Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds
Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds | ||
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Composer(s)
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Series | Ultima | |
Platform(s) | DOS, FM Towns, PC-98 | |
Release | ||
Genre(s) | Role-playing video game | |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds is a 1993
Ultima Underworld II began production in April 1992, shortly after the completion of Ultima Underworld; and it was developed in nine months. The team sought to improve upon the foundation laid by the game's predecessor, particularly by increasing the size and interactivity of the game world. The team reused and improved the first game's engine. Development was impeded by insufficient staffing and extensive playtesting, and the rapid production cycle led to burnout on the team.
Most critics gave Ultima Underworld II positive reviews and lauded its graphics, design and nonlinearity. Complaints focused on its high system requirements and unrefined pacing. It has been placed on numerous hall of fame lists since its release. In reaction to the game's difficult development, Looking Glass altered its design approach: they streamlined ideas from the Ultima Underworld series to create System Shock. The team pitched a sequel to Ultima Underworld II multiple times, but Origin Systems rejected the idea. Arkane Studios' Arx Fatalis (2002) is a spiritual successor to the franchise originally pitched as a sequel. OtherSide Entertainment's Underworld Ascendant is the first officially licensed entry in the series in over 23 years.
Gameplay
Ultima Underworld II is a
The player begins by creating a character, for whom traits such as gender,
As with its predecessor, Ultima Underworld II was designed to generate emergent gameplay through the interplay of simulated systems. The developers attempted to combine role-playing elements with "a sophisticated three-dimensional simulation of a sensible and believable world".[6] For example, torches burn out, items wear over time and the player character must eat.[2][6] Many items in the game are useless but were included for the sake of realism.[5] The game is nonlinear, in that players must "visit and revisit" areas as the character gains abilities and becomes stronger,[6] instead of "clearing each square foot as they go".[5] Many situations and puzzles in the game have multiple solutions.[6]
Plot
Setting and characters
Ultima Underworld II is set in the fantasy world of the
Story
One year after the events of Ultima VII: The Black Gate, the Avatar and many other recurring characters from the Ultima series attend a celebration at the castle of Lord British. However, they are trapped when a large dome of impenetrable "blackrock" covers the castle.[3][4] The Guardian plans to attack Britannia while the characters are trapped,[7] and he explains that those who do not surrender will be left to die in the dome.[10] Searching the sewers beneath the castle,[8] the Avatar locates a smaller blackrock crystal that leads to alternate dimensions. The magic used by the Guardian to seal the castle caused interdimensional portals to open between eight parallel worlds,[4][11] each of which is a "center" for the Guardian's power across dimensions.[7] The denizens of these dimensions are ruled by the Guardian, and the player must free each world to weaken the Guardian's power over Lord British's castle and elsewhere.[3][4] The Guardian mocks the efforts of the Avatar in their dreams throughout the game.[7] As the Avatar explores other worlds, a contemporaneous plotline, which PC Zone's David McCandless called a "soap opera", unfolds at the castle. One of those trapped in the castle is a traitor, and the Avatar must discover their identity.[8]
The first dimension visited by the Avatar is a prison tower in "Fyrna", which has been conquered by goblins led by the Guardian. There, the player rescues a human resistance leader named Bishop, who then returns to lead a rebellion against the Guardian.[12][13] Back at the castle, the player gives a small blackrock gem obtained in the prison tower to Nystul, who enchants it to disrupt the portal in the sewers.[14] Next, the player visits Killorn Keep, a floating fortress in a different dimension. Altara, a sorceress in Killorn Keep who is allied with Bishop,[12][15] warns the Avatar that the Guardian has hidden a magical spy beneath the castle in Britannia. She provides a special dagger with which to kill it.[16][17] After removing the spy, the Avatar visits a dimension of ice caves: the remnants of a civilization destroyed by the Guardian, now ruled by a ghost named Beatrice.[12] The Avatar returns to the castle and finds that Lady Tory has been murdered by the traitor.[8][18] The next dimension is Talorus, a world inhabited by energy beings called "Talorids" that each serve a single purpose, such as knowing only the past or producing runestones. Talorids are created to serve the Guardian,[12] but the Avatar destroys and replaces the sole reproductive Talorid to free the race.
