PC Gamer May 1998 - Unreal review

[IronMonkey]

We had a rather large leak in the roof last weekend (4cm of rain does tend to expose those broken tiles) and so I had to clear out a load of boxes from the attic. I'm still getting over those, "Oh! So that's where that went" moments as I discover where many of my favourite books disappeared to but one thing I did come across was the May 1998 edition of PC Gamer (UK) with the big review of Unreal.

It quite interesting to read as a piece of history. Much of the review pits Unreal against Quake II (journalists do like conflict) although to my mind it is unfair (to both) to make that comparison.

The editorial expresses surprise at