Underworld: Ascension

Mr E

2 of my favourite games of all time were Ultima Underworld 1 and 2. Delighted and surprised to learn that one of the original designers is planning to bring it back...

Veteran game designer Paul Neurath is bringing the Underworld series back with a new game, Underworld Ascension.

Neurath's Ultima Underworld lifted a veil on what people expected from a video game. It was first-person, 3D and had you explore the ruins of a vast underground utopian civilization.

It would inspire The Elder Scrolls series of games as well as Ken Levine and his celebrated Shock games, among others.

Neurath would also go on to co-found Looking Glass Studios, the studio behind System Shock and Thief.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-07-01-underworld-rpg-series-returning-with-new-game

gizmo

The Ascension tagline must be a piss take. I mean, it has to be...right?

Mr E

So... Over 4 years later, Underworld: Ascendant is shite, apparently. A completely buggy mess.
Another game to sour people against funding via Kickstarter.

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/underworld-ascendant

Spear

"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent.

It's already happened to Peter Molyneaux with Godus, and now it's the turn of Looking Glass with this. Worryingly it's also the same company, though different team, that's doing System Shock 3. It'd be getting more attention for it's failure it Fallout 76 wasn't overshadowing things.

gizmo

Spear wrote: »

"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent.

It's already happened to Peter Molyneaux with Godus, and now it's the turn of Looking Glass with this. Worryingly it's also the same company, though different team, that's doing System Shock 3. It'd be getting more attention for it's failure it Fallout 76 wasn't overshadowing things.

Hmm, unlike the situation with Molyneux, I'd wager the cause of this is far more straight forward - money. Unless 505 injected a lot of cash into the project, the idea of making a modern Ultima game in this vein is unthinkable on a budget anywhere close to what they pulled in from their Kickstarter.

As for SS3, with Starbreeze in the **** right now I'd also be worried about the longer term viability of that project unless another publisher steps up.

Skerries

I backed this on KS and gave up after a few hours as from what I can see it is going to be a drudge to play
from what I read you end up traipsing around the same caves doing fetch quests
The save system is shiíte as you have to plant a tree as you progress as you spawn at it, so if you forget you are thrown back to wherever you left it last

Venom

Skerries wrote: »

I backed this on KS and gave up after a few hours as from what I can see it is going to be a drudge to play
from what I read you end up traipsing around the same caves doing fetch quests
The save system is shiíte as you have to plant a tree as you progress as you spawn at it, so if you forget you are thrown back to wherever you left it last

This sort of bull**** save game crap really is beyond belief in this day and age. Letting the player save their game when they want has never caused any game problems ever in the god damn history of gaming so why so many poxy dev team gob****es need to keep trying to reinvent the wheel, just baffles me.