Ultima Underworld 2 - Labyrinth of Worlds

PLOT -

Lord British has summoned you back to Britain to take part in his festival of restoration, this is to celebrate the rebuilding of Britannia after the Guardian's invasion (Black Gate). After a night of partying you awake to discover that the castle is covered in a indestructible blackrock shell and there is no escape. Venturing into the dungeons below the castle you discover that the gem expands into many different worlds, can you find away of destroying the gem and escaping?

Having a conversation with Lady Tory

FEATURES -

This game carries on from the first Underworld game, it differs from the normal Ultima games in that you play the game in first person 3D in a similar way to Quake or Doom. You have a huge amount of interaction with the environment for a game of its day.

The game has a larger viewing window than the first Underworld game and the graphics are much improved.

GAMEPLAY -

Underworld 2 was a ground breaking game, it was the first game to allow you to move around in a full 3D environment, you can climb ladders, fall down holes and look up and down, all this was done long before Quake.

There isn't as much conversation as a normal Ultima game, this is very much a explore and fight game. But you have a lot of interaction with the items you collect, your weapons get damaged as you use them and you can repair them if your skill is high enough. The magic system is good fun, using a Rune system rather than the reagent system in the normal Ultima games.

While Underworld 1 had 8 levels to explore, Underworld 2 has many different Worlds to explore, each with many levels, from the Ice Caves to the Ethereal Void! The Puzzles should keep you going for ages and this is a massive game.

Fighting is also excellent with lots of different weapons and moves to use.

VERDICT -

While Underworld 2 isn't a normal Ultima game in that many of the free form exploration and scripting isn't there, it is still one of the greatest games of all time, its wonderful to play and very addictive. Just don't expect to play a game like Serpent Isle or the Black Gate, as long as you don't mind its linear nature is a masterpiece.

Fighting a giant rat in the sewers

WHERE CAN I GET IT? -

I don't currently know of any locations to download Underworld 2.

Or you can try searching on Ebay to buy it secondhand.

Underworld 2 works ok in older versions of Windows, but not XP as far as I can tell so far.

MISC -

There is a project to remake the Underworld games, go here.

CHEATS -

Throw one-shot items like potions and scrolls at walls until they become debris, pick up the debris and you can USE it as a scroll or potion with unlimited charges.
Use the name spell on the debris to tell them apart and you can walk around with unlimited healing spells, mana, fireball and open spells.