Happy birthday to you, my old friend
You've brought me many, many, many hours of joy.
Indeed, Unreal is a breathtaking game. From the moment you awaken in the vortex rikers, you're overwhelmed by the unique atmosphere this game created. Remember the green fog in the ventilation shaft and the skaarj waiting for you? Or the fight scene in the other room, and you anxiously waiting for it to be "your turn"? No weapon! What am I going to do?
The door opened, the skaarj spotted you and he ran off. What a relief! And then you'd find your first weapon, the trusty dispersion pistol! Somewhat similar to the quake2 blaster ;p But you could actually upgrade this gun, and make it ultra powerful! (kill the queen with one blast in unpatched unreal, remember ;p..)
But the best was yet to come. The intro to Nyleve's falls, the fantastic sky with two suns, the sounds of nature and the incredibly beautiful music.
I could go on like this
Unreal has these massive levels. Most fps I had played featured small rooms, corridors (quake f.e.) Certain custom doom maps were huge, but one couldn't compare that to the vast size of spirevillage/sunspire/bluff eversmoking etc.
And the enemy was also quite the challenge. The way they dodged your incoming fire (you'd figure out the pattern quickly enough, though. Imho it's not that difficult but back then it was quite hard), took you by surprise by running around corners, closing in on you. Whereas the half life grunts were also "smart", they were never really that much "in your face". The Skaarj would run up to you, and smash/slash you to oblivion/bits and pieces! ;D
Real bastards. But I loved them from the start. Finally, a great enemy.
As for the other enemy creatures, I liked most. I was never that much of a fan of the tentacles and flies, though. Those flies tend to sneak up on you. Really annoying, sometimes.
Running into the first titan (dark arena) was a thrilling experience. Before you'd enter the huge building, you'd hear the titan's cries. Very impressive. And finally, after a bloody fight, you'd end up in the arena of death, facing a final showdown. Got to love how unpredictable those boulders are, right ;-)
Many Unreal players tend to groan and moan whenever you mention the sunspire.
It took me, as many others most certainly, almost an hour to find my way to the top.
But you have to realize that it isn't THAT difficult, all you have to do is follow the center route and you're set ;p
Imho, once you've found you way you're set.
Napali haven has always been my favourite level. I don't know. It's as if the game had reached its height, for me, on that specific map. It's yet again the whole combination of sounds, visuals and music. But it's so different in Napali haven. You'd see the neighboring
skycastles far far away. A beautiful galaxy iirc right above you, and many distracting ;-) coronas.
Personally I prefer the Dk version of Skytown, because it features tons of kralls. And I love head hunting those poor krall slaves!
Anyway, Unreal is a winner and a classic. And here's to another ten years
Today marks the tenth anniversary of the release date of Unreal. Way back in 1998, Epic Games unleashed a game that brought vivid color and breathtaking vistas into the world of the first person shooter. It also turned the user-editing world on its ear with an incredibly easy to learn editor, and the level creating community for Unreal instantly flourished.
