nalicastle sucks

I found most of Unreal's levels too labyrinthine for my taste. The gameplay was generally fine, though some enemies were too bullet spongy. Graphics were incredible for the time, especially in Glide mode. Sound positioning was exceptional when using A3D 2.0 via headphones.

Personally, I liked the add-on better. The levels were more straightforward to navigate, there were fewer puzzles, and the combat felt more engaging. Otherwise, it was very similar to the base game.

I remember that Unreal was a big name when it came out, with all the buzz, the reviews in game mags and such. But I had no interest for it back then, and actually never played it until Epic made the de facto freeware release last year. So far I've got to the caverns/mines level.

My impressions so far: the game must have looked stunning back when it came out. It's still good but it fails to impress me. It just so happens that in the 90s, I had an aversion of sorts towards true 3D FPS games, for the low-poly models that looked off compared to sprites. Back then I was a kid and failed to grasp the advantages that a true 3D engine offered level-design and gameplay-wise. Then I played some newer games from 2003 onwards, and accepted true 3D as a valid game medium. But because of this, the early 3D FPS titles roughly from 1997-2001 were kind of in a gap for me, almost terra incognita, until I developed more of an interest towards this era recently. This is why I get this odd feeling from the visuals, because I understand on some intellectual level how advanced the design is for the time, but it neither rings some nostalgic bells for me, nor does it evoke any particular aesthetic pleasure on its own.

Gameplay-wise, the game is pretty smooth. I think I picked normal difficulty, and the game does not pose a lot of challenge so far (not that I wanted any from it, anyway). I can't find the fights particularly exciting, but I liked this feature with friendly aliens that will unlock secret caches with goodies for you if you manage to keep them alive. There's some world-building going on, but I can't really cling to it too much, and I have a suspicion that the game's main appeal was in its novelty back in the day, which has inevitably worn off since. The level geometry is still pretty simplistic when it comes to outdoor areas with a lot of nature elements, and FPS games that came just a few years later already did a much better job at presenting various kinds of natural terrain, including Command & Conquer: Renegade or (not an FPS but still a valid example) Morrowind.

There is very definitely a paradigm shift compared to the older types of mid-90s FPS games, like the Build engine ones. These, too, go for some detailed world-building and "realistic" environments, but somehow the world in Unreal feels more "empty" compared to the earlier titles. The levels also feel much more linear than anything in Build's Big Three, or Doom engine games, or the second echelon like Powerslave or Eradicator. I have a heavy suspicion that some kind of performance optimization was in play here, sacrificing larger and more complex level designs for the ability to get the most out of the engine's new capabilities without upping the system requirements too much.

I agree that reading the logs feels quite a bit disconnected from the actual gameplay. My closest analogy from the stuff that I played is Aliens versus Predator 2, an overall excellent game with great world-building -- but it has the great advantage of being based on an established sci-fi franchise. The various logs add a lot more depth to the game world in AvP2, but there's an extensive story going on without them anyway, conveyed via cutscenes and in-game dialogue. By contrast, Unreal feels like a game still not quite out of the previous era, and the logs seem almost redundant sometimes. At least, I never had the impression that they helped entrench the game world in any way. It's not like the player character is out to investigate something happening on the planet, or is on a mission that involves other agents elsewhere. On the other hand, there is very little in terms of actual "surviving" (which is what the plot is more or less about), as you do not have to build a shelter, provide food for yourself or heal wounds -- instead there's the basic FPS formula of grabbing any gun that you can reach and putting a lot of holes into any nasties that come your way.

However, none of this takes away from the enjoyment that may still be derived from playing.

Ah yes, there was one thing that disappointed me, sort of. There's a place where you need to reach a control panel or something, and you have to go past a giant fan that will suck you in because of the broken railing. I expected this to be a puzzle of sorts where you'd need to figure out how to deactivate the fan to safely pass; but in the end it turned out that the solution was to just "carefully" run past it so that you don't get sucked off the bridge. No shooting a hidden button/switch, no hunting for a fan control room, no destroying power supply to it. Kind of bland.

Another thought, I think that the game does not really evoke any feeling of an alien world -- in spite of all the weird flora and fauna, all the odd crystals and such. I can't point a finger at what could be causing this, but I distinctly remember playing, in the mid-2000s, the original Aliens versus Predator, which came out around the same time as Unreal (probably slightly later), and that game just oozed atmosphere, and a very unsettling one. This one game could very well scare me, and everything its design -- level geometry, puzzles, enemy encounters and lighting -- worked towards creating this credible and scary world. From this point of view, Unreal is mostly just very pretty and unusual, but it lacks the sense of involvement on the same level as AvP. For example, the starting level inside the ship, for the most part, does not feel like a spaceship at all, rather, a set of interconnected "techy" rooms; while there are levels in AvP that take place on a spaceship too, and I remember them hitting the mark rather well.

