Ultima Underworld’s successor has nice ideas, but they’re not original
Using a physics engine to throw a box at a skeleton’s head isn’t a particularly exciting or new idea, but it’s being presented as an exemplary expression of player freedom in Underworld Ascendant. You can also put out torches with water arrows to better stay hidden, or build magic bridges out of the weird abundance of boxes lying around the Stygian Abyss.
It’s the same assortment of simple chemistry and physics magic we’ve been performing in games since Half-Life 2 made boxes cool. But for all the talk OtherSide Entertainment’s marketing has generated about how Underworld Ascendant will move the immersivesim genre forward, I was surprised by how dated it feels in practice.
This story is from the September 2018 edition of PC Gamer US Edition.
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This story is from the September 2018 edition of PC Gamer US Edition.
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Already a subscriber? Sign In
Special Report- Stacked Deck - Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big.
Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big. Four years later, its successor Inkbound’s launch from Early Access was looking more like Sandwich Big.I’m not just saying that because of the mountain of lamb and eggplants I ate while meeting with developer Shiny Shoe over lunch, to feel out what the aftermath of releasing a game looks like in 2024. I mean, have I thought about that sandwich every day since? Yes. But also, the indie team talked frankly about the struggle of luring Monster Train’s audience on board for its next game.
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