Ultima™ Underworld 1+2

Undoubtedly, one of my ten favourite games ever. And just as enjoyable today as it was when first launched.

Released in 1992, before even Wolfenstein 3D, this was one of the first games using a 3D environment, a real landmark in gaming and certainly RPGs. Plays very nicely on Steam Deck via Heroic launcher after some button remapping. Game controls are fairly horrible, inventory management painful, graphics &sound very dated (monsters and npcs are sprites!). Gameplay... classic 90s style maze like maps, find items, traps, fight monsters, lots of repetition & backtracking through levels. You definitely need to use walkthroughs as the levels are huge and often important items/locations/info virtually impossible to locate. And it goes on way, way too long. However it is still a good game with lots of charm, and you can tell the devs had a blast making it.

I found this game difficult to play because the mouse system of movement and fighting is awkward, the interface is inefficient, and the gameplay window is too small. The game environment is also dull and homogenous. It feels like I am exploring a house basement. Although I certainly don't expect an old game like this to have flashy graphics and a steamlined interfaced, unlike other games I have enjoyed from GOG.com, I found this title to be clumsy, boring, and therefore frustrating. I also had problems with the sound right away. Although I found the solution in the community forum, it was still inconvenient to correct issues before being able to play the game.

The firs thing that should strike you about these games is how well they have aged. The interface is friendly (there is no better automap out there), the graphics are colorful and charming, and the soundtracks are very evocative. The game are addictive like all great games are- you want to keep playing just to explore that one last piece missing on your map, but doing so leads to another area and before you know it hours have passed. Don't let the age of these games fool you!

If anything ever comes out that manages to match the UUW games for immersiveness, depth, and atmosphere, it will never leave my drive. Come to think of it, with very few gaps I've had Ultima Underworld in one form or another on my computer for literally the last 20 years -- that should tell you something.