Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds

LookingGlass Technologies

Industry	Video game development
Founded	January 1, 1990 (1990-01-01)
Founder	Paul Neurath
Key people	Doug Church, Warren Spector, Paul Neurath
Products	Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds
Parent	None

Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds is an action role-playing title launched in 1993 by LookingGlass Technologies and distributed by Origin Systems. Serving as the follow-up to Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss, it is situated within the Ultima franchise. Players assume the role of the Avatar, journeying through several alternate realities to thwart the malevolent Guardian's quest for global domination. The gameplay emphasizes a largely nonlinear structure and incorporates elements of emergent gameplay.

Development kicked off in April 1992, soon after completing the original game, with a timeline spanning nine months. The development team focused on enlarging and enriching the game world’s scale and interactivity, utilizing an upgraded version of the original engine. Challenges during production included a small team size and extensive testing phases, which led to significant fatigue among developers due to the compressed schedule.

Reviewers lauded Ultima Underworld II for its visual presentation, intricate design, and open-ended gameplay, although some criticized its demanding hardware requirements and occasional pacing issues. The game has been recognized in various prestigious gaming hall of fame compilations. In response to this challenging production, Looking Glass refined their design philosophy, culminating in System Shock. Despite several sequel proposals, Origin Systems opted not to greenlight a direct continuation. Nevertheless, Arkane Studios’ Arx Fatalis (2002) acts as a spiritual successor, while OtherSide Entertainment's Underworld Ascendant represents the first official series installment in over twenty years.

Gameplay

In Ultima Underworld II, players engage in a role-playing video game experience from a first-person viewpoint within a fully realized 3D setting. Exploration takes place inside dungeon-like interiors spread across eight distinct parallel dimensions, where players undertake quests to aid local populations. Interaction is facilitated through a freely movable mouse cursor that controls the HUD, enabling object inspection, dialogue with NPCs, weapon management, and inventory handling. Sharing its engine with its predecessor, the game introduces mechanics such as jumping, swimming, and an automap feature.

Character creation allows players to define attributes including gender, character class, and various skills ranging from negotiation to blacksmithing. The starting point is Lord British's castle, which functions as a central hub connecting multiple dimensions. Players accumulate experience points by engaging in combat, completing missions, and exploring environments; combat involves mouse clicks to execute attacks with diverse damage types. Spellcasting relies on gathering "runestones." Advancing levels increases hit point totals and awards skill points that players allocate by training with NPCs rather than using shrines.

The game’s design encourages emergent gameplay by blending traditional role-playing elements with an advanced 3D simulation that mimics a realistic environment. Features such as torches burning out over time, item degradation, and hunger contribute to immersion. Many objects exist solely for atmospheric authenticity rather than practical use. Its nonlinear structure prompts players to revisit locations as their character’s abilities improve, offering multiple approaches to overcoming puzzles and obstacles.

Setting and characters

Ultima Underworld II unfolds within the fantastical universe of the Ultima saga, encompassing several parallel dimensions and commencing in Britannia, the franchise's customary realm. The central figure is the Avatar, whose narrative continues immediately following the events of Ultima VII: The Black Gate. The primary foe is the Guardian, a malevolent force intent on dominating Britannia. Familiar faces such as Lord British, Nystul, Dupre, Iolo, Mayor Patterson, Lady Tory, and Miranda also appear throughout the story.

Story

Set one year after Ultima VII: The Black Gate, the Avatar and other familiar characters find themselves trapped beneath a blackrock dome enclosing Lord British’s castle. The Guardian threatens anyone opposing him with death inside this enclosure. While exploring the castle’s sewer system, the Avatar discovers a blackrock crystal that grants access to eight alternate worlds—each serving as a power base for the Guardian. Liberating these realms diminishes his grip on Britannia. Concurrently, there is a need to uncover a traitor lurking within the castle walls.

The Avatar’s initial journey leads to Fyrna, a prison tower now controlled by goblins under the Guardian’s influence. Here, the player rescues Bishop, a human resistance leader who subsequently helps gather allies. Back at the castle, Nystul enchants a blackrock gem from Fyrna to disable the sewer portal. The next destination is Killorn Keep, a floating stronghold where sorceress Altara warns of a magical infiltrator concealed beneath Britannia’s castle and provides a special dagger to eliminate it. After neutralizing this spy, the Avatar ventures into icy caves governed by Beatrice, a ghostly figure.

Upon returning to the castle, it becomes clear that Lady Tory has been murdered by the traitor. The Avatar then travels to Talorus, home to energy beings known as Talorids created by the Guardian; by destroying and substituting their only reproductive member, freedom is granted to these entities. Further locations include Scintillus Academy—where staff were killed by the Guardian—the Pits of Carnage, a prison training soldiers for interdimensional warfare; and the Tomb of Praecor Loth, resting place of a king slain by the Guardian. Ultimately, in the Ethereal Void—an uncharted realm with floating pathways—the Avatar identifies Mayor Patterson as the traitor and shatters the blackrock dome.

