Stygian Sentinel 26
Greetings, backers! Hope you're having a fantastic summer, full of fun, sun, and games. (And for our backers in the Southern hemisphere, stay warm! As they say, winter's coming.)
Like we mentioned last update, team members have been working on the Vertical Slice of Underworld Ascendant, which takes place on the second level of the game including the neutral zone of Marcaul and more.
There's much we'll have to tell about it in the coming weeks and months, but for now, we want to keep mum and wait until we can show you more polished work in action.
However, we have an important news announcement to share with you first...
Stephen Russell's Role Revealed in Underworld Ascendant![edit]
We announced back during the Kickstarter that Looking Glass' fan favorite voice talent Stephen Russell and Terri (System Shock's SHODAN) Brosius would take part in Underworld Ascendant, but haven't revealed either of their roles... until now.
Stephen will play the role of Cabirus, the character responsible for the establishing the fallen utopia in Ultima Underworld before his mysterious, untimely death. While you've never encountered Cabirus directly before, you've certainly seen the huge impact he had on The Stygian Abyss. In Underworld Ascendant you'll come face-to-face with him... somehow... and learn about the secret pre-history of the series, directly from its enigmatic founder.
- Stephen Russell at work
You likely know Stephen from such roles as Garrett in Looking Glass' Thief: The Dark Project and Thief II: The Metal Age and Codsworth and Nick (!!!) Valentine from Bethesda's Fallout series. He's also set to play Corvo in Arkane's Dishonored II, which we're looking forward to playing this coming November.
We'll reveal much more about Cabirus and his unique place in Underworld Ascendant soon. In the meantime, here are a few samples of Stephen's fantastic work:
Have a favorite role from Stephen? Share it with us on the forums!
Kickstarting a Reimagined System Shock![edit]
As you'll recall, OtherSide Entertainment is in the process of spooling up an Austin-based development studio under Warren Spector -- who recently closed out the PC Gaming Show at E3 -- for the highly-anticipated System Shock 3. (If you haven't signed up for the newsletter for updates on SS3 yet, you can do so here.)
Meanwhile, our friends over at Night Dive Studios are revitalizing the original System Shock using a modern engine, along with the series' visionary concept artist Robb Waters. Our own Paul Neurath, who worked on System Shock and System Shock 2, will also be providing creative input and feedback.
- Citadel Station, as you've never seen it before.
In case you missed it, Night Dive just launched a Kickstarter for the project today.
You can learn all about their plans for the game, the rewards they're offering, and how to get a hold of the demo, right here.
Hope you'll check it out!
Til next time, thanks again for all your support.
Best,
The Team at OtherSide
PS - We'll be shifting the newsletters to once a month as we dig deeper into game production. Updates will come more frequently toward the end, as we have MUCH more to show and tell. Until then, make sure to check out our Twitter and Facebook pages for up-to-the-minute info and fun.