Unreal really shines when you start figuring out UnrealEd and UnrealScript and make whatever you can manage to put together on your own.

But, I'm probably just biased because I've been doing mods/maps/music/whatever in Unreal 1 for years now.

DracoNihil wrote on 2025-01-30, 13:28:

Unreal really shines when you start figuring out UnrealEd and UnrealScript and make whatever you can manage to put together on your own.

But, I'm probably just biased because I've been doing mods/maps/music/whatever in Unreal 1 for years now.

Do you have some good single player mod or conversions with focus on a story that you can recommend? I just tried the old Strike Force and Tactical Command mods for UT if I remember correctly.

Unreal's main "feature" was the graphics in combination with the high time of Glide. Besides that I don't remember very much from my first play through which wasn't even on 3dfx hardware.
Half Life on the other hand was the complete opposite. While not beeing as sophisticated as Unreal technically there's so much more to remember, funny moments, ahh moments, omg moments...
This may sound a bit odd but I often regretted buying Unreal instead of Half Life when it came out back then. I'd really like to have an original paper box of Half Life.

mombarak wrote on 2025-01-30, 13:31:

Do you have some good single player mod or conversions with focus on a story that you can recommend? I just tried the old Strike Force and Tactical Command mods for UT if I remember correctly.

If you want some good Unreal 1 singleplayer maps try the following:
Spantobi Unexpected Threat
Alshar
The Tower of Shrakith'a
One Day...
Attacked!
The Illhaven Saga
deCyber Invasion
DavidM's Strangeworld
and Zora's Episodes (1 through 4)

Honourable mentions to "Crescent Moon Squad: Shadows of Na Pali" and "Crescent Moon Squad II: Apocalypse Threat" which aren't *good* but they're very early map packs that's still worth a mention.

Some worthwhile one off maps: Skaarj Tower, Hexephet, Tarmation, Fission Smelter.

For UT99:
Operation: Na Pali
Xidia: Gold
7Bullets
Nali Chronicles
Deja Vu - Gryphon Revisited
deCyber Legacy

If you want a real yawner try Unreal II. I barely could get through that one.

I have a very strong nostalgic bias for Unreal. One of the first "3D" games that I tried, excepting Build engine titles.
It really started a love affair with PC gaming for me, and it was astonishingly beautiful for it's time, it can't be overstated.
If you didn't live it, it's very hard to replicate. Nothing else has really came close to having that impact, not your Cyrsis' or your Far Cry's or CyberPunks or any of them.
Possible exception was Serious Sam, that Croteam kicked ass.
Sound was also spectacular as mentioned, positional audio combines with the lighting effects and shiny surfaces it was all impressive. Even the software rendering looked better than 75% of the other D3D/OPenGL titles of the time.

With all of that said....it wasn't perfect. You hit on several of them. Enemy AI was hit and miss, bullet sponges is putting it mildly. Level design was a headache in MANY levels. Near endless mazes where everything looked the same. It wasn't all like that, but it was near enough. Movement I never had much problem with though. But the game could be tedious and at times just straight up boring.
For the time it was a very long game, or at least it felt that way trying to play through in one or two sittings.
But as liqmat said, not a patch on the sequel. That game straight up sucked and wasn't worthy of it's name.

Great game. The single player campaign is a little too long , but I enjoy its ambience, as well as the exploration and puzzle mechanics. Most guns serve a purpose and I think the whole secondary fire idea was rather innovative. Storytelling and guiding the player through messages scattered across dead bodies reminds me of Souls games. The visuals and sound still rock for a game originally due for release in mid 1997. This game is definitely a byproduct of its time and one that, if given some patience, can quite capture your imagination.

ChrisK wrote on 2025-01-30, 13:35:

Unreal's main "feature" was the graphics in combination with the high time of Glide. Besides that I don't remember very much from my first play through which wasn't even on 3dfx hardware.
Half Life on the other hand was the complete opposite. While not beeing as sophisticated as Unreal technically there's so much more to remember, funny moments, ahh moments, omg moments...
This may sound a bit odd but I often regretted buying Unreal instead of Half Life when it came out back then. I'd really like to have an original paper box of Half Life.

Unreal, imo took a leaf from id's book, and made a playable tech demo the story was pretty half assed compared to half life.
Id did well off engine licencing with quake and quake 2.
So much so, that it's not hard to argue quake 3 was purely a tech demo. There was f all story, but that didn't matter because it was a great arena shooter.
Unreal is now entirely an engine for sale.

Jasin Natael wrote on 2025-01-30, 14:14:

it was astonishingly beautiful for it's time, it can't be overstated.
If you didn't live it, it's very hard to replicate. Nothing else has really came close to having that impact, not your Cyrsis' or your Far Cry's or CyberPunks or any of them.