Development

Development of Ultima Underworld II began at Looking Glass Technologies in April 1992 with the goal of expanding upon their previous success with Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss. The team aimed to introduce a more intricate storyline alongside deeper simulation features to enhance gameplay depth. Project lead Doug Church emphasized that having four dedicated designers was an advantage over their earlier project where team members fulfilled multiple roles. Lead writer Austin Grossman cited inspiration from the Dungeons & Dragons module Tomb of Horrors when creating content for the Tomb of Praecor Loth. The larger design team allowed for more thorough level refinement and increased interactive elements. Role-playing systems were adjusted for better balance, with some skills receiving increased potency, and overall game world size was significantly expanded. Church later admitted that ambitions exceeded practical polish.

Warren Spector served as producer and acted as Looking Glass’ primary liaison with publisher Origin Systems, providing weekly guidance calls and monthly meetings that helped maintain creative direction. When internal art production fell behind schedule, Spector arranged for Origin contractors to assist—this collaboration was crucial in meeting deadlines despite logistical challenges caused by distance. Composers Dan Schmidt and newcomer Seamus Blackley crafted the soundtrack within one week, delivering distinct audio themes for each game world while incorporating variations of a central motif. The existing music system remained largely intact with minor tweaks; however, digitized sound effects replaced earlier synthesized audio.

The development cycle lasted nine months, initially aiming for a February 1993 launch but later moved forward to December 1992. Extensive playtesting spanned two and a half months involving Origin staff, Looking Glass employees, and external testing firms. This phase extended longer than anticipated due to bugs and feedback from players. During final development stages, Church traveled to Origin’s Texas headquarters as the team worked intensively to meet a Christmas release target. Although the final build was compiled around December 18 in Spector’s office and ready for shipment, it was held back for additional testing. This postponement caused the game to miss holiday season sales and led to its release in January 1993 instead.

Technology

The development of Ultima Underworld II utilized an upgraded iteration of the engine from the original game. Enhancements featured a first-person perspective that was 30% broader, a richer color spectrum, an increased number of three-dimensional objects, larger and more dynamically animated character sprites, and a newly implemented texture mapping technique. Director Paul Neurath remarked that the initial texture mapping system had fallen short of their expectations, whereas the revised method realized their intended vision. The game's programming expanded by approximately 30%, a growth Church attributed to the challenges commonly associated with "second project syndrome."

Reception

Paul Neurath revealed that combined sales of Ultima Underworld II and its predecessor reached 500,000 copies. Paul Presley from PC Review lauded the game's atmosphere, diversity, and enhanced visuals, describing it as "magnificent," though he noted it did not introduce revolutionary changes beyond the original. He suggested that consumers opt for the sequel over the first installment.

David McCandless of PC Zone emphasized the title's freedom and immersive qualities, praising its graphics as "stunning" and comparing dungeon navigation to cinematic experiences on high-performance machines. While he found it somewhat less focused than its forerunner, he still regarded it as highly captivating.

William Burrill of the Toronto Star referred to it as "the finest fantasy role-playing game" available at the time, applauding its automap feature and graphical detail despite acknowledging a steep learning curve and occasional frustrations. He concluded that players willing to invest time would discover a uniquely rewarding experience.

Doug Sencat from Computer Gaming World valued the game's visuals, storyline, and 3D world immersion but criticized aspects such as movement controls, linear narrative structure, dialogue options, and limited non-player character autonomy. He described the gameplay as lengthy and often exasperating but recognized it as a relatively high-caliber release. The magazine’s reviewer Scorpia offered a more favorable assessment, calling it a strong sequel.

Jim Trunzo in White Wolf magazine awarded it a perfect score of 5 out of 5, endorsing it as a refreshing take on fantasy gaming that diverged from conventional overhead party-based adventures.

Legacy

In a 2004 retrospective article, John Walker of PC Gamer UK observed that Ultima Underworld II achieved innovation across multiple domains simultaneously—an accomplishment unmatched since then. PC Gamer consistently ranked the game among top computer titles: placing it 5th in 1994, 18th in 1998, 54th in 2001, 39th in 2007, and 98th in 2011. The publication praised it as one of the finest dungeon-crawling adventure RPGs ever created and highlighted its deeply interactive design. By 2011, it was characterized as "a game from the future" due to its exceptional level of interactivity.

Doug Church, one of the founders, described the prolonged playtesting period as intensely stressful. Paul Neurath recalled that accelerated production schedules led to team fatigue. Toward the conclusion of development, Looking Glass shifted its focus away from dungeon-based titles toward projects maintaining similar design principles but set in different environments. This transition sparked brainstorming sessions among Church, Spector, Grossman, and Neurath that culminated in the creation of System Shock. Grossman referred to his work on the Tomb of Praecor Loth dungeon as a "mini-prototype" for concepts later expanded within System Shock.

Looking Glass made several attempts to pitch an Ultima Underworld II sequel to Origin Systems but were unsuccessful. Likewise, Arkane Studios' proposal for Ultima Underworld III was declined by Electronic Arts, which motivated them to develop their spiritual successor titled Arx Fatalis. In 2014, Neurath’s company OtherSide Entertainment announced plans for Underworld Ascension, another spiritual successor. Renamed Underworld Ascendant in 2015, this project successfully secured funding through a Kickstarter campaign.

External links

• Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds at the Codex of Ultima Wisdom wiki