Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (MS-DOS)

Developer:

Blue Sky

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Release Date:

1992

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Systems:

DOS, FM Towns, PC-98, PlayStation

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This year on Super Adventures, I'm celebrating 10 years of the site by playing games that have earned their place on a 'top 10' list at some point. Maybe I found a game on a 'Top 10 Best Game Over Themes' list, or perhaps a 'Top 10 Most Underwhelming Sequels' list, it doesn't matter as long as they made it there.

In this case I'm playing Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss which I found at #5 on PC Gamer's 1994 'Top 100', and at #3 on PC Zone's October 2000 'all-time classics' list. You could probably find it all over the place though as it's a bit legendary. It's part of the foundations that some of the biggest franchises are built on, as series like Deus Ex and Elder Scrolls can trace their lineage right back here. Tomb Raider and Minecraft too actually. Though there's a more direct link with Looking Glass's System Shock series, seeing as this is the first game by Blue Sky Productions... later known as Looking Glass Studios.

I haven't played this myself yet though, even though it seemed like an obvious choice for Super Adventures, and the main reason for that is that it looks like an absolute bastard to write about, and I'd want to do it right. Plus I haven't really played the other Ultima games and I know nothing about the series!

I checked Wikipedia however, and it turns out that Underworld was released just before Ultima VII, in 1992, and the Ultima series was 11 years old at the time. So this was a bit of a Resident Evil 4 situation I suppose, as it's an inventive and influential successor released about a decade after the original. Except here it's a spin-off, not a change in direction for the franchise, so fans of the classic gameplay weren't faced with their series making a genre shift. In fact it wasn't even originally an Ultima game at all, and they had to rewrite it during development to fit the lore and really turn up the 'ye olde English' dial.

I should mention that I'm playing the GOG version, which is presumably the CD release, and I should also mention it may include cartoony low-res spiders.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC) - Part 2

Click the highlighted text if you'd rather be reading part one.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC) - Part 1

Today on Super Adventures I'm finally done with that awkward 22nd letter of the alphabet, and the last 'V' game I'll be taking a quick look at this year is... Elder Scrolls: V (also known to some as Skyrim).

Released in 2011, five years after Oblivion, Skyrim is the fifth of the main Elder Scrolls series, and the first to sound like it's a James Bond movie title. This theme music on the other hand sounds more like what you get when 90 people chant their own made up lyrics to the Elder Scrolls theme introduced in Morrowind... it's basically amazing. Here have a youtube link, may it make your day just that little bit more epic.

I sank a considerable number of hours into this game a considerable number of months ago, so I'm not coming into the game blind, but I can't remember any of it in any kind of detail. As always I'll be playing it utterly unmodded, like a fool, to give you the most authentic screenshots possible. I'm not really a fan of mods to be honest, as I don't like the idea of tweaking a game to suit my tastes. For me it's a bit too much like getting out the red pen and scribbling edits over the pages of a novel I'm not liking. Once I've tasted the power of godlike power of an author I can't immerse myself in the experience in the same way.

(Click to view images in an astoundingly modern 1280x720 resolution. Actually I've just upgraded my PC at bloody last, so this time I've thrown in a few at 1920x1080 for you to enjoy. That's 125% extra pixels, free!)

Elder Scrolls Online (PC) Beta - Part 3 - Guest Post

Welcome to the final part of an epic early look at the latest Elder Scrolls game, where guest poster Jihaus reveals his experience of the game from a MMO player's point of view. I explained why we're both writing about the same game in back in part 1, and if you want to see the game from the perspective of an Elder Scrolls fan, you might want to read what I thought about it in part 2 as well.

Today we get to take a different look at the beta of the upcoming Elder Scrolls Online, because this is going to be the first Elder Scrolls game I'll have played in my life. I have a passing knowledge of the series from various friends, but otherwise the series is new to me. I have however played other MMORPGS, with World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV clocking the most hours, so that's the perspective I'll be coming from.

