GameSpy Wraps up Top 50
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Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
Before Quake, before Doom, even before Wolfenstein, there was Ultima. Not only did Ultima Underworld do it first, many feel itdid it better. You could look in every direction, down into a deep chasm or up to the ceiling of an arching cavern. Movement wasn't tied to a 2D map with variable height, bridges on streams could be walked over or swam under. It was a 3D world to explore. Ultima Underworld gave us our first look at an immersive 3D first person environment. And it wasn't just the view that set Underworld apart. We had objects that could be thrown and bounced off of walls. Arrows that sailed through the air, monsters that didn't simply charge to their death but would flee when wounded.
And as if that wasn't enough of a challenge in 1992, they decided to add an RPG layer as well. You had inventory to manage, puzzles to solve, and stats to improve. Not every creature was there for the killing. There were also many NPC's inhabiting the Stygian Abyss willing to offer aid if you took the time to chat with them. At the time there truly was no other game like it in the marketplace.
One question: Where was Dark Forces or Jedi Knight in this top 50? I feel that's a direct hit right in the breadbasket for any top 50 games list not to include one or the other (my favorite of the two is DF, but only by a small margin).
