Amazon Maximum Age: 240 months
Amazon Minimum Age: 60 months
Binding: CD-ROM
Brand: ZIOSoft
EAN: 0712692955659
ESRB Age Rating: Everyone
Format: CD-ROM
Label: ZIOSoft
Manufacturer: ZIOSoft
Packaged Height: 64 hundredths-inches
Packaged Length: 369 hundredths-inches
Packaged Weight: 120 hundredths-pounds
Packaged Width: 303 hundredths-inches
Platform: Windows CE
Platform: PDA
Publisher: ZIOSoft
Release Date: 2002-05-21
Studio: ZIOSoft
Customer Reviews:
6 of 6 customers found the following review helpful:
 We were there first., 2006-05-03
What was the first 3D, first-person shooter? A lot of people today would say Doom. A few who are a bit more in the know would tell you it was Wolfenstein 3D. Almost nobody would say anything about Ultima Underworld.
This game hit the shelves shortly before Wolfenstein 3D. (An early demo, in fact, was an inspiration for that game.) When you compare the two, you will be amazed. Although primitive by today's standards, the graphics and mapping are amazing. This game is superior in every way to its better known contemporary. You face a greater variety of foes, have more available weapons (and modes of attack) and have an opportunity to develop your skills as you progress. The game environment itself is vastly different, the walls are textured and curve (as opposed to flat and blocky). You can swim, run and jump. You can also interact with various items in a way not available in Wolfenstein.
Another major difference between the two is that this game has a storyline. Although it is only marginally related to the main series, you play the Avatar of Virtue, hero of the original Ultima series. You are on a quest to rescue a damsel in distress, save the world from an indestructible demon and prove your innocence in the process.
You explore a seven level dungeon and interact with a variety of characters---most of them friendly. In your quest you must collect several powerful magical artifacts, some made for you and some incidentally useful. The backstory is fascinating in itself, as you learn about how the Abyss was populated and the groups fractured into warring factions.
There are also a couple of amusing Easter eggs planted throughout the game, the most interesting of which caught me totally off guard.
Although the game engine and graphics are, as I said, primitive by today's standards, this game has worn well. Since it has a lot more to offer than point-and-shoot, let's-spray-some-blood, violence, aging graphics cannot undo the charm and interest of this game.
Try it out for yourself, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
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