Genre: RPG
Developer: Blue Sky Productions
Publisher: Origin Systems

Fully-fledged texture mapped polygonal levels, with floors above floors and 3d game world objects, prior to the release of the pseudo-3d, raycasted "Wolfenstein 3d"? Indeed! Ultima Underworld essentially matches the engine features of "Daggerfall", four years ahead of time! And with an aesthetic just as remarkable: dark and foreboding; sinister lizards, occasionally writhing, bodies curled around the view area border. The user interface's adventure game-like "look" and "use" icons add a "King's Quest"-like aspect.

George Sanger, known more famously for his later work on "The 7th Guest", along with his close friend Dave Govett, co-deliver a stunningly morose score here, with the song "Wanderer" being especially iconic, with its rolling harp and moribund, desperate melody. By contrast, "Maps and Legends" is filled to the brim with political intrigue and question, while the battle songs are clearly precursors to Sanger's later "Wing Commander" contributions.

Ultima Underworld's simplistic combat and somewhat ponderous movement schemes are more than offset by its spectacular level design, the clever implementation of adventure game aspects, and some sublimely novel ideas, such as the need to learn, from a pantomiming mute, an entire lizard language, or the mechanic of collecting and assembling runes in order to cast spells. This was the era of game boxes replete with printed maps and reference sheets, lending a very real sense of adventure to the proceedings.

"Isolation" is a common theme in popular media, whether in films such as "Jurassic Park", novels such as "The Hunger Games", or in video games-- such as featured here, in Ultima Underworld; a game with an unforgettably moody and dire setting. What's of particular note is how this game went on to influence the genre; in retrospect, "The Elder Scrolls: Arena", for instance, was nothing more than a clone of this title. Underworld is a true classic, in every sense!