It's still very visible that the game was breathtaking when it came out, like I mentioned above -- but trying to relive the amazement when you weren't there in the first place is, indeed, impossible.

When I first reached the outside areas after the ship, I even considered dropping back to 640x480 (I set it to run in 1024x768) for greater authenticity, but I don't think that'd help much. I could feel it: "this is a visually amazing game, but you have to go back in time to truly experience it". It is certainly a slightly odd feeling.

Jasin Natael wrote on 2025-01-30, 14:14:

Possible exception was Serious Sam, that Croteam kicked ass.

Serious Sam is yet another game that I missed in the early 2000s. I remember downloading the earliest demo sometime in 2010 and running it for the first time, in 640x480. The self-running demo part with the camera that flies through the demo level. The scale of the areas and structures was truly breathtaking, but I've been a fan of Ancient Egypt since my childhood. The vast open areas hinted at unlimited freedom in a virtual world, and the temples looked grandiose, everything felt real and unreal at the same time. I think the remastered version actually toned this down somehow, although it is essentially a 1:1 recreation in a slightly newer engine.

I think I'm just too satiated with FPS experiences at this point to truly appreciate the beauty of Unreal on the "gut" level. But the game is still pretty nice as a game, definitely a product of its time.

liqmat wrote on 2025-01-30, 13:56:

If you want a real yawner try Unreal II. I barely could get through that one.

I liked it because it was the first game I played when had a new graphics card. Nostalgia 😀
When I tried to replay it, it's just too old to be entertaining, but I find it good for kids.

Personally I don't understand, as OP, the hype of Unreal. Ok, graphics. No complains there.

Even Quake isn't that funny. I preferred playing over LAN with friends (well, over nul modem cable first).
QII/4 are ok-ish. Q4 has a parallel universe feel with Doom3, making it a little more engaging.

TBH, I think that having played a lot of those games I have preferences, biases even. Knowing how things evolved I don't like what was back then, because it could be better now and with the specs available in 2000's it was impressive and I would have been extremely happy to own such systems and Unreal and other motorbike/nascar/race games.
But I still get some fun out of Alley Cat and Titus the Fox, Commander Keen (+ fan levels)... It's probably me being too old.

MrFlibble wrote on 2025-01-30, 15:30:

It's still very visible that the game was breathtaking when it came out, like I mentioned above -- but trying to relive the amaz […]
Show full quote

Jasin Natael wrote on 2025-01-30, 14:14:

it was astonishingly beautiful for it's time, it can't be overstated.
If you didn't live it, it's very hard to replicate. Nothing else has really came close to having that impact, not your Cyrsis' or your Far Cry's or CyberPunks or any of them.

It's still very visible that the game was breathtaking when it came out, like I mentioned above -- but trying to relive the amazement when you weren't there in the first place is, indeed, impossible.

When I first reached the outside areas after the ship, I even considered dropping back to 640x480 (I set it to run in 1024x768) for greater authenticity, but I don't think that'd help much. I could feel it: "this is a visually amazing game, but you have to go back in time to truly experience it". It is certainly a slightly odd feeling.

Jasin Natael wrote on 2025-01-30, 14:14:

Possible exception was Serious Sam, that Croteam kicked ass.

Serious Sam is yet another game that I missed in the early 2000s. I remember downloading the earliest demo sometime in 2010 and running it for the first time, in 640x480. The self-running demo part with the camera that flies through the demo level. The scale of the areas and structures was truly breathtaking, but I've been a fan of Ancient Egypt since my childhood. The vast open areas hinted at unlimited freedom in a virtual world, and the temples looked grandiose, everything felt real and unreal at the same time. I think the remastered version actually toned this down somehow, although it is essentially a 1:1 recreation in a slightly newer engine.

I think I'm just too satiated with FPS experiences at this point to truly appreciate the beauty of Unreal on the "gut" level. But the game is still pretty nice as a game, definitely a product of its time.

I would agree with most everything that you stated here.

Nexxen wrote on 2025-01-30, 15:36:

I liked it because it was the first game I played when had a new graphics card. Nostalgia :) When I tried to replay it, it's jus […]
Show full quote

liqmat wrote on 2025-01-30, 13:56:

If you want a real yawner try Unreal II. I barely could get through that one.

I liked it because it was the first game I played when had a new graphics card. Nostalgia 😀
When I tried to replay it, it's just too old to be entertaining, but I find it good for kids.

Personally I don't understand, as OP, the hype of Unreal. Ok, graphics. No complains there.

Even Quake isn't that funny. I preferred playing over LAN with friends (well, over nul modem cable first).
QII/4 are ok-ish. Q4 has a parallel universe feel with Doom3, making it a little more engaging.

