Get your sword and shield ready and prepare for the adventure of a lifetime because "Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss" can now be found on an ARM or MIPS Pocket PC near you thanks to the good folks at Ziosoft!
<review>
<author>Michael Walker</author>
<promoimage>1.gif</promoimage>
<keyword>ultimaunderworld</keyword>
<type>1</type>
<title>Ultima Underworld</title>
<developer>Zio Interactive</developer>
<website>http://www.zio.co.kr/eng/pda_rpg_01.asp#1</website>
<purchaselink>http://www.handango.com/ampp/store/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=812&platformId=2&productType=2&productId=31986</purchaselink>
<date>June 18, 2002</date>
<rating>8</rating>
<description>Get your sword and shield ready and prepare for the adventure of a lifetime because "Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss" can now be found on an ARM or MIPS Pocket PC near you thanks to the good folks at Ziosoft!</description>
<section name="Getting Started">
<content>Installation is the usual Pocket PC fare... you run the install program and it interfaces with ActiveSync. When installing, you can choose to additionally install cut scenes and digitized speech. Both of those plus the main game total up to about 12mb, which is a lot for a Pocket PC game. Once you load the game for the first time, you are prompted to enter a registration code which you should have received with your confirmation e-mail.
</content>
</section>
<section name="Interface">
<content>The interface of this rendition of Ultima Underworld is exactly the same as the original, for better or for worse. Though it can be confusing without reading the in-depth manual available from Zio, the screen layout is pretty clean-cut. You've got your commands on the left side of the screen, your statistics and inventory on the right, and the power meter, compass, keyboard, and message log on the bottom. There are dragons on the left and right of the compass that jeer when you're winning a battle and cower when you're losing and a demon on the top that's eyes glow when you cast a spell. It's little details like these that make the game more fun. This system seems to work pretty well except that it has one major flaw. Ultima Underworld was originally designed to be played on a good-sized monitor, probably at least 14". Zio's perfect job of porting, however, goes to show that a game designed to run on a big screen does NOT work very well on a tiny screen. The 3D view is about 1"x1/2". You get used to it after a while, fortunately. But the fact that the screen is so small makes it hard to tap on precisely the right object.
</content>
<content><img 2.png></content>
</section>
<section name="Controls">
<content>For the most part, you must rely on the stylus for control in Ultima Underworld. The layout seems a bit odd at first, but then it'll seem quite natural to you to control everything. You can also use the d-pad and hardware buttons for certain actions, such as moving and jumping. However, I've found that occasionally you just stop moving while you're still holding down the control pad. The game is played in LANDSCAPE mode, rotated clockwise (the control pad is on the left, like a video game controller). There is no option to rotate the screen the other way for left-handed people, so it's really hard to move using the control pad because it's on the left side. This can be a problem especially while you're fighting because the only way to move is with the d-pad or the compass controls, but the control pad is inaccessible for left-handed people. Other than that, though, the control scheme generally works well.
</content>
</section>
<section name="Gameplay">
<content>As you can probably guess, Ultima Underworld features great gameplay. Since the game was based on was one of the best RPGs of its time, The Stygian Abyss definitely delivers. If you're not familiar with the genre (where have you been the last 15 years?), in a role-playing game you, not surprisingly, play the role of another character. Though you play as someone else in almost every other genre, what makes RPGs unique is their focus on heavy plot and character development. Ultima Underworld is no different in that sense. There is a pretty long introduction video you can watch, with various cut scenes as you go along (if you chose to install them).When starting a new game, you are also asked to create a new character. You pick gender, handedness (lefty or righty), class (fighter, mage, bard, etc.), skills to specialize in, and your name. As you defeat enemies, you grow in level and your statistics go up, making you more powerful. In first-person RPGs like Ultima Underworld, you are viewing the world through the character's eyes. Generally, Ultima Underworld's gameplay is perfect, alternating between calmly exploring the Abyss and fast-paced battles.
