an unreal experience
looking back now after more than 10 years after its release we see that it wasn't just about the visuals that made this game phenomenal. first of all it was the feeling of being there, on an alien planet, and the atmosphere and the incredible music.
Unreal was the first and i'm sure the last game that made me unawarely gasp 'WOW!' (after leaving Vortex Rikers). this game episode is probably one of the most famous and influential game episodes of all time. leaving a space ship to face a beautiful alien world that lives on its own. no game had done that before. it was one small step for a gamer, one giant leap for gaming community if you like.
half of what made Unreal so increadible was its music. it's probably the best game music ever and i still listen to it separately from the game. not only the
tracks are increadibly beatiful, there's also so many of them, more than 40 (!) tracks of wonderful ambient/electronic/techno. it's sad that the only people who are aware of its existance are gamers.
another unbelievable fact about Unreal is that it stayed in the throne of best graphics for more than 2 years. that is insane considering how fast the computers were developing back then. Unreal engine authors, they were not just geniuses, they also must have been prophets of some kind. of course Unreal is dated graphically for today, its blocky and lacks detail, but nevertheless it still looks great. and the special effects like water, some game developers should learn from the authors of Unreal how to make water in games even today.
so why was Unreal so controversial then? firstly, developers had promised things like unique NPCs that the player would meet all along the game, but there was nothing like that in the game. secondly (and that is only my personal opinion) the action part was mostly disappointing. i remember playing Unreal with dad for the first time in 1998 and he was awed by it too, but when we encountered the first 2 brutes he was very disappointed saying that the action part was childish. and i couldn't agree more. maybe it was the weapons, i don't know. but encounters with monsters usually were a chore to me all throughout the game. although some episodes were very impressive, like the first titan in Dark Arena for example. it was quite an adrenaline boost and getting scared to death, again 10/10.