TBH, I think that having played a lot of those games I have preferences, biases even. Knowing how things evolved I don't like what was back then, because it could be better now and with the specs available in 2000's it was impressive and I would have been extremely happy to own such systems and Unreal and other motorbike/nascar/race games.
But I still get some fun out of Alley Cat and Titus the Fox, Commander Keen (+ fan levels)... It's probably me being too old.

Unreal had potential I guess, but by the time it came around, I think most of us had "space Marine" fatigue.
I actually liked Quake 4 quite a bit more than Doom3. It wasn't as fun as Quake II though.
Doom3 was one of those games that was pretty, but terrible. I simply nearly everything about that game.
This is the game that I think of as vapid. Other than it's technically impressive visuals, it had zero to offer.

MrFlibble wrote on 2025-01-30, 15:30:

It's still very visible that the game was breathtaking when it came out, like I mentioned above -- but trying to relive the amaz […]
Show full quote

Jasin Natael wrote on 2025-01-30, 14:14:

it was astonishingly beautiful for it's time, it can't be overstated.
If you didn't live it, it's very hard to replicate. Nothing else has really came close to having that impact, not your Cyrsis' or your Far Cry's or CyberPunks or any of them.

It's still very visible that the game was breathtaking when it came out, like I mentioned above -- but trying to relive the amazement when you weren't there in the first place is, indeed, impossible.

When I first reached the outside areas after the ship, I even considered dropping back to 640x480 (I set it to run in 1024x768) for greater authenticity, but I don't think that'd help much. I could feel it: "this is a visually amazing game, but you have to go back in time to truly experience it". It is certainly a slightly odd feeling.

Jasin Natael wrote on 2025-01-30, 14:14:

Possible exception was Serious Sam, that Croteam kicked ass.

Serious Sam is yet another game that I missed in the early 2000s. I remember downloading the earliest demo sometime in 2010 and running it for the first time, in 640x480. The self-running demo part with the camera that flies through the demo level. The scale of the areas and structures was truly breathtaking, but I've been a fan of Ancient Egypt since my childhood. The vast open areas hinted at unlimited freedom in a virtual world, and the temples looked grandiose, everything felt real and unreal at the same time. I think the remastered version actually toned this down somehow, although it is essentially a 1:1 recreation in a slightly newer engine.

I think I'm just too satiated with FPS experiences at this point to truly appreciate the beauty of Unreal on the "gut" level. But the game is still pretty nice as a game, definitely a product of its time.

Well wrapped up. As above, I mostly agree.

Unreal launched a few months before half life i think, at the time most FPS games were like doom, duke3d or quake and quake 2.

I think it got such good reviews because a) it really looked good at the time and b) that first 30 mins is exceptional design - the escape from the ship, scripted events and the opening up of the outside world

Early reviewers were probably wowed by that and perhaps didn't put in hours and multiple playthroughs

I was also impressed, and i didn't play it at launch- but i carried on playing it and sure enough it started to become a bit of a slog and 'ok/good', not really living up to its first sequence.

Half Life, by comparison, not only had the wonderful opening 30 mins but stayed excellent (mostly) throughout

Unreal had its moment in the sun, the maps with bots were great though - and UT99 remains wonderful

myne wrote on 2025-01-30, 15:02:

Unreal, imo took a leaf from id's book, and made a playable tech demo the story was pretty half assed compared to half life. Id […]
Show full quote

ChrisK wrote on 2025-01-30, 13:35:

Unreal's main "feature" was the graphics in combination with the high time of Glide. Besides that I don't remember very much from my first play through which wasn't even on 3dfx hardware.
Half Life on the other hand was the complete opposite. While not beeing as sophisticated as Unreal technically there's so much more to remember, funny moments, ahh moments, omg moments...
This may sound a bit odd but I often regretted buying Unreal instead of Half Life when it came out back then. I'd really like to have an original paper box of Half Life.

Unreal, imo took a leaf from id's book, and made a playable tech demo the story was pretty half assed compared to half life.
Id did well off engine licencing with quake and quake 2.
So much so, that it's not hard to argue quake 3 was purely a tech demo. There was f all story, but that didn't matter because it was a great arena shooter.
Unreal is now entirely an engine for sale.

Different discussion of course......but Quake 3 was Pepsi to Unreal's Coke.
Coke has always, and will always be the original.
Anything else is a pale imitation.

The one thing I remember about it is that I bought it and the framerate was awful. I didn't have 3DFX. So had to use OpenGL I assume. I don't recall. Direct3D support came in later patch.

By the time I had a PC capable of playing it, I'd moved on to other games. So, I too haven't played more than a couple of hours into it. I do remember being in awe though when getting out of the prison ship and marvelling at the graphics.