This being an MMORPG it's a slow burn experience, so you'll be seeing a lot more time compression in this article than you're used to from SAG. Ray and I played this beta for about three days, which for an MMO is actually not far in at all.

We begin of course by logging in, which comes after the lengthy installation and setup that precedes most any MMORPG. I'm greeted by a short placeholder video that consists of text on a slideshow that tells me that my character is some poor schmoe who gets taken to an underground ritual site and carved up, and then wakes up without a soul in Oblivion, which as far as I know is hell. Then we get to see what our soulless protagonist looks like.

(Click the screenshots to view the 1024x786 resolution originals.)

Elder Scrolls Online (PC) Beta - Part 2

Congratulations, you have chosen to read part 2 of Super Adventure's epic three part Elder Scrolls Online beta event, where I take a look at the game myself. I wasted a page explaining why ESO is getting so many pages page back in part 1 and you can read an alternative view of the game from MMO fan Jihaus in part 3.

To be honest I'm kind of dreading the game. Part of it is that I'm very fond of Elder Scrolls and I don't want to play a shoddy MMO imposter dressed up in its mythology developed by a new developer who doesn't quite get the point. But also I don't much like the idea of being forced to co-ordinate with complete strangers just to make it through dungeons.

In fact the whole idea of being forced to be online for the whole game really puts me off, because I don't really want my embarrassing attempts at figuring out basic things for the first time to be on full display to crowds of people. But then I basically do that twice a week for this website so I should just get over it and play the game already. I mean it took forever to download all 30GB of it so I might as well.

(Click the images to expand them to an exotic 1265x786 resolution. Not what I set it to, but it'll do.)

Elder Scrolls Online (PC) Beta - Part 1

Today's B game is... the Elder Scrolls Online Beta! Yeah it's a stretch, but when I was offered a chance to play it I had to take it. Only a fool would let opportunity slip by just because it's alphabetically inconvenient.

I'm pretty sure that one of the M's in MMO stands for multiplayer, so I'll be joining up with a friend on this one. Not only are we going to be playing together, but we're each writing up our own opinions on it as well. He knows nothing about Elder Scrolls and I know nothing about MMOs, so between us we've got every angle covered.

So you've got two full articles here to choose from this time, from two different perspectives:

Ray Hardgrit plays the Elder Scrolls Online Beta.
I'm coming into this as basically a total MMO newbie and one of last people left on Earth who hasn't played World of Warcraft, though I'm very fond of the Elder Scrolls series. I've played all the PC and console games from Arena to Skyrim (yes even Battlespire), and I'll be comparing Elder Scrolls Online to them constantly.

Jihaus plays the Elder Scrolls Online Beta.
The guy has never touched an Elder Scrolls game and wouldn't know the difference between a Dunmer and a Dwemer, but he knows his shit when it comes to MMOs and will be able to analyse how Elder Scrolls Online measures up to the competition.

Pick the one that sounds the most interesting to you, or read them both if you feel like it. Then leave comments! Amazing, witty, inspiring comments.

Arx Fatalis (PC)

I'm still going through titles beginning with A and today I've dug up another game from my epic pile of requests for you: classic PC/Xbox RPG Arx Fatalis.

I know next to nothing about this other than that it came out in 2002 (a couple months after Morrowind) and that it's the first game from Arkane Studios, the creators of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and Dishonored, but hey that's enough to catch my interest. Well okay to be fair I haven't seen much of those two games either, though they seem like they could be cool, so maybe this will... seem cool too.

Arkane actually had another big project secretly in the works during the mid 00's, called Half-Life 2: Episode 4, but that didn't work out in the end; partially because Valve forgot to release Episode 3. Over six years we've been waiting for the resolution to that cliffhanger now in case you're wondering.

(Click the images to view their giant-sized doppelgängers.)

Legend of Grimrock (PC)

Today's game is Dungeon Master inspired retro RPG Legend of Grimrock. I'm going to find out what it's like and how to play it, and then pass that information onto you, dear reader, as that is what I do. Then I'll probably make a bunch of dumb mistakes, misunderstand some fundamental gameplay concepts, get hopelessly lost, and then quit out of sheer frustration about an hour or so into it, as I tend to do that as well I've noticed.

