ULTIMA UNDERWORLD II by Origin / Looking Glass Technologies
Preview by Thom Vaught

The second installment of Ultima Underworld casts the Avatar into a new
adventure. It is Avatar meets the Poseidon Adventure. Instead of being
trapped in a sinking ship the Avatar is trapped in Castle Britannia. The
Guardian has placed a blackrock sphere around the castle and all its
occupants are trapped. While they are trapped in the castle, the rest of
Britannia is sinking beneath the Guardian's tide. Blackrock is impervious
to weapons and magic. The Avatar must plunge into the underworld beneath
the castle searching for a way of escape.

Several of the Avatar's friends are trapped within the castle. They
provide useful advice and information. Also, they provide training when
the Avatar increases in level. Among those in the castle are Lord
British, Dupre, Iolo, and Miranda. Each of them has ideas about what the
Avatar must do to find a way of escape. All of these characters should be
visited periodically as the story emerges.

Once the Avatar finds a way into the underworld beneath the castle, the
adventuring begins. The exploration and combat are very similar to the
first Underworld game. However, don't think this is just a rehash. There
are a lot of new things in the Underworld.

The Avatar must not only explore the Underworld, but also alternate
planes. For example, there is a world of ice that must be explored. Once
the Avatar finds these other worlds, there are a lot of different things
to contend with. The presence of several worlds to explore offers change
from the traditional dungeon environment. In each world there are new
traps and puzzles to challenge explorers. The terrain itself provides
different challenges in the various worlds.

Along with those major enhancements, many other improvements were made.
More spells have been added. There are also new creatures the Avatar will
encounter. The viewscreen is larger than in the first game. Also, the
warping that would occur when a wall was viewed at close range has been
fixed.

From my experience with a beta copy of the game, I'm impressed. I found
the first game to be a little repetitive. Underworld II, though, has a
lot of variety and promises adventurers many hours of exploration and
discovery. Those who enjoyed the first game should enjoy the second even
more. Those who did not enjoy the first game may want to take look at
Ultima Underworld II because there are many improvements.

This preview is Copyright (C) 1992 by Thom Vaught. All rights reserved.