The Avatar completes a series of tests at Scintillus Academy, a mage school whose staff was killed by the Guardian. Afterwards, the player travels to the Pits of Carnage, a subterranean prison on a world where the Guardian trains soldiers to attack other dimensions; and to the Tomb of Praecor Loth, where a king killed in a war with the Guardian is buried.[12] Finally, the Avatar visits the Ethereal Void, a strange world with floating, glowing pathways and no map.[7][12] Eventually, the Avatar discovers that Mayor Patterson is the traitor and destroys the blackrock dome.
Development
Looking Glass Technologies began to develop Ultima Underworld II in April 1992.[19] The team's goal was to build upon the foundation laid by the game's predecessor, Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss.[5] They attempted to write a better, more complex plot and to include superior simulation elements and "play value".[5] According to project leader Doug Church, the team's "biggest advantage" was the presence of four dedicated designers; by contrast, each member of the original game's team had assumed multiple roles.[5][6] The Tomb of Praecor Loth was largely created by lead writer Austin Grossman, who took inspiration from the Dungeons & Dragons module Tomb of Horrors.[20] The additional designers allowed Looking Glass to more carefully revise levels in Ultima Underworld II, so that players would have "interesting stuff" to see and do each time they explored an area. The team attempted to fine-tune the role-playing mechanics of Ultima Underworld, such as by making certain skills more powerful in the sequel.[5] More puzzles and interactivity were added, and the game world was made several times larger than that of Ultima Underworld, according to Church.[5] He later believed that the team was overambitious, and that the game was insufficiently focused and polished as a result.[21]
Like its predecessor, Ultima Underworld II was produced by
Ultima Underworld II was developed in nine months.[21] It was originally slated for a February 1993 release,[19][22] but the date was later moved up to December 1992.[22] The game underwent two and a half months of playtesting by Origin and Looking Glass employees,[5] and by remote testing firms.[24] According to Church, the testing phase took more time than expected because of complaints from playtesters and the presence of numerous bugs.[5] Church went to Origin's headquarters in Texas during the final stages of development. The team "tried desperately to make Christmas", and the game was completed around December 18. Church compiled the final version on his laptop in Spector's office.[19] However, the game was held back for further playtesting even though it could have shipped on schedule.[24] Church later commented, "[T]here was one bug we couldn't reproduce, and everyone really wanted to go home for Christmas. We ended up taking a few days off, checking it a few more days and using that version anyway."[19] The delay caused the game to miss the holiday season.[24] It was shipped in January 1993.[22]
Technology
Ultima Underworld II was built with an improved version of the game engine used for its predecessor. The team enhanced its visual capabilities: they broadened the first-person view by 30%, expanded the color palette, added more 3D objects, increased the size and animation of character sprites and wrote a new texture mapping algorithm. Director Paul Neurath commented that Ultima Underworld's texture mapping had failed to "look quite as good as we had hoped", and that the new system realized their vision. The game's code is roughly 30% larger than that of Ultima Underworld—bloat that Church attributed to "second project syndrome".[5]
Reception
According to Paul Neurath, Ultima Underworld II and its predecessor together sold half a million units.[21] Paul Presley of PC Review called the game "huge" and praised its atmosphere, increased variety and higher graphical detail. However, he found that the game, unlike its predecessor, does not feature "anything that takes it to a higher plateau to wait for the others to catch up". He summarized Ultima Underworld II as "magnificent", and he wrote, "If someone were to hand me £40 and say buy either Underworld I or II, I'd take the sequel any time."[3] PC Zone's David McCandless wrote, "Nothing can completely prepare you for the freedom the game gives you ... It's about as close to Virtual Reality as you are ever likely to get from your mouse driver." He praised the game's atmospheric sound and called its graphics "stunning": on a high-end computer, he found that "dungeons can move like a film". Partly because of the game's large size, he felt that Ultima Underworld II was looser and less involving than its predecessor, but he concluded that players would still "sit there, dribble slightly, and say 'blimey' every eight to ten minutes."[8]
The
Legacy
According to Church, Looking Glass found Ultima Underworld II's long playtesting phase extremely stressful.
