more. Not long after, Underworld Ascendant had a successful Kickstarter and recently attracted the attention of 505 Games.

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Robin TGG
The original “Ultima Underworld” game was launched back in 1992, and even though that’s over 25 years ago. The Underworld series still has a truly strong fanbase and community to this very day (“Underworld Ascendant” success on Kickstarter is a proof of this). So, why do you think that is? And do you think the FPS/RPG/dungeon crawler genre is here to stay?

JOE
I like dungeon crawlers, both from then and now, and think they have a bright future. However, I’d say that while the original Ultima Underworld and Underworld Ascendant both have dungeon crawler elements, they’re more immersive sim-like in nature because of the freedom they offer. (And I think you’re seeing immersive-sim elements become more and more prevalent in modern games, like the latest Zelda and the Dark Souls series.)

Immersive sims really capitalize on the interactive elements of games, which to me is what really separates them from other mediums and where they need to develop more and more in the future.

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Drithius said:

Perhaps it's just me but I don't view the original Ultima Underworld as an "Immersive Sim" at all…

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Drithius said:

It's not as if I can rescind my pledge now, but I certainly won't be waiting with baited breath for another linear first-person game with limited exploration, minigames, and little C&C.

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JDR13 said:

What makes you think it's going to be linear and/or have limited exploration?

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Drithius said:

I associate the 'immersive sim' moniker with an on-rails story, gimmicky mechanics, and some (but very little character customization). Games such as the new Deus Ex and Dishonored.

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