Page 110 - PC Gamer - UK (February 2020)

UPDATE
WHAT’S NEW IN THE BIGGEST GAMES
UNDERWORLD: ASCENDANT
Has OtherSide succeeded in fixing its immersive sim? By Rick Lane
nderworld Ascendant
U was a dream game for
me, a fully fledged
sequel to the original
immersive sim,
created by a developer forged from
the remnants of Looking Glass –
creators of Thief and System Shock.
It had the talent. It had the
experience. What could go wrong?
The answer, it turned out, was
“pretty much everything”. Ascendant
was terrible, a barely playable fudge
of confused mechanics, sluggish
movement and interactions,
repetitive missions, and a shocking
number of bugs. It was also evidently
unfinished, with barren, empty
environments, a disconnected
world-space, and key features of the
original Ultima Underworld’s design
missing, like dialogue trees and rival
factions you could interact with.
Apologising for the state of the
game at release, OtherSide
committed to improving the
experience post-launch. Since then,
the developer has made four major
updates and myriad lesser patches,
fixing bugs, adjusting core mechanics,
and making some more fundamental
changes to how the game functions.
The most significant is to how the
world is structured. Previously, the
various levels of the Stygian Abyss
were entirely separate, accessed via a
portal that would take you to the
HOW BROKEN IS IT?
Here’s how it stands in relation to some other infamously busted games.
Chipped Edge
Hairline crack
Snapped in two
Multiple pieces
Smithereens
Dust
Underworld Assassin’s
Ascendant Creed: Unity:
(Pre-patches)
110 FEBRUARY 2020
RELEASE DEVELOPER
NEED TO KNOW
15 November 2018
PUBLISHER OtherSide Entertainment
LINK
505 Games UnderworldAscendant.com
relevant level for your mission. As of
the second update, however, all the
game’s levels are connected to one
another. They’re still separated by
loading screens, but now you can
progress from one level to the next,
exploring as you like rather than
being only able to explore the level
for the mission you’re on.
UNDER THE WEATHER
This change comes coupled with an
overhaul for how questing works.
Originally, Ascendant’s quests were
picked up from the Midnight Forum,
a tavern-like area in the game’s hub
of Marcaul. These quests were
assigned by different factions, and
would provide influence with each of
them, required to complete the
game’s final mission.
Now, the game places much
greater focus on the main story,
unlocking new areas of the Abyss as
you track down the Abyssal Keys.
Quests are also provided differently,
with a Saurian named ‘Hapurkala’
setting up a camp in the relevant
area, meaning you can return for a
new quest without venturing back to
Marcaul. Both the main story and
Fallout: Boiling Point: Soldner: Underworld
New Vegas: Road to Hell: Secret Wars Ascendant
(Post-patches)
faction missions have also been
updated, refining existing quests and
introducing new ones. An early
example sees you rescuing an Outcast
named Fane from a dungeon, who
then sets up as a vendor for stealth
gear in Hapurkala’s camp.
Alongside these major changes are
numerous smaller additions. These
include new enemies like the
fearsome Shadow Beast, new Runes
and Rune formulas for a greater
range of spells, and new game
mechanics such as Saurian prisoners
who can be released to fight
alongside you. OtherSide has also
spent time squashing bugs and
making improvements. Setting things
on fire no longer murders your
SADLY,
ASCENDANT
STILL ISN’T MUCH
FUN TO PLAY
framerate, while some of the game’s
more egregious glitches are fixed.
These are all good, necessary
improvements. Sadly, none of them
change the fact that Underworld
Ascendant still isn’t much fun to play.
Movement is still awkward, combat is
clumsy, and stealth is unsatisfying.
The physics engine remains dreadful,
and trying to climb up the game’s
ropes and chains is still like trying to
hold onto a snake on amphetamines.
I also hate how so many of the
game’s mechanics are deliberately
obscured. The Magic system is
interesting, but its emphasis on
experimentation should focus on
using spells, rather than finding out
what they are. Meanwhile, the Feats
system, which unlocks skill points for
performing specific in-game actions,
essentially means gaining experience
comes down to random chance.
I’m glad OtherSide has strived to
improve Underworld Ascendant, and
I’m comfortable saying that it’s no
longer a broken game. Instead, it’s
merely a bad one, and there is still a
long road ahead before it resembles
anything close to the halcyon days of
Looking Glass.