Underworld Ascendant – Preview (PAX East 2018)

Underworld Ascendant is a first-person action role playing game coming soon from developer Otherside Entertainment and is being published by 505 Games.

It has been roughly twenty five years since we have seen the Underworld Ultima series. In order to make sure the game was handled with the care that it deserves after such a long hiatus, Otherside has assembled a dream team to bring this project to life. The studio was started by Paul Neurath, the man behind the studio that gave us such beloved game series as System Shock, Underworld Ultima and Thief. With the idea in mind to regain control of the Underworld series, Neurath went to EA in order to accomplish his goals. However, this agreement did not allow for the use of the Ultima brand, so Underworld Ascendant was born. With his team of industry Avengers in hand, the game began production in 2015 with six people. Since the studio’s inception they have grown to a team of fifteen including Warren Spector (Underworld and Deus Ex) who joined in 2016 as the studio director.

We were invited to be one of the first to have a chance to play an early pre-alpha build at PAX East this year. The level we were given access to will be the first level of the game, taking place shortly after the game’s introduction.

You find yourself trying to navigate your way through the Stygian Abyss by solving puzzles and fighting your way through each level. The Stygian Abyss is inhabited by three factions – Dark Elves, Dwarves and Shamblers. All three are trying to gain control of the abyss. Supporting any faction will have an impact on the balance of power there as well.

How you complete each level is entirely up to you. You can mix and match your skills to find the load out that works best for you. The physical puzzles use simulated systems that make logical sense based on things like weight or even flammability. Yes, that’s right – flammability. Different items you pick up will burn differently depending on their physical make up. For example – a basket will burn out quicker than a wood barrel. The same way they would in real life. Every object that you pick up has a weight associated with it that you must keep in mind as you prepare to throw them for various reasons. A heavier item will require a longer arc to make sure that it reaches its destination.

As mentioned earlier, how you traverse the abyss is completely up to you. Some may use brute force barging through every door they come to. Others will burn them down or find some unique way to get through them to continue on their quest.

One of my favorite puzzles in our playthrough consisted of finding a way to push a lever located over a chasm with no safe passage to be found. After trying a few options it became clear that the only at to pass through the door into the next room would be by throwing something at the lever to unlock the door. Finding the right item was as fun as it was challenging. Each item having a different size and weight would sail through the air differently. Once you find the right item and see it hit the lever square on, the door will open and allow you to move on to the next room.

Underworld Ascendant is packed full of moments like these and we have only scratched the surface as the game is still in a pre alpha state.

At the end of the level you will receive some statistics specific to how you chose to play. Maybe you fought your way through or maybe you were a little more resourceful. There is no wrong way to play the game and it was very interesting to see stats based on your specific game style.

Underworld Ascendant is expected to release in Fall 2018 on Microsoft Windows, Linux and Macintosh operating systems.