OtherSide Entertainment’s Underworld Ascendant released last week, and it hasn’t had the warmest reception. Over on Steam, user reviews are “Mostly Negative” due to a myriad of issues the launch had. While the developer has deployed two hotfixes recently, an even bigger update is coming to address fundamental issues with performance, the save game system, and more.
In a new development update video, director Joe Fielder said that there would first be another hotfix due next week. “We have work to do,” Fielder said. “We’ve made two hotfixes so far and we have another hotfix that is coming soon, for next week. It addresses crashes, slowdowns, gameplay improvements, things like making it easier to get out of water. We’re also working on speccing and scoping a larger update, we’re looking at the save game system, player movement, visual improvements, AI, and performance.”
There’s no estimate for when the larger update will release, especially given the enormity of the issues it attempts to address. Underworld Ascendant has been in development for quite some time, and was backed to a strong degree on Kickstarter, accruing over $932,000 in crowd-funding. There might now also be some concern over OtherSide’s other releases, like System Shock 3.
Time will tell how development on that particular spiritual successor goes (the the involvement of the original producer Warren Spector has to be reassuring). Until then, stay tuned for more information on Underworld Ascendant and its potential improvements.
