PC Gamer

Mood lighting is big
in the underworld.

PREVIEW

Underworld Ascendant

RELEASE

2018

DEVELOPER

OtherSide Entertainment

PUBLISHER

505 Games

LINK

http://www.underworldascendant.com

NEED TO KNOW

It’s the same assortment of simple

chemistry and physics magic we’ve been

performing in games since Half-Life 2

made boxes cool. But for all the talk

OtherSide Entertainment’s marketing has

generated about how Underworld

Ascendant will move the immersive

sim genre forward, I was surprised by

how dated it feels in practice.

Set in the same universe as the

Ultima Underworld games, you play

as a nameless avatar transported into the

underworld. Inside, dungeons filled with

clockwork traps work in step with classic

fantasy creatures. A spectre patrolled the

small area I played through, guarding a

magic artefact hidden somewhere within.

Stealth and water arrows kept me out of

its sight, but on a high ridge bordering the

area, a plant creature with sharp flailing

mandibles stood in my way. A simple

petrification spell let me get by with ease.

Still, smaller skeleton warriors wandered

all around, denying access to my goal.

With all the components of a fantasy

dungeon present, I tried cooking up

creative solutions and power combos in

my mind. To kill a skeleton, I could light the

trail of mucus behind a giant cave slug on

fire at the right time, shoot the rope

holding up a precarious chandelier just as

the skeleton passes under, bash them on

the head with a thrown box... or just shoot

them in the face with arrows, which

proved much more efficient. The choice

was welcome, but putting in extra effort

for a ‘clever’ kill never proved necessary in

the early stage I played.

I’m sure I would’ve been more creative

if the basic moves and interactions

weren’t so awkward to begin with. The

distance you crouchslide is tied to

momentum, and highly exaggerated.

Short sprints away from baddies had me

sliding far across the floor and into danger

like I’d buttered up my cloak and mail

beforehand. The ability to throw objects, a

marquee feature, was so tricky in the tight

tunnels and dense caverns that I never

wanted to use it. Even the bow feels bad.

Arrow damage is tied to mouse precision

and a crude oscillating meter next to the

crosshairs – a major distraction – rather

than quick, precise aim alone.

One spell whips up all the physics

objects nearby to bash skeletons with, but

the objects got caught on the

environment, monsters, and one

another in a glitchy tornado of boxes.

It looked like the beginning of a

terrible mistake in Garry’s Mod, not

the deft work of a wizard-warrior

descending into the Stygian Abyss. The

roleplaying curtain pulled back to reveal

the videogame often in this short demo.

ROAD TO PERDITION

Ascendant is likely to leave immersive

sims exactly where they were. That’s fine,

but what’s left is a 3D homage to Ultima

Underworld stripped of the theatrics and

imagination required to convincingly

roleplay a character; a physics-based

puzzle game wrapped in a clichéd cartoon

fantasy template with some neat tools

and clever uses for them. Even so, I’m not

sold on its world, the novelty of its toolset,

or how its most basic actions feel to

control. OtherSide’s ambition is clear, but

Ascendant just doesn’t feel ready to be

released anytime soon. If it has to be, I

hope it at least manages to be a messy

game with interesting enough level design

and skill combinations to hold it together.

James Davenport

U

sing a physics engine to throw a box at a

skeleton’s head isn’t a particularly

exciting or new idea, but it’s being

presented as an exemplary expression of

player freedom in Underworld Ascendant. You can

also put out torches with water arrows to better

stay hidden, or build magic bridges out of the weird

abundance of boxes lying around the Stygian Abyss.

Ultima Underworld’s successor ha s

nice ideas, but they’re not original

UNDERWORLD

ASCENDANT

PUTTING IN EXTRA EFFORT

FOR A ‘CLEVER’ KILL NEVER

PROVED NECESSARY

PLAYED

IT