Unreal

Your a prisoner on a transport ship heading to a prison moon. But the transport ship crashes on a unknown planet. The game starts out in a way that will leave you stunned. You wander the dark corridors of the Vortex Rikers. Suddenly, the door behind you slams shut, trapping you in the confined space. Great, you think to yourself...another cell. But then you realize the blast door is not completely closed; a small gap, maybe five inches, is visible between the door and the grimy metal floor. You crouch, and try in vain to peer into the darkened room. Then, suddenly, human voices cry out in panic and terror. An inhuman, almost animalistic growl meets their screams, and the next thing you hear are the sounds of a brutal life-or-death struggle between man and mystery. You can hear the gunshots and the cursing of the hapless crew members as they realize their lives are about to end; you can see the muzzle flashes of weapons being fired. Yet you have no idea what the hell is going on just a few feet away. Then, the door opens, and your eyes catch a shadowy green form -- tail? scales? -- skittering away from the horrific scene before you. Bodies, blood...everywhere. Welcome to your nightmare. Welcome to Unreal.

Many instances of this gritty atmosphere are evident throughout unreal. The whole story is told in a unique way through diaries that were left behind. Then there is the nali alien race which are the peaceful natives of the planet. Who are being slaughtered and subjugated by the brutal Skaarj aliens. Video game are know to trigger shock, fear and rage. All of which Unreal does throughout the game. But never have I experienced SADNESS. which is the only way I can describe my reaction to the brutal killing...murder..of a defenseless Nali by a psychotic Skaarj. The poor guy was just trying to show me a Dispersion Pistol power up. Did he have to die for it? Unreal was one of those games which had so much effort put into it and it shows. The Single player element of Unreal died however, with the release of Unreal Tournament. Which without a doubt the best multiplayer FPS ever. The original Unreal still has a strong fanbase going for it.

Go pick up unreal. It's only $9.99(Unreal Gold which also includes the expansion pack Return to Na Pali). It can be run now on almost any computer since it is quite old. It's graphics won't look as stunning as today's games do. But this awesome game came out in 1998! Unreal was no doubt one of the greatest games of all time.

Unreal is completely different from all the other fps's out there. There is a since of ongoing life on the huge, breathtakingly beautiful levels. Fish swim in the ponds, lakes and rivers. Bugs buzz about and birds fly around. Various kinds of animals can be found through most of the levels. There's plenty of action and challenge to be found in this epic undertaking. At the time of it's release, Unreal was the pinnacle of technology and still stand head and shoulders above most of the rest.

Unreal was an absolute masterpiece! I've always enjoyed LAN gaming, and this game ran so perfectly over the network. Going through each level in co-op mode with my twin sister was so fun that we did it twice! And that's saying something, because we get bored of stuff really quickly. Yes, the single-player levels were great, from quaint and peaceful to exciting and high-tech. Besides the gorgeous single player levels, the multi-player section of the game was so delightfully complete! Many levels, all with the option of bots, and team play. It was a pity there was only one "darkmatch" level. After single player was finished, endless death-matches kept us both busy for hours and hours! This was what made Unreal 2 so horribly disappointing - possibly the best aspect of Unreal - co-op and death match - were missing from its insipid sequel.

Unreal's visuals were unmatched at the time. The music was insanely, umbelievably amazing and stunning visuals combined with the music, good sounds and well designed levels made for an amazing and highly atmospheric experience that is still unmatched today. The only thing is that the game was more of a tour through a very beautiful place rather than a tense, fluid and fast paced action game that it was supposed to be. It is thus nothing like Half-life, the Quake series or anything else if you want a real shoot em up. Unreal was comparatively primitive on the weapons and enemies front but it was a unique experience that could'nt be missed.

Despite numerous shortcomings, I maintain that Unreal is the most beautiful FPS ever made. By combining exotic locales with a mesmeric soundtrack, this game feels very much like a vacation rather than the frantic danger and shooting you see in all other FPSs. Yeah, you do have the usual bunch of monsters and weapons (which are kinda impotent and crappy in this game and that was a major shortcoming) but combat is really not that common or frantic and you'll find yourself saying OOh and AAAh at the environments and levels more often. It isn't just the graphics but also the very creative and intelligent level design that makes this game so good looking and hypnotic.