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NotM: Ultima Underworld-Final Thoughts
By Corvus | February 8, 2008
I’ve spent the last five NotM posts discussing Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (UW) in the rosiest of glowing terms and it is certainly worth the praise. The highlight of the design is, as I’ve touched on, in the systemic approach to designing a storyworld that gives the impression of not hinging solely on the plot and the player. At its core, UW is a (mostly) well balanced game set within a compelling mythos and, more importantly than any of that–the dev team wasn’t afraid to take chances by utilizing a completely different approach to a genre than had been tried before. I read once that UW was the result of attempting to present an RPG with a flight simulator perspective. For the most part, this was a brilliant approach.
Before I launch into a nitpick, let me say that I quickly became accustomed to UW’s mouse-only control scheme. Not only that, but it’s a rather ingenious attempt to enable the sorts of control only later fully realized with dual analog thumbsticks on the consoles. Rather than utilizing the now standard WASD keys for movement (they weren’t yet a standard when UW was released), forward movement is keyed to the primary mouse button. This requires you to keep the left mouse button depressed for most of the game and can lead to some wicked fatigue syndrome. Cursor position handles speed and turns, with the cursor itself changing appearance, intuitively letting you know your trajectory and relative velocity. Keyboard mappings allow you to look up, down and snap your focus back to center. This is entirely independent of any other movement.
The right mouse button was mapped contextually and initiated jumps, inspection of and interaction with the environment, conversation, spell casting and combat. You have three attacks available to you, a stab, a sideways slash and an overhead slash. Which attack you deliver is based upon cursor position. Some weapons appear to be less effective at certain types of attacks (who stabs with an ax?), so it’s important to choose more powerful attacks. Holding the attack for a moment before releasing it, builds the attack strength and does more damage. Some enemies fly at you and require you to look up. Some enemies are low on the ground and require you to look down. Still others float about, requiring you to constantly reposition your perspective. You can also move around while in combat, avoiding blows by putting distance between you and your attacker. If, for some reason, you want to jump during combat, you can use the keyboard mapping to jump, as the right mouse button is busy handling your attacks.
Are you getting the picture? Combat isn’t a simple affair and requires no small amount of manual dexterity. It’s a system that relies far too much on a single set of inputs, most of which are controlled via the mouse. I don’t dislike the control system, but I do know that there are many who are put off by it and I can’t fault them for that.
My second major nitpick is with character classes. First off, I’m pleased to see character classes like Tinker and Shepherd among the options. Secondly, I’m ecstatic to see that warriors can cast spells, providing they dedicate some XP to it, and that there are no ridiculous armor restrictions enforced by the interface. However… let’s say you create a purely magical character, relying on offensive and defensive spells to survive combat. This is a perfectly viable approach to the game. Until level seven of the abyss. Level 7 is the haunt of a power hungry mage. Level 7 is populated with fire elementals and ghosts and lurkers. Level 7 is under the influence of a powerful spell which completely drains your mana, rendering magic ineffective.
The character you’re so lovingly developed for six long levels… is suddenly neutered. Now, I never personally built such an imbalanced character that this was an issue for me, but it was very much a show stopper decision for some people I knew. Again, I can’t really fault anyone for allowing this level to completely color their view of the game. To offer complete freedom to develop your character as you wish and then, without warning, require the character to have at least some measure of combat prowess seems a bit off.
In conclusion, while videogames that rely heavily on textual elements to communicate story, such as the verbose Planescape Torment, are often the focus of the narratologist’s praise, it is videogames like Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss that I hold up as shining examples of the participatory storytelling experience. UW’s narrative is a solid blend of components, from the manuals to the gameplay, and it allows the audience an amazing amount of control over their experience of the story.
Stay tuned in March for the next Narrative of the Moment–X-COM: UFO Defense!
Tagged:NotM, storytelling, ultima underworld. | 6 Comments »
February 8th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Level 7 stopped me from playing the game for a couple of months. Then, finally, one day I decided to push on through it and get to the end of the game. Unfortunately, in that time I’d forgotten much of what I’d had to do to get there. But I pushed through and had forgotten about it by the time I finished the game.
February 8th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
X-COM? I’m looking forward to that one, even if it will just bring back memories of my shame.
February 11th, 2008 at 2:09 am
Some years ago a friend asked me about the Ultima Underworld games, and I had to confess that I hadn’t played either one. The look of shock and disappointment on his face is etched in my memory
Now I’m being pushed again, thanks to your excellent NOTM series, so it looks like it’s time to surrender and give Stygian Abyss a whirl. You’ve got me especially interested in the magic and participatory storytelling elements.
Thank goodness DOSBox runs on my Mac…which I’m sure isn’t half as cool as your EEE PC!
February 11th, 2008 at 5:47 am
I think you’ll like it a lot, Michael.
February 13th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Have you ever played Shadowcaster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowcaster)? I enjoyed that game far more than underworld. It’s considered “abandonware” like ultima and you can find sites that host free download if you google the name of the game by putting an extra space somewhere. ;P
February 13th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I scooped up Shadowcaster when it was released and hated it. A lot. I seem to recall my complaints revolved around the generic environments and vanilla FPS gameplay dressed up in overly-hip sword and sorcery clothes.
Perhaps I should give a look now and see what I think of it.