Articles
THE TOP
10 NON-ADVENTURE GAMES OF ALL TIME
Article
by Agustín Cordes and Michal
Necasek
9. Ultima Underworld – Origin, 1992
Despite the ‘Ultima’ part of
the name, Ultima Underworld had very little to do with
the Ultima universe. Not only it put a 180 degree spin on the series
but also had a huge impact on the RPG genre, if not games in general.
As an Ultima chapter, its single-character party and
first-person view made it barely recognizable as part of the series.
If it wasn’t for the mention of Lord British at the beginning of
the story, you wouldn’t even think this was an Ultima game.
The state-of-the-art engine was an impressive achievement. You had
total freedom to explore the underground world, looking up and down
(a first!), and interact with the breathtakingly animated creatures
that populated it. How to forget the water effects that had to be
seen to be believed! And all of this sporting a clean and friendly
interface that allowed players to perform actions such as casting
spells and fighting, simply by clicking buttons that could be accessed
directly without the need to switch screens. If you take into account
this technical marvel was released one year before Doom, you
have to wonder what was on the mind of people who called the latter
game “revolutionary”. Ultima Underworld was
Warren Spector’s first big project – if you don’t know about this
man, keep in mind that three of his games are featured on this list.
‘Nuff said.
