Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
Origin 1992
Genre: RPG, Action
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC
Rating:
Wandrell:
5/6
Overall: 5/6
Many years after his last adventure in Britannia the Avatar is brought back by a mysterious apparition, and he appear at a bad place and moment. Thanks to it he ends accused of a kidnap and sent down to the Stygian abyss, from where it is not possible to escape.
For this spin-off the gameplay has received many changes that make it a different game compared to the other of the series, making it more action oriented sometimes but also giving you more control over your surroundings.
First the two most noticeable, you are alone, on your own, with its good and bad things. And the game is in a first person sight, which gives the typical problems of little visibility, mainly thanks to rarely having a good source of light; and manoeuvrability, rotating and jumping can be painful.
Another also noticeable change is the magic system, which this time is based in runes, each being the representation of a word of power. You only need two or three of them and mana. This system based just in itself allows having some hidden spells, and even thought it may look otherwise, is not unbalanced compared to the reagents system.
And this is mainly because the skill system, the last and probably the most important change. Now when gaining a level you may meditate at an ankh, using the proper mantra, and improve at a range of skills that go from fighting, defending or using a kind of weapon to casting spells, mana capacity, identifying, spotting hidden things or stealth.
Yes, you can be stealthy, through skill or magic. They have took care with the world interaction and there are several interesting things around, that include using tools, like a rock hammer to break boulders; or making some simple ones, such as a fishing pole. And the design of the game may give you more than one way to achieve your goals, when facing a door, for example, you may pick it, open it with magic or bash it, taking the chance of breaking your weapon. The characters are also, as usual, interesting, and the quests they give rarely consist on simply killing something. Well, they tend to consist in a thing, in exploration.
With the automap it haves, where you can even put your own labels, and the interesting, and sometimes also somewhat maze-like, places you will find that exploration is one of the more interesting things in the game. You will find tomb, puzzles, rooms and leftovers of what once was a great society built in the dungeon, and in all of those places you will find thing of value to use by yourself or to barter.
The game is something to be played, even today there are few three-dimensional games that give so much freedom and are well done. It haves what the Ultima are known for, many little details that create an interesting and fun world.
For this spin-off the gameplay has received many changes that make it a different game compared to the other of the series, making it more action oriented sometimes but also giving you more control over your surroundings.
First the two most noticeable, you are alone, on your own, with its good and bad things. And the game is in a first person sight, which gives the typical problems of little visibility, mainly thanks to rarely having a good source of light; and manoeuvrability, rotating and jumping can be painful.
Another also noticeable change is the magic system, which this time is based in runes, each being the representation of a word of power. You only need two or three of them and mana. This system based just in itself allows having some hidden spells, and even thought it may look otherwise, is not unbalanced compared to the reagents system.
And this is mainly because the skill system, the last and probably the most important change. Now when gaining a level you may meditate at an ankh, using the proper mantra, and improve at a range of skills that go from fighting, defending or using a kind of weapon to casting spells, mana capacity, identifying, spotting hidden things or stealth.
Yes, you can be stealthy, through skill or magic. They have took care with the world interaction and there are several interesting things around, that include using tools, like a rock hammer to break boulders; or making some simple ones, such as a fishing pole. And the design of the game may give you more than one way to achieve your goals, when facing a door, for example, you may pick it, open it with magic or bash it, taking the chance of breaking your weapon. The characters are also, as usual, interesting, and the quests they give rarely consist on simply killing something. Well, they tend to consist in a thing, in exploration.
With the automap it haves, where you can even put your own labels, and the interesting, and sometimes also somewhat maze-like, places you will find that exploration is one of the more interesting things in the game. You will find tomb, puzzles, rooms and leftovers of what once was a great society built in the dungeon, and in all of those places you will find thing of value to use by yourself or to barter.
The game is something to be played, even today there are few three-dimensional games that give so much freedom and are well done. It haves what the Ultima are known for, many little details that create an interesting and fun world.
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