This one wasn't my idea by the way. I actually got a request to play this months ago and I'm sorry it took me so damn long to for me to get around to it.

(Click the pictures to view them as a big jpg compression artefact corrupted mess instead of a little jpg compression artefact corrupted mess. Handy if you want to have a fighting chance to read the text.)

The Curse of Monkey Island (PC)

Curse of Monkey Island is the third in the legendary point and click adventure series, released six years after the previous game. Which was a bloody long gap, considering the first two came out a year apart.

This had new designers, a radically different art style, and voice acting for the first time. And since the original creator, Ron Gilbert, had left LucasArts, the new team had to come up with their own take on the series. Which was all a bit worrying to the fans, especially as the new guys would have to resolve Monkey Island 2's now famous mindfuck of an ending, which I'm going to spoil for you after the next picture. You have been warned.

Dishonored (PC) - Guest Post

Hello my name is Kraed and I'm not Ray Hardgrit and yet you're reading this on his website. Isn't that weird?

Today I'm going to buck the retro trend and play a modern game. Too many companies have been releasing games that are just dumb action-fests where you travel from set piece to set piece blowing everything up. I've decided to play a game a bit more intellectual than that, so here we go. Dishonored is a game about stabbing people in violent ways.

And yes there will be spoilers (including a small one for Portal 2 perhaps - Ray), though if you can't guess the plot twists in this game I'm guessing you haven't played anything with a story more complex than Tetris.

(Click the pictures to view them in a downright modern 1600x900 res.)

Curse of Enchantia (MS-DOS)

Today on Super Adventures, I'm taking a quick look at Curse curse of Enchantia, a point and click adventure game by Tomb Raider developers Core Design. Yeah I know I just played Beyond Shadowgate and Lure of the Temptress, but you know how it is: you spend forever waiting for an adventure game, then three show up at once.

Lure of the Temptress (MS-DOS)

Today I'm taking a look at Lure of the Temptress, the first game by point and click adventure specialists Revolution, who went on to create Beneath a Steel Sky and the Broken Sword series.

You might have noticed that this is the second adventure game I'm playing in a row, after Beyond Shadowgate. Well, I figured that considering there's 68 first person shooters, 71 RPGs, and 260 platformers on the site so far, the poor point and click genre was getting a bit under-represented. Plus I felt like playing it.

Beyond Shadowgate (TurboGrafx-CD)

Whoa, right away I know I'm onto a winner with this one. The title screen shows a guy standing on a ring of skulls, pissing all over a dragon and cheering.

Today on Super Adventures, I'm taking a look at Beyond Shadowgate, on the TurboGrafx. This one was a request, and is apparently the sequel to famously cruel 1987 adventure game Shadowgate, which I haven't played and know next to nothing about.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC)

A super-sized look at the fourth game in the main Elder Scrolls series! No mods, no graphical enhancements. Just pure, straight out of the box Oblivion.

I have played this one before, but I never did finish it. If I remember right I mostly hid out in the Arena until I ran out of enemies to fight, then got bored with it.

(Click the pics to make them big.)

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (PC)

In Elder Scrolls: Arena my bow broke and I was murdered by skeletons. In Daggerfall I roamed the land for days on foot, never finding out how to start the main quest. In Battlespire I got stuck in a bloody Battlespire... but this game I've played before. So hopefully I'll at least remember how to get to the plot.

And I'll be playing it 100% UNMODDED! Not even a graphics mod, this is vanilla Morrowind in its purest form. Click the pics for a super huge version. Well, 1280x960... slightly huge.

The Elder Scrolls: Arena (MS-DOS)

(*May not actually include an arena.)

This is the very beginning of the Elder Scrolls series, which seemed like a sensible point to start from. The game is available for free from the developer's website, and that's the version I'll be playing.