PC Game of the week - Unreal

[EvilComputer92]

Well, I saw the I76 thread and I just had to make one about my favorite PC game of all time.
I still play this game and it's many user made map packs to this day, and with 2048x2048 user made textures, the game looks surprisingly good for a 1998 engine.
Only problem is it has issues with dual core like all Unreal engine games, but a simple exe patch fixes that.

It's fast paced combat and atmosphere is still unmatched, and it's level design is superb. Anyone remember the Sunspire, or Na Pali Haven maps? It was an exceptionally long game; 30 maps!

 

[Fenixgoon]

unreal's minigun is one of my favorite weapons of all time

 

[SexyK]

Man I'll never forget the first time I loaded up Unreal on my Voodoo2 :shocked: Awesome.

 

[AdamK47]

Sorry, it's Psychonauts, but Unreal is one of my favorites. Bought it when it came out in April of 98. Almost 10 years ago now.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
unreal's minigun is one of my favorite weapons of all time

I'm partial to the Flak Cannon and the Shock Rifle shock combo.

I played it back in 1999 and thought it was a huge improvement over Quake II. It was also the first game where I ever played (offline single-player) deathmatch.

With Unreal Tournament III scheduled for release in November, now might be a great time to honor and reminisce about the game that started it all.

 

[CrystalBay]

Great, great SP game....

 

[Capitalizt]

I still play Facing Worlds multiplayer daily

120% speed all weapons...f*ck yeah!

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: EvilComputer92
Well, I saw the I76 thread and I just had to make one about my favorite PC game of all time.
I still play this game and it's many user made map packs to this day, and with 2048x2048 user made textures, the game looks surprisingly good for a 1998 engine.
Only problem is it has issues with dual core like all Unreal engine games, but a simple exe patch fixes that.

It's fast paced combat and atmosphere is still unmatched, and it's level design is superb. Anyone remember the Sunspire, or Na Pali Haven maps? It was an exceptionally long game; 30 maps!

I :heart: Unreal and still play it often. I think I would say that it's my favorite game of all time as well. No matter how many times I play through it, it never seems to get old (especially some standout maps like The Sunspire and Bluff Eversmoking).

The atmosphere of the game was incredible; in addition to the level design, I'm quite fond of Unreal's music and find myself listening to it in a media player outside of the game more often than I actually end up playing the game.

The S3TC textures do make a huge difference, and I think it still looks great overall. (I even ported the UT Direct3D8 renderer here to Unreal.) The OpenAL patch/driver for Unreal released in 2005 is amazing too; true 5.1 positional sound just makes it that much more immersive.

Like you said, there are a number of great community single player map packs/campaigns (although most of them are technically for UT and not Unreal, the ones I like most are definitely in the Unreal style).

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: SexyK
Man I'll never forget the first time I loaded up Unreal on my Voodoo2 :shocked: Awesome.

Even Software Mode impressed me lots back then. Played it through at a massive 10-15 fps on my k6-2 300. Then I got a Voodoo2 and was floored! Played it again at 30+fps. No game has impressed me more since then, not that more recent games are not better graphically, because they are, but because the leap in Graphics brought by Unreal was the most significant bar none. At least for FPS games anyway.

 

[novasatori]

Unreal still looks good with high settings even today.
It was really, Unreal. I remember waiting forever for it, how long was it in development, with so many delays? Seemed like forever, I remember thinking my god this game will suck by the time its out...

Then when it finally came out - it delivered, big time.

 

[imported_Shivetya]

I loved the music of that game. The water effects were great. As were some of the opening sequences... all those lights going out one by one.... Very well done.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally posted by: Capitalizt
I still play Facing Worlds multiplayer daily

120% speed all weapons...f*ck yeah!

If you'd consider playing different maps and if you know how to use IRC and how to install and use a simple program like Teamspeak2 (http://www.goteamspeak.com) then maybe you should consider playing the 125 speed clan-match style CTF pickup games (PUG) matches.

Server: irc.GameRadius.net (home of the UT99 CTF clan community)

Channel: #speedpug

Of course, you'd have to learn different maps, but who wants to keep playing the same single map over and over and over and over at Haley's forever. You might also want to keep your eyes open for the FOCR server, which is a high speed regular weapons CTF server with custom maps.