</content>
<content><img 3.png></content>
<content>The battles are done very well, with you tapping on the screen to charge your attack and then releasing when you're ready to swing, stab, slash or hack. Also, where you tap on the screen determines what kind of attack you do, which is also a plus. However, you can only attack directly in front of you so you have to move so the enemy is exactly in the middle of your viewscreen or else you'll miss. Sometimes the gigantic levels can get confusing, but that helps add to the deep-dark-dungeon setting. Speaking of "dark", the 3D view was a bit hard to make out on my iPAQ 3835. Although it's supposed to be pretty dark in the Stygian Abyss, this is getting ridiculous. Maybe a gamma correction option would have been useful, such as in Argentum. This is just a minor flaw, though, and you get used to it after a while.
</content>
</section>
<section name="Cut Scenes">
<content>Ultima Underworld features something that is quite rare for a Pocket PC game: cut scenes. To help unravel the story, there are little movies strewn throughout the game. Fortunately, those short on space can opt not to install the movies or the speech that goes along with them. However, if you can spare the space, I'd highly suggest installing both the movies and the speech, as they both add a lot to the game. The introduction is perhaps one of the longest and it can be viewed by selecting "Introduction" from the main menu. As I mentioned above, you have the choice to install a "Speech" pack that provides corny voice acting during the cut scenes, complete with British accents to go along with the Shakespearean English .
</content>
<content><img 4.png></content>
</section>
<section name="Graphics" newpage="1">
<content>Though the 3D graphics in Ultima Underworld won't stun you with amazement or wonder how someone could possibly get such graphics on a Pocket PC, they are pretty good, considering the other 3D games currently available. I'd say the graphics are very similar to Doom. One of the worst decisions Zio made in the visual department, though, was to keep the 256-color palette of the original Ultima Underworld. Though after a while you don't notice it any more, this color scheme does seem a bit dull at first. One of the other big problems is pixelation. Once you get close to a person or object they appear to be quite pixely and unrealistic. However, without major alteration to the game, I doubt that Zio would have been able to fix this.</content>
<content><img 5.png></content>
</section>
<section name="Music and Sound">
<content>I've found that in most Pocket PC games, the music is good, but it's only one (or two or three) songs playing over and over again, so it tends to get annoying after a while. Ultima Underworld is no exception. As you'd expect, Ultima Underworld's music is just like every other medieval RPG: bold and (trying to be) inspiring, but mysterious. As for the sound effects, they are fine but far and few between.
</content>
</section>
<section name="Documentation">
<content>For those of you who have no idea whatsoever how to play Ultima Underworld, Zio has provided documentation about how to play the game. Available from their Ultima Underworld description page, the zipped file contains two Adobe Acrobat documents, a manual and "player's guide". The manual has in-depth descriptions about how to play the game and the controls. However, it doesn't explain many of the keyboard commands that were there in the original game, like pressing 1 and 2 to look up and down (they do work in this version, they're just not documented). The strategy guide has maps and level objectives, along with references to runes, spells, and the Lizardmen language.
</content>
</section>
<section name="Conclusion">
<content>If you've been hankering for some old-school RPG action on a Pocket PC, Ultima Underworld will at least satisfy you until something more original comes around. And even after the next wave of role-playing titles are released, you still may find yourself being attracted to Ultima! If you're a fan of first-person RPGs or happened to play this game 10 years ago when it was first released, this is a definite must. Though the $30 price tag is a lot and Zio offers no playable demo, Ultima Underworld is a great game, straight and simple.
</content>
</section>
<pro>Great 3D graphics</pro>
<pro>Direct port of the original</pro>
<pro>Cut scenes!</pro>
<pro>Detailed documentation</pro>
<pro>One of the best PPC RPGs available</pro>
<con>Small viewscreen</con>
<con>Repetetive music</con>
<con>Flawed Control Scheme</con>
<con>Takes up a lot of space</con>
</review>
