Ultima™ Underworld 1+2

The games are great of course, but GOG really has not done a good job here: 1.) The graphics config: no HQ scaling enabled. You need to enabled "ddraw" scaling, "hq3x" and your favorite resolution manually in the Dosbox config file. 2.) The music sounds aweful by default, see http://www.gog.com/en/forum/ultima_series/change_music_playing_device_in_uu1/page2 for tips on how to make music bearable. 3a.) For some bizarre reason GOG has packaged the game in some weird ISO file. So if you want to install unofficial patches you need to edit that ISO with a tool like WinISO. Very annoying and pointless. I managed to install Gigaquads light patch... 3b.) ... but did NOT manage to install the General MIDI patch, because this requires not only editing the ISO file, but also running UINSTALL.EXE to switch to Roland and this EXE fails for some reason in the GOG release. Really GOG, you could do better.

I can go on and on about how good those 2 games were. Recently, I had my original game box of UW1 signed by Warren Spector - who produced Underworld 1 & 2 and later made Deus Ex. I was able to tell him how great and inspiring Ultima Underworld was, and it ignited seriously my interest to become a game developer. The principles of underworld were to create immersive world and offering choices to player. Let player improvise, give him tools and he will find solutions to overcome challenges. Tell him a good story; make the world interactive and responsive to his action. This design philosophy was a great inspiration and something that I wanted to apply in my career as a game developer. Its years later that I started to work with a team of developers that wanted to continue to craft games that make you think (Splinter Cell, DX3 and Thief 4). I've always like to play Ultima Underworld. When I think of Ultima Underworld many concept come to my mind: massive dungeons filles with evil creatures, survival is important, lots of combat, magic spells, plots & conspiracy. It was the first game to create a believable 3D world with a rich plot. The dungeons felt so real. They were dark and uncharted. I had to find lights, use my magic to see something. As I explore, I used my map to orient myself - where to go and where there was uncompleted section to map. Sometimes, detail will be drawn, like a secret door that I was unable to find. Mapping the world was a great thing and fulfilled a sentiment of completion. You could walk, run, jump and swim. Some places were hard to reach and required specific spells, like fly or levitation, or water walk. Finding your ways in the dungeon was a great reward. How do I get there... I’ll come back later... A secret passage here, how do I open this door... I don’t have the key or the skill to pick lock it. I’ll try to break it with my weapons. After a minute or two, and 2 broken axes the door would open. Choices were omni-present in underworld. You had to manage your resources to survive. They all had a weight and some were required on a daily basis to consume like food. You needed to find light (candles, torches, oil, light spell). Some objects were always useful but rarely use: keep potions until necessary to use (fly, levitate), always have a pole to push buttons blocked by a portcullis, carry gold and gems to trades with inhabitants, relics... Everywhere you go you look for object to pick and use. You don’t know what you could find, but it became a reflex to search around and salvage everything useful. Sometimes, you could find books. Rarely, runes were found and how precious they were. Each one can be use to cast spells when combine accordingly. I had to fight to survive and it was required to get rid of all the evil. I can swing my sword, mace, axe, or shoot from a distance magic missile or arrows. When I'm taking too much damage or when your weapon become broken after hitting the wall by accident, running away was a validate course of action. Resting was also part of the adventure. Use your bedroll to sleep, but only somewhere safe and out of reach of monsters. Otherwise I may be attacked. Sometimes in UW1, I would have a vision in my dream that would help me with my quest. That was always a welcome surprises. Underworld was unique at the time. It was a brilliant game. No surprises that it’s a classic and continues to inspire me and other game developers.

Ultima Underworld 2, even nowadays, still tops my all - time favourite CRPG list (along with Ultima VII and Planescape: Torment) : it improves the first episode on every aspect, and it also ties-in more with the main Ultima storyline, unlike UW1. Immersion and general atmosphere are simply superb, probably its strongest points; finally, great gameplay and soudtrack, as well. Thank you, GOG :)

Though branching out from their typical 3/4 birds-eye view rpg/adventure that's known to us older gamers as Ultima, this First-Person dungeon crawler is still just as fun, and brings a difference to the way you know Britannia. The first one takes place in the Stygian Abyss (as the name implies), a dungeon that's supposed to be the be-all-end-all of dungeons in the Britannian world, you must make your way through down through it's depths and rescue the damsel, clear your name (although since you are the Avatar it shouldn't have even come into question - but I digress) and set the world to rights yet again. Ultima Underworld II takes place during the time of the Fellowship, when an otherworldly, inter-dimensional entity known only as The Guardian is vying for world domination and conquest. Trapping you and some of your cohorts (introduced in preceding 'Ultima' games, again you must steel yourself to the challenge and find a way to free the castle's occupants from the "dome" (kind of Stephen King-esque, if you've read his book), and thwart The Guardian's plans yet again. If you've never experienced the world that is "Ultima," or if you like FPS, this game is set to keep you entertained for many, many hours. Go on. You're the Avatar, and everyone's crying for you to save them... AGAIN.