Underworld Ascendant Reviews

Otherside Entertainment released their immersive dungeon crawler Underworld Ascendant last week, but it’s only now that we’re getting the first professional reviews. If I had to summarize the game’s reception in as few words as possible, I would have to call it an unmitigated disaster. The highest score the game got is a pitiful 3/10, with several outlets refusing to score Underworld Ascendant altogether. It’s important to note that the developers have already promised to work on fixing the game, but for now, here are the reviews:

PC Gamer 25/100:

The developers are currently working to fix the bugs, so some of these points may no longer be relevant by the time you read this. But Ascendant’s flaws run far deeper than even the most spectacular gremlins I ran into. I’m yet to mention the save system, which has you plant a tree in the ground to create a spawn point, while the actual save system only maintains your progress from the start of a mission. That’s right, you plant a tree to not-save. Quicksave was good enough for Dishonored. It was good enough for Thief. Why isn’t it good enough for Ascendant, which couldn’t hold a candle to either of them without setting itself on fire?

I’m genuinely interested to know what happened with this project, why it’s gone so horribly wrong. Not only because I’m a fan of Looking Glass’ work, but also because OtherSide are currently developing System Shock 3. If it’s anything like this, well, let’s not think about that too much. Underworld Ascendant is simply terrible.

GameSpot 2/10:

For many players, especially the time-poor, the save system alone will be enough to render Underworld Ascendant unplayable. But even if it were addressed, and a more conventional system patched in, it would be impossible to recommend this game to anyone. Framed as a spiritual successor to Ultima Underworld, Underworld Ascendant misses the mark with almost every shot, much like my aforementioned hapless archer. At the same time, even freed from the expectations its historical baggage brings, it is a clear failure. The spirit of Ultima Underworld lives on elsewhere.

Gamereactor 3/10:

Much like this review our time with Underworld Ascendant ended rather abruptly. It was our second run at a particular level. The first ended when we got stuck behind a tree on our way to the exit and had to restart from scratch; the second attempt we tried to run at speed. The reshuffle meant a change of location for our objective and so once we’d got to the final area where our target was hidden, we started sneaking around and searching in the dark for our new goal. After a misstep or two we found our way under the level itself, stuck in a basement that eventually fell into a lake of water. Obviously, we weren’t supposed to be here. As we splashed away in this serene body of water looking up at the dungeon hovering above, it dawned on us that we would be unable to find our way back into the level to complete our objective and that yet another restart was required. At this point, it became clear that we were just wasting our time, and with the technical problems mounting alongside our indifference, we decided to call time on our adventure.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun calls it a woeful mess:

But far more egregious is a scene at the end of what plays out like a tutorial, where it tells you to use all you’ve learned about light and dark, to avoid fights, or turn circumstances to your advantage. You’re in a large-ish room with a balcony around the top, lots of torches and a chandelier, and two skeletal enemies. So I do as I’m told, put out all the flames (eventually, because the chandelier was super-buggy), and yet even after that the room remains brightly lit because of fixed light points they’ve programmed into the scene! The room in which you’re supposed to black things out to win a fight has fixed lighting!

It’s elements like these, from the off, that suggest a game that either hasn’t been play-tested, or if it has, the results had to be ignored. And there’s so much more. Movement feels sluggish and treacly, in a way that colours every moment. There’s no useful description of a weapon’s stats, or why you’d use one sword over another, and all their icons are identical. The symbol for a “deteriorated rag bandanna” is an iron helmet, as is anything else worn on the head. (Oh, and in-game they’re rendered as… a vast leather backpack.) Load times are absolutely atrocious. Missions end while the narrator is mid-sentence. So many elements aren’t explained as they’re introduced. And it’s hard not to think some of the words on the level completion screen were meant to be placeholders.

The Sixth Axis advises to aviod:

The object collision physics are ridiculously over responsive, so bumping into a pile of crates that you have spent minutes trying to make into a stairway knocks them all flying. Enemies have the AI of aggressive lemmings, running straight at you with no discernible behaviour types or strategies. Light and dark mechanics that seem to offer some interesting room management opportunities either don’t work or are deliberately scuppered by unquenchable light sources hardcoded into areas you’re forced to sneak through. Controls are jerky, the graphics are fine but certainly not cutting-edge, and the voice acting, or the little I have been able to experience, functional but annoying after repeated listens.

I just don’t know what to make of this released version of Underworld Ascendant. For a game with such a rich pedigree, especially given some of the talents who have been brought in to help with its design, it is currently a total failure. The mythological setting, the idea of multiple approaches and the updating of classic dungeon crawl mechanics all suggest that somewhere there is an idea of what Ascendant is meant to be. Surely what we have is not it.