Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
	Cover art by Denis R. Loubet
Developer(s)	Blue Sky Productions
Publisher(s)	Origin Systems
Director(s)	Richard Garriott
Producer(s)	Warren Spector
Designer(s)	Paul Neurath
Programmer(s)	Jonathan Arnold; Doug Church; Jon Maiara; Dan Schmidt; Carlos Smith;
Artist(s)	Carol Angell; Douglas Wike;
Writer(s)	Brad Freeman; Dan Schmidt;
Composer(s)	George Sanger; Dave Govett;
Series	Ultima
Platform(s)	DOS FM Towns; PC-98; PlayStation; Windows Mobile;
Release	March 21, 1992 DOS NA: March 21, 1992; ; FM Towns JP: December 1993; ; PC-98 JP: December 17, 1993; ; PlayStation JP: March 14, 1997; ; Windows Mobile NA: May 29, 2002; ;
Genre(s)	Action role-playing, dungeon crawl
Mode(s)	Single-player

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss is a first-person role-playing video game developed by Blue Sky Productions (later Looking Glass Studios) and published by Origin Systems. Released in March 1992, the game is set in the fantasy world of the Ultima series. It takes place inside the Great Stygian Abyss: a large cave system that contains the remnants of a failed utopian civilization. The player assumes the role of the Avatar—the Ultima series's protagonist—and attempts to find and rescue a baron's kidnapped daughter.

Ultima Underworld has been cited as the first role-playing game to feature first-person action in a 2.5D environment. Its design combines simulation elements with concepts from earlier role-playing video games, including Wizardry and Dungeon Master, which led the game's designers to call it a "dungeon simulation". As such, the game is non-linear and allows for emergent gameplay.

Ultima Underworld sold nearly 500,000 units, and was placed on numerous hall of fame lists. It influenced game developers such as Bethesda Softworks and Valve, and it was an inspiration behind the games Deus Ex and BioShock. The game had a sequel, Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds (1993), and a new game in the series, Underworld Ascendant, was released in late 2018.
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