blacbraun on 8/2/2005 at 11:48
For some reason, perhaps the fact that Underworld was released within weeks of both Ultima VII and Wolfenstien 3D, it never got the recognition it deserved. I have a copy of Computer Gaming World's top 150 games for their 15th anniversary and amazingly, it was placed at number 68...... 68!!!?? this is one of the top 5 games of all time easily. In my opinion...the most underratted game in the history of computer gaming. (at least according to Computer gaming world)
blacbraun on 8/2/2005 at 12:05
Oh and what is the thing I like most bout Underworld? The amazing (to coin a phrase of the day) "virtual reality". It's hard to remember in this day and age where there are zillions of 3d smooth scrolling FPS games how revolutionary UW was when it first apeared. Before it, dungeon games were bascially Wizardry or Ultima clones (yes even the venerable Dungeon master was basically the same as them with pretier graphics). Underworld was a flight simulator in a dungeon with 3d polygon , texture mapped graphics, 4 1/2 years before Quake and it's offspring. Was funny when it came out so close to Ultime VII because although U7 had it's good points ( and was really quite different) it was not even really in the same leauge as UW in quality and inovation. Also , U7 had a horrible memory management system while UW was smooooooth and clean.
blacbraun on 8/2/2005 at 12:15
Oh what the hell, more Underworld gushing. (Been playing it again and have completed down to level 5 :) ) Many have mentioned Diablo and few ever credit the HUGE influence Ultime Underworld had on that game. Mana and Health look basicall the same (UW it's shown as vials , Diablo as balls) Weapons and armor degrade and look visiably damaged. Few ever give credit though to the one they owe..... :(
Shadowcat on 8/2/2005 at 22:34
Go the (revived) Underworld Gushing! :)
But... You didn't need to create three separate messages
*points to the button labelled "edit" on your replies*
TheLimey on 26/2/2005 at 05:53
Technologically and in terms of play mechanics, UW2 was well ahead of the curve when it came out. For me, what sealed the deal besides the then amazing grpahics, was the non-linear gameplay and the seamless blend of combat, exploration and puzzles (aided by an intuitive control scheme) all tied up within a tight plot that moved at just the right pace.
Holy crap, I can still recall clearly my jaw hitting the flaw the first time I entered the goblin tower and started brawling right in the doorway with the goblin guards that were holding that guy (Bishop? -wasn't that his name - it's been so long) prisoner. And how can yer forgot ol' 'headless', stumbling and groping around in the dark in his own special way?
Those blocky old scaled sprites sure look crude now, but when they combined with the interesting plot driven dialog and titbits of legend and backstory that the NPC characters like Fissef ("If it ain't one thing, it's another!" :)) would divulge, they truly came alive. Warren Specter, Doug Church and the LG gang owned back in the day! I think it's a fair assessment that I pretty much got into the game dev. industry, some 11 years ago because of those guys and the magic they were weaving. Happy days!!
tleon on 26/2/2005 at 16:30
I agree with all the points in this thread. UW1 and UW2 are the greatest rpgs ever and I don't know why some elements that made them so good haven't appeared in other games.
heres a few things i liked:
-- Music: I haven't seen anyone mention George "Fatman" Sanger's music. I thought it was magical- I can still remember the tune with the harps and all the other melodies. I remember watching my brother play UW2 and he literally jumped out of his seat when he was surprised by a headless in a dark cavern and the "combat" music blared out on the speakers.
Arx felt empty because it was played mostly in silence.
-- Valuable items: I think Nethack managed to get this right also. I like finding rare items and maybe enhancing them. It felt good whenever i found food or a decent item. A lot of games now have items drops too often and the ability to buy stuff at any time from a well stocked shop.
-- Believable worlds: there were no items out of place, no "health packs" or silly quests to "kill 10 ogres in 10 minutes". It didn't feel like i was playing a game, it was more of an experience. I think some of the best games get the player to use their imagination to fill out gaps in the gameworld
TheLimey on 26/2/2005 at 20:38
Quote Posted by tleon
I agree with all the points in this thread. UW1 and UW2 are the greatest rpgs ever and I don't know why some elements that made them so good haven't appeared in other games.
heres a few things i liked:
-- Music: I haven't seen anyone mention George "Fatman" Sanger's music. I thought it was magical- I can still remember the tune with the harps and all the other melodies. I remember watching my brother play UW2 and he literally jumped out of his seat when he was surprised by a headless in a dark cavern and the "combat" music blared out on the speakers.
Arx felt empty because it was played mostly in silence.
-- Valuable items: I think Nethack managed to get this right also. I like finding rare items and maybe enhancing them. It felt good whenever i found food or a decent item. A lot of games now have items drops too often and the ability to buy stuff at any time from a well stocked shop.
-- Believable worlds: there were no items out of place, no "health packs" or silly quests to "kill 10 ogres in 10 minutes". It didn't feel like i was playing a game, it was more of an experience. I think some of the best games get the player to use their imagination to fill out gaps in the gameworld
All great points!
WRT to the valuable itms.... do you recall fighting the Reaper? to get at the magic sword in the swamp filled cavern area? I do.. took me many attempts to kill it and get that damn sword :). But it was worth it and the sense of achivement was great. Much more so than the pleasure derive from the monty haul dungeon hacks that seem to be the rage now.
And yeah, the believable worlds were very believable (which was what I was hinting at earlier WRT to the titbits of lore and whatnot that NPCs would tell you in conversation). Remember the old dude in Kilorn Keep with his tales of battles long past and the horn of Praetor Loth? Man, I felt like I really wanted to help the old guy out and wasn't just doing another dumb quest to find another ho-hum magic sword or soemthing to go in my vast arsenal as seen RPGs today.
tleon on 27/2/2005 at 03:52
Is that the sword with the black blade? I used it right up until the end. It was hard to spot but when I found it I had a permanent grin for the next few minutes. IIRC the game let you name your items which gave them a nice personal touch.
btw TheLimey, if you work in the industry I hope there is an UW like game in the pipeline :thumb:
TheLimey on 1/3/2005 at 04:58
Tleon.. maybe it was black, I can't recall - but yeah it was hard to spot, I recall that much! In fact the first time I got it, I accidentally dropped it back in the swampy water and spent about 10 mins cursing like a trooper before I gave up looking for it and reloaded my save.
Wish I knew about upcomming RPGs too. Most of my experience has been working on 1st person shooters derived from mostly id Engines so I don't really know of anything that's unanounced and I wouldn't be able to talk about it if I did :). Don't know about you, but I'm rather holding my breath for Morrowind Oblivion to be THE kick-a$$ RPG of this first half of the decade. I hope Bethesda take their time and only release it when they're ready. Call of Cthulu looks interesting too (huge H.P. Lovecraft fan here!!!).
