Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss is a fantasy action RPG developed by Blue Sky Productions (Looking Glass Studios). It was published by Origin Systems in 1992 for DOS. It was later ported to FM Towns, PlayStation, and other platforms.

The game expanded Richard Garriott's Ultima universe into a first-person 3D setting. It was directed by Richard Garriott himself, but it was designed by Paul Neurath. It was produced by Warren Spector (System Shock, Wing Commander, Deus Ex, and more).

This was one of the first RPG games to feature a truly 3D environment where your character can look up and down, swim, and jump, among other things. Unlike most similar games, this was the first to break away from entirely square areas, allowing for a fair amount of environmental variety (bridges, slopes, etc.).

The game takes place in the land of Britannia, featured in the previous Ultima games, and you play as the Avatar. Falsely accused of kidnapping the Baron’s daughter, the Avatar is cast into the Stygian Abyss as punishment. The Avatar must now embark on a quest to find the missing girl and stop her true captor. Stygian Abyss features real-time combat, using the cursor’s position to determine the type of attack (center=slash, and so on). Spells can also be used in combat by choosing the correct runestones for each spell. Stygian Abyss has an open gameplay style, so feel free to wander around and do as you please.

With more than 10 awards, Stygian Abyss has definitely made RPG history and influenced the genre. This is one of the few RPGs to stand the test of time and should be experienced by any true fan of the genre.