Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds

Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds
Studio	Looking Glass Studios
Publisher	Origin Systems
Senior Developer	Paul Neurath , Doug Church , Tim Stellmach
Erstveröffent- lichung	1993 (DOS)
platform	DOS FM Towns NEC PC-9801
genre	Computer role playing game
Subject	Fantasy
Game mode	Single player
control	Keyboard , mouse
medium	3.5 ″ diskette , CD-ROM , download
language	English
Current version	General MIDI patch, Windows NT patch ( fan patch )

Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds ( English for "Labyrinth of Worlds") is a computer role-playing game by the US developer Looking Glass Studios from 1993 and the second Underworld title to be the successor to Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss . In contrast to its predecessor, it is more strongly integrated into the Ultima game series and is located in the game history around six months after Ultima VII - The Black Gate . The game was released by Origin Systems for DOS , FM Towns, and NEC PC-9801 .

action

Backstory

During a feast to celebrate the rebuilding of Britannia, the Guardian encloses Lord British's castle with an indestructible shell of black rock. The protagonist now has to visit eight other worlds during his adventure. In recurring dreams, the Guardian also explains to the avatar how far his triumphant advance in Britannia has already progressed, often with voice output.

The Avatar gains access to alien worlds due to inattentiveness of the Guardian's spell. The court magician Nystul suspects that smaller images of the black rock themselves are located within the large black rock and could help to free them from the unpleasant prison. This assumption turns out to be correct. In the extensive sewer system of the castle (“sewers”) there is a smaller copy of the Black Rock. The small black rock consists of eight segments, which light up gradually and teleport the avatar to a different, alien world. Within these strange worlds, even smaller copies of the Black Rock appear, which have to be found and (after magical activation by Nystul) connected to the Black Rock in the castle's sewer system. This can seriously disturb the magic of the Guardian.

However, further steps are necessary for the complete destruction of the great black rock that surrounds the castle. For one, the Guardian's power sources must be deactivated in each of the eight worlds. For this the help of a magician from the second world is necessary. In addition, a magic horn with strong destructive power must be used, which is located in the seventh world. After all, you need the magic book from which the Guardian's saying for the creation of Blackrock comes. This can be stolen from a Guardian warrior ("Mors Gotha") before a planned invasion of Britannia after completing all other tasks.

Game world

In the first world (Prison Tower), the Avatar finds himself in a multi-story high-security prison that is guarded and run by goblins.

Other worlds consist of the floating fortress Killhorn Keep, the Ice Caverns, the strange world Talorus, the magic school Scintillus Mage Academy, a penal colony called Pits of Carnage and the mausoleum of Praecor Loth.

In the final eighth world Essential emptiness first and then reach the shrine of spirituality (Ethereal Void) the player must in a surreal corridor with teleporters a pyramid to get to the source of power of the Guardians.

Each level offers special features in design and gameplay. The ice caves make it difficult to move around due to the slipperiness and snowballs can be thrown at opponents.

technology

Compared to the first part, the 3D window has been enlarged slightly to a little more than a quarter of the VGA resolution of 320 × 200 pixels. With an expanded color palette, the game world is a little more appealing than in the first part. Voice output parts have also been integrated into the game.

reception

As with the predecessor, the reviews in the trade press were predominantly positive to exuberant. For example, in PowerPlay magazine 03/93 Ultima Underworld 2 achieved 94%. In 2011 Ultima Underworld 2 was rated 4.0 out of 5 by the online review magazine MobyGames.

Web links

• Ultima Underworld 2: Labyrinth of Worlds at MobyGames (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Voyager: Ultima The Reconstruction - Fanpatches ( English ) reconstruction.voyd.net. April 8, 2007. Retrieved May 28, 2011: " Ultima Underworld General MIDI Patch Underworld to WinNT "
2. ↑ GameByte: Interview with Paul Neurath from Looking Glass Technologies on their forthcoming game, Ultima Underworld 2 . Looking Glass Studios. 1992. Archived from the original on November 16, 2006. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
3. ↑ PowerPlay 3/93 "Ultima Underworld: Labyrinth of Worlds" (Kultpower.de)
4. ↑ Ultima Underworld: Labyrinth of Worlds - MobyScore 4.0 (accessed January 6, 2011)