After over 20 years since the release of Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds, the original Ultima Underworld team is reuniting  as Otherside Entertainment to develop Underworld Ascendant, a true sequel to the Ultima Underworld series.

The Ultima Underworld franchise may not have the mainstream name recognition of some other games, but it is one of the most significant game series on the PC, having influenced several big game series and well known game creators.

“Underworld had a transformative effect on my understanding of what games were,” said Bioshock creator Ken Levine. “It was the first time I ever felt ‘inside’ of an imaginary world. It was the game that primed all my creative ambitions.”

The new sequel, Underworld Ascendant, brings together several of the original Looking Glass Studios staff, including Paul Neurath, Chris Siegel, Tim Stellmach, and more. The team is also rejoined by RPG legend Warren Spector, who has played a critical role in several genre-defining game series, including Deus Ex and Thief.

The new game does not carry the Ultima name, but it will be a true sequel to the series. In an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit, the Otherside team explained that while they do not own the Ultima brand name, they “can use everything else from the original Underworld games,” including spells, lore, and backstory.

The game’s Kickstart page promises “far more than a dungeon crawl,” with dynamic environments and storytelling, as well as “intense combat & inventive magic” and a high degree of player customization.

When asked how Otherside plans on differentiating the sequel from “the myriad First Person ‘RPG’s that are on the market today,” the team responded: “For one, we think we can get a lot more out of sandbox play than what other RPGs are doing these days. We’re building tech we’re calling the Improvisation Engine that should really open up players’ ability to get super-creative with solving challenges, and finding their own approaches.”

Underworld Ascendant went up on Kickstarter today, and the game has already earned $136,000 of its $600,000 goal in just a few hours from nearly 2,000 backers.

Images via Otherside Entertainment/YouTube