The wait has been long indeed. Over four years in the making, Unreal is both a game and an engine to take on the big daddy mojo of the first person shooters…. Quake II. Already it’s technical sophistication has major games like Duke Nukem Forever changing engines. That’s all well and good, the engine might be one kick, um, rear, piece of software, but was Unreal worth spending your $50 on? Probably! Today you can download Unreal for free, so it’s definitely worth playing.
The Story
You sir, are a convict. It’s really that simple. You’re being shipped to a new cell on the Rikers Vortex, a prison barge, when the ship crash lands on an alien world. Though you are hurt in the crash, you awaken to find the ship in sorry shape and seemingly abandoned. Taking the opportunity to win back your freedom you make your way outside of the ship. And that’s when you start to notice all the mutilated bodies of crewmen outside the ship. That does not bode well. It seems this planet is inhabited, and the natives aren’t very friendly. Time to see if you can find any big ol’ weapons of mass destruction and get off this rock. ‘K?
Game Play
This is a first person shooter. And game play is pretty much as you’d expect. You get a variety of weaponry, shields, and other cures to help you along while killing a bunch of enemies.
There aren’t a lot of different bad guy types, six to be exact, but there are various colors and behaviors for each. I found the monster AI to be very good. It was great to see a monster retreat to cover, roll out of the way of incoming fire, and generally behave at least semi intelligently when under fire. Now, these guys aren’t Jean Claude van Damme, but at least they aren’t Elmer Fudd.
Weaponry is highly varied, and each of the ten weapons have two distinctly different firing modes. You get to play with a phasor-like eneergy weapon that does not require ammunition, a toxic waste launcher, mini-gun, flak gun and more. They all take some getting used to compared to the basic weapons of a Quake but each has advantages and times when they are best used. They are also pretty well balanced, none is all powerful, which makes for some interesting tactical differences in multiplayer games.
For those of us who are, well, let’s just say “deathmatch challenged,” the game comes complete with bots to hone your multiplayer moves. They automatically adjust their skill level to give you a tough time and you can add as many or as few on a level as you want. That way you can get competent so you won’t embarass yourself when you go online. Thanks Epic!
The Levels
I was very impressed by the level design in Unreal. Given the time it took to complete the game you might expect things to be pretty good, and you’d be right. But the levels are even better than you’d expect.
There is a refreshing mix of cramped tunnels and open spaces. Architecture is suited to the story and surroundings. The use of textures, lighting and objects to fit into the surroundings is exceptional. Spacing of combat and power-ups is also nicely done. You are never too low on ammo, unless you are just firing non-stop, and the well hidden armor and large power-ups come at good intervals.
What’s even more impressive though is the attention to detail. Pools of blood that look straight out of a movie, small rabbit-like creatures and circling birds in the sky above, fish in the ponds, and even benevolent Nali that help you on your way provide the levels with life and really help you get immersed into the story and surroundings. If no one else does, level designer’s at other companies should buy Unreal to see what can be done to move the state of the art in level design forward.
One area where Unreal does not distinguish itself is in its puzzles. They are almost always of the “push this to open that somewhere else” variety. While most were easy enough to figure out, a few were obscure enough to have me cursing for a goodly while.
The Level Editor
Included in the package is a beta version of a level editor. It would not work for me at all at first. After installing an updated Visual Basic runtime library, I did manage to get it to start.
This is a complex piece of software. It allows you to create and edit levels for the game. But, don’t expect to get very far with it unless you are very familiar with similar programs. That’s becuase it has no documentation…. not a shred. Complete documentation and online help is promised with the final version of the editor that will be sold separately from the game. Which leads me to wonder… why was this beta version even included in the package?
Internet and LAN Play
One area where Unreal truly stumbles, at least right now, is in multiplayer. Over a LAN it’s a kick in the pants, with a wide variety of modes to choose from including cooperative options. But, over the Internet, well, just forget about it unless you have a really fast connection. I’m no great death matcher. But, on every server I tried (six of them no less) I was unstoppable. Why? A 1 megabit per second connection and a wicked fast PC gave me an unbeatable advantage over those poor suckers on slower modems.
To give Epic it’s due, it is working on the bugs in multiplayer. Add to that the fact that they are licensing the game engine to others and they are bound to get things cleaned up…. eventually. Still, for now, the game is no threat to Quake II, or even Jedi Knight in multiplayer.
Graphics, Sound, etc.
If you like sexy graphics, Unreal delivers with gusto. In 3D accelerated mode it is gorgeous to behold. Textures are the best I’ve ever seen, even up close, the use of colored lighting is spectacular and weapon effects are varied and interesting. Even in software rendered mode the game is attractive, more so than some 3D enhanced titles to be honest.
The sound is nearly as impressive. With first rate ambient noises, mood inducing musical score, and 3D sound effects that will have you wanting to look over your shoulder, this is one game that truly sounds great.
Unfortunately all this graphical and sonic splendor comes at a serious price. The minimum machine configuration is laughably optimistic unless you are willing to play at 320×200. Frame rate in combat at 640×480 resolution on a P200 with 32M RAM using the software rendering was stroboscopic and completely unplayable. Turning all the options off and dropping down to the lowest resolution left the game ugly, but at least playable. Even on our high end test machine (a P2-266 with a 12M Voodoo2 card) frame rate was often a bit jerky at 640×480, especially when large animations like opening doors and so on were occuring.
The other bit of misinformation is the minimum disk requirement. Sure, you can install only 40M worth, but the delays on level loading are maddening, even with a fast CD drive. The bottom line is, you’d better have 400M free disk space, a very fast CPU, plenty of memory and a good 3D card or Unreal should really have been called Unplayable.
The Verdict
Is Unreal the second coming of the first person shooter? Perhaps not, but it is better in almost every way than Quake II, the reigning champion, at least in solitary play. Unreal is a stunning technical tour de force with excellent AI, well designed levels and a better than average story to back it all up. The huge downside is the excessive system requirements and a buggy, not ready for prime time multiplayer mode. Still, if you’ve got the machinery to run it and a hankering for some first-person shoot ‘em up lovin’, Unreal should be high on your gotta have it list.
Game Rating
( 80 out of 100 maximum )
Pros
- Takes the first person action shooter to the next level technologi
cally - Realistic looking, well designed levels with just the right mix of action and puzzles
- Smart, tough AI and bots to play for multiplayer practice
Cons
- You’d better have a seriously fast PC
- Network play has a lot of problems over the Internet
- Some puzzles seemed overly complex
 Both indoor and outdoor settings look very good, with realistic textures and lots of attention to detail. |
 Monsters have pretty impressive AI, they dodge behind obstacles, fire long range weapons well, and generally make your life miserable. |
 Some of the visuals are quite striking, like this teleporter. |
 Nothing like a little death match fragging. Be sure to have a blazingly fast machine and low ping times to the server though. |
If you're using the above images on your website, please link back: Thank you!
