UW II box cover
Ultima Underworld II title page


Ultima Underworld II - Labyrinth of Worlds

History:
After the first Underworld game, the company which was now called Looking Glass worked together with Origin on a second Underworld game. Unlike the first part it was designed as a true Ultima right from the beginning. The engine was not changed much, the viewport is a little bigger, the monsters look a little better but nothing revolutionary. Instead of one big dungeon you travel through several small ones plus castles, towers, tombs and alternate dimensions. But you never leave the buildings, unlike the Ultima 9 engine the Underworld engine can display only dungeons. And again, you travel through them alone but you will meet several famous NPCs from Ultima 7 in Lord British's castle. There is not much speech in the game but it is used thoughtfully when the Guardian taunts you in your dreams or at special places in his conquered worlds.

The game has beautiful introduction movie which shows how the Guardian entraps the whole castle of Lord British in a black dome. There is no speech in the intro, however.
The castle of Lord British is shown for the first time in 3D. But which bastard has stolen the throne in the throne room?


Background:
After the destruction of the Black Gate there has been peace in Britannia for half a year. But during a festival the Guardian stroke back! He encased the entire castle of Lord British in a magical blackrock dome and with the political leadership trapped within, started the invasion of Britannia. The Avatar explores the sewers and discovers a magic portal to eight different mini-worlds, a prison tower, an ice cave, a flying castle and others. Every world has been corrupted in the one or the other form by the Guardian and in order to break the spell on the castle, the Avatar has also to free these worlds.

The sewers under Lord British's castle. Three levels deep and there is a portal to other worlds somewhere.
A whole tower full of goblins. The graphics are much better in the second game.


Recommended Version:
Ultima Underworld was designed for PCs, I don't know if there exists a console version of the first part.

The ice caverns with hostile Yeti and a mysterious frozen city.
One of the highly motivated guards in Killorn Keep, the flying castle of the Guardian.


Statistics:
  • Single-player game
  • 63 different magic spells
  • A special magic system based on runestones
  • Dungeons/Buildings 3D
  • On-Screen-mapping: Yes

Some worlds like Talorus or the Ethereal Void are absolutely psychedelic.
The tomb of Praecor Loth.


Morale:
There is not much morale in the Ultima Underworld games, they are mostly treasure hunting games with a lot of action. The atmosphere in the conquered mini-worlds is good, sometimes even better than in Ultima 8. Some worlds are building resistance movements against the Guardian while others are perfectly glad with Big Red doing the thinking for them.

Britannia