 

[Aikouka]

Man, I didn't know you guys liked that single player game so much .

 

[you2]

Are there good mods for unreal. I haven't played it 4 or 5 years but maybe it would be worth trying some of the mods ? Game was a lot of fun sorry they never came out with a sequal of similar quality.

 

[pontifex]

Why are there like 5 different PC game of the week threads for the week of 9/10?

 

[EvilComputer92]

If you have both Unreal and Unreal Tournament 99, I highly reccommend Oldskool Ampd, which allows you to play true single player in UT, including the original Unreal episode.

As for map packs,

7 Bullets takes the cake for I think the best one. If you played Unreal, you simply must play this as it's amazing how far they took the original Unreal Engine.

Operation: Na Pali is a enormous 40 map single player saga. It's level design is awesome in some areas though it's full of silly jokes which detract from it's otherwise excellent atmosphere.

If you loved Unreal, get both

This game is still being developed for at UnrealSP, so a couple new map packs are on the horizon that stay true to the original game's spirit, which IMO never had a true sequel.

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001

I :heart: Unreal and still play it often. I think I would say that it's my favorite game of all time as well. No matter how many times I play through it, it never seems to get old (especially some standout maps like The Sunspire and Bluff Eversmoking).

The atmosphere of the game was incredible; in addition to the level design, I'm quite fond of Unreal's music and find myself listening to it in a media player outside of the game more often than I actually end up playing the game.

The S3TC textures do make a huge difference, and I think it still looks great overall. (I even ported the UT Direct3D8 renderer here to Unreal.) The OpenAL patch/driver for Unreal released in 2005 is amazing too; true 5.1 positional sound just makes it that much more immersive.

Like you said, there are a number of great community single player map packs/campaigns (although most of them are technically for UT and not Unreal, the ones I like most are definitely in the Unreal style).

Music in Unreal is amazing, still unmatched in todays games by comparison, remember the music you heard in the Mothership levels? Just plain out strange.

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: pontifex
Why are there like 5 different PC game of the week threads for the week of 9/10?

good question, I was wondering the same... and they're all on the front page, too

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Aflac

Originally posted by: pontifex
Why are there like 5 different PC game of the week threads for the week of 9/10?

good question, I was wondering the same... and they're all on the front page, too

Speaking of thread consolidation, let your voice be heard in the thread merging discussion.

 

[EvilComputer92]

Perhaps it should be retitled to PC gameS of the week?

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Who decides what the "PC Game of the Week" is and who anointed this person to be the official game of the week decider?

 

[Maximilian]

Originally posted by: WhipperSnapper

Who decides what the "PC Game of the Week" is and who anointed this person to be the official game of the week decider?

I do, and umm a moderator did.

I missed out on unreal The first one i played was unreal II, it was ok, not as heavy on the storyline as i would have liked. I was basically expecting half life in space but it never really happened. The spider level was good fun though!

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Soviet
I missed out on unreal The first one i played was unreal II, it was ok, not as heavy on the storyline as i would have liked. I was basically expecting half life in space but it never really happened. The spider level was good fun though!

It's never too late to play Unreal for the first time.

I too thought Unreal II was decent (in particular its graphics were pretty great for early 2003), but the gameplay (and most of the other things that made the original great) was...lacking. Uninspired, perhaps. Felt kind of like they just slapped the Unreal name on a completely unrelated game. I've never had a desire to replay it, that's for sure. (Contrast that with the original Unreal, which I tend to replay in its entirety at least once every 12-18 months, on average.)

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Yup. It's not too late to experience it. I still play the music through my head sometimes. The music was really awesome and did a good job of conveying a mood.

 

[EvilComputer92]

If you still haven't played Unreal, I think you can get Unreal, the expansion pack, and Unreal Tournament for around $10. The collection is called Totally Unreal. Otherwise just get the Unreal Anthology which includes every Unreal game from the original to 2004.

I think you'll enjoy Unreal much more than Unreal II.

 

[BFG10K]

I just recently finished Unreal for the ninth time and it looked gorgeous at 1920x1440 with 16xAF and 16xS AA.

One of the finest SP campaigns ever made. :thumbsup: