Ultima Underworld was the one of the first, first person shooter style real 3d games (ie..DOOM like, but you could look all around!) , but it was much more than just a FPS, oh yes, this game was a 1st person role-playing game too, something that had been done many times before but not in real 3d. They used to do it by pushing a direction key and the whole image would switch with another, more like a slide show then real 3d. UU let you look up down, etc… and swim and move yourself in a fluid (for the era) 3d environment. More then just the technical excellence was the fact that this game was role-playing at it’s finest. You had stats like strength, intelligence, etc... A full inventory you could collect anything you found in the world. And weapons/armor like swords, maces, plate mail etc.. And a full spell system, by use of combining different stone runes to make spells (if I remember right).
Lets talk about story and environment, ok this was amazing too. You started the game with a cinematic of being accused of a crime or something (can’t remember if that was it or the princess was kidnapped,? Don’t remember exact detail) and put in the cave front on the mountain, where you are sealed in alive. I remember those massive doors closing, You start the game and find a backpack from a fallen corpse and a small dagger. The game really gives you a feeling of depth. You really feel trapped under the earth You will come across underground streams and rivers, bridges crossing great chasms, lova streams, staircases, and much more environment eye candy(when you are in water it pulls you along and really feels like water.) All this was new for any game at the time! The inhabitants wee great too. All kinds of monsters and other humans that had there own reasons for being there. Not only that there was native race settlements, like the goblins and others. This really made the game feel real, because of its dialog system, and the fact that everything was placed perfectly, everything had a reason for being where it was, and you could make choices to aide certain npcs and betray others, like all Warren Spector games this adds a new level of immersion. Coupled with the dark environments the game feels like you are going deeper with each level and sometimes you have to back track up a level to get to another area in a lower. The game was amazing and one of kind. This was my favorite game of the early 1990’s, if only they would make a newer sequel for 2006, doom3 engine anyone? That would be great!