kickstarter Underworld Ascendant

[+Asmodai MVC]

In 1992, Ultima Underworld changed the rules of what a fantasy RPG could be. It introduced the concept of 3D immersion, a player-authored experience, and a richly dynamic world to explore. Its influence led to a whole generation of games such as Thief, Deus Ex, BioShock, Skyrim, and Dragon Age.

Underworld has been hidden away in the deepest vaults of its publisher for two decades. Only now have the original creators unchained the franchise, freeing it to innovate yet again.

KickStarter link

I'm super existed about this and figured I'd share. Ultima Underworld I & II were some of my favorite games in the early 90's. I went from them to the Elder Scrolls series (which sites them as a major influence.) This is from the original designer (Paul Neurath), Warren Spector is listed on their site as a creative advisor, and they have some cross promotion going on with Richard Garriott (Lord British) and his new Shroud of the Avatar game. They also have testimonials from Ken Levine of Bioshock fame and Chris Roberts of Star Citizen and Wing Commander fame.

They even got the rights from EA to use EVERYTHING from the prior two Ultima Underworld games (characters, monsters, settings, etc.) EXCEPT the word "Ultima". So this really is a true successor not just a "spiritual" one.

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

just because it was the first, and influenced a lot of my favorite games, does not mean the new one will be good 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

phych!  totally supporting it     a modern sequel, instead of remaster or remake (and don't get me wrong, for my fav old games, i love those too)  is most welcome!

[spaceelf]

I loved UW2 but it's been too long for me to care.

[+Asmodai MVC]

I loved UW2 but it's been too long for me to care.

 

Well that's just the IP they're using.

 

The designer is the same guy who founded Looking Glass Studios and did the original Thief and System Shock series as well, though they're pretty old too. (He didn't have anything to do with the recent Thief reboot)

They also have Warren Spector and Austin Grossmen from Deux Ex (Austin Grossmen also worked on the recent game Dishonored)

Jay Fielder, Robb Waters, and Shaddy Safadi worked on Bioshock Infinite.

 

It's cool that they're using the old lore but the key is the type of gameplay it represents.  Even if you were entirely new to the IP the pedigree of the development team is pretty impressive.  If it's not you're type of game though that's fine too.

[+Asmodai MVC]

[redfish]

Also, if anyone is interested -- I haven't seen a Shroud of the Avatar thread on this forum -- the development is going great so far, the game is getting better with every release.

[+Asmodai MVC]