References
- ^ "New Release: Ultima Underworld 1+2". GOG.com. June 2, 2011. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ PC Gamer UK. No. 140. p. 103.
- ^ a b c d e f g Presley, Paul (April 1993). "Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds". PC Review. Pg. 50-54.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Ricketts, Ed (March 1993). "Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds". PC Format (18). Pg. 40-43.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "An Interview With Looking Glass Technologies". Game Bytes. 1992. Archived from the original on April 19, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds Manual. Origin Systems. 1993.
- ^ a b c d e f g Sencat, Doug (May 1993). "The Gilded Cage; Will the Avatar Ever Escape Ultima Underworld II?". Computer Gaming World. No. 106. 34, 36, 38, 40.
- ^ a b c d e f g McCandless, David (April 1993). "Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds". PC Zone (1). Pg. 26-30.
- ISBN 978-1-234-74652-0.
- ^ Looking Glass Technologies (1993). Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds. Origin Systems.
The Guardian: All who choose to serve me shall be spared. All others shall rot within these walls.
- ^ a b Burrill, William (May 8, 1993). "Underworld Maze Game an Excellent Adventure". Toronto Star. LIFE; pg. J4.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-929373-12-6.
- ^ Looking Glass Technologies (1993). Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds. Origin Systems.
Bishop: Indeed, I must be gone from here. Once free of this field, I shall be able to rejoin my troops by mystic means.
- ^ Looking Glass Technologies (1993). Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds. Origin Systems.
Narration: He hands the gem back to you, now slightly warm to the touch / Nystul: Thou shouldst bring this down to the larger gem in the sewers, and experiment. There might be some... interesting effects.
- ^ Looking Glass Technologies (1993). Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds. Origin Systems.
Altara: Bishop told me you might come.
- ^ Looking Glass Technologies (1993). Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds. Origin Systems.
Altara: There will be an observer in thy castle, some magical creature lurking in the sewers and tunnels there.
- ^ Looking Glass Technologies (1993). Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds. Origin Systems.
Altara: Keep this dagger with thee! ... [Although] other weapons may wound it, only this blade can deal the killing blow.
- ^ Looking Glass Technologies (1993). Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds. Origin Systems.
Guard: I hardly know how to say this... but Lady Tory... / Miranda: Yes? Out with it! / Guard: Julia just found her, sir. I...she's been killed.
- ^ a b c d e Bauman, Steve (January 30, 2000). "The Tracks of His Games". Computer Games Magazine. Archived from the original on September 8, 2003. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
- ^ a b Weise, Matthew (February 25, 2011). "Looking Glass Studios Interview Series - Audio Podcast 1 - Austin Grossman". Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011.
- ^ a b c d Mallinson, Paul. "Games That Changed The World Supplemental Material". PC Zone. Archived from the original on July 21, 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
- ^ ISBN 1-55622-912-7.
- ^ a b Weise, Matthew (March 21, 2011). "Looking Glass Studios Interview Series - Audio Podcast 2 - Dan Schmidt". Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab. Archived from the original on March 27, 2014.
- ^ a b c Taylor, David (1993). "An Interview with Warren Spector of Origin Systems". Game Bytes Magazine. Archived from the original on January 9, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
- ^ Scorpia (October 1993). "Scorpia's Magic Scroll Of Games". Computer Gaming World. pp. 34–50. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
- ^ Weise, Matthew (March 4, 2012). "Looking Glass Studios Interview Series - Audio Podcast 10 - Paul Neurath". Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab. Archived from the original on March 29, 2013.
- ^ Starr, Daniel (1994). "An interview with Looking Glass Technologies". Gamebytes. Archived from the original on April 19, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2006.
- ^ Todd, Brett (March 20, 2002). "Arx Fatalis Preview". GameSpot. Archived from the original on November 2, 2010. Retrieved February 9, 2009.
- ^ Purchese, Robert (July 1, 2014). "Underworld RPG series returning with new game". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
- ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (February 4, 2015). "Underworld Ascendant Kickstarter calls for $600K". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
External links
- Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds at MobyGames
- Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds on the Codex of Ultima Wisdom wiki