Talonfire's Review of Unreal (Best of)

Unreal isn't just another first person shooter, it's also an adventure, and one you'll never forget.

User Rating: 9.2 | Unreal (Best of) PC

By Talonfire | Review Date: November 1, 2005

The original Unreal stands as one of the greatest first person shooters that ever hit retail shelves. It may not have the story of Halo or the critical acclaim of Half-Life, but it has charms of its own: atmosphere and imaginative level design. The story in Unreal functions a little like Half-Life, you play as a mute character referred to as ‘Prisoner 849' who’s name and appearance you can set in the player setup for multiplayer. There is no point in the game where you leave the eyes of Prisoner 849; then again there isn’t any other real points of views to follow. The game begins with you waking up in a cell on a crashed prison ship ‘The Vortex Rikers’, everyone around you is dead and this obviously gives you the opportunity to escape. The story is pretty simple: you are stranded on an uncharted alien world where the native intelligent species is enslaved by the ruthless Skaarj; a species of aggressive aliens. Your only concern, however; is escaping the planet in one piece.

Unreal features run of the mill first person shooter gameplay Over the course of the game you’ll pick up bigger and better weapons and kill nastier enemies while encountering some of the peaceful Nali who will either just run there and cower when the Skaarj are near (and you if you harm enough of them). The weapons in Unreal are a disappointment to say the least; unique maybe but their appearance and function isn’t what bothers me... it’s their balance. The guns are either too weak or too powerful and in first person shooters it doesn’t usually take five or more rockets to kill an enemy; in Unreal it does. Also most of the levels consist of flipping switches and pressing buttons to open doors and get to the exit so you can move on; which fits with the overall plot but this form of gameplay was dated even by 1998's standards.

The level design and atmosphere is where Unreal really shines. Over the course of Unreal’s long single player mode you’ll travel to many unique and amazing looking places. From temples built by the Nali to worship their Gods, Nali Castles, Skaarj bases, to an island floating in the sky Unreal will take you on one very memorable sight seeing ride while the lighting and decorations give off an amazing amount of atmosphere not common in shooters.

The graphics in Unreal even by today’s standards are breath taking, and back in 1998 they were practically revolutionary. The textures are low res but detailed and the character models are crafted well enough to fit in with their surroundings. The graphics are unreal; excuse the pun.

The sound in Unreal is a mixed bag; the gun sounds serve their purpose but the footsteps sound the same no matter what surface you’re walking on. There’s also practically no voice acting since the aliens just speak in grunts and gibberish and since your character is mute you’re left with the music; which is good. The music in Unreal not only sounds nice but adds to the overall atmosphere. The music helps the mood as you progress through the game’s amazing locales and picks up during some battles.

Unreal is a somewhat generic, but still impressive first person shooter that draws you into an unreal world and sends you on an action filled adventure where your only concern is survival. If you want to see some amazing places and you’re looking for a first person shooter to kill time with, and you haven’t tried Unreal; this is one game that is worth trying at least once.

Unreal

Unreal isn't just another first person shooter, it's also an adventure, and one you'll never forget.

Like nothing you'll ever play.

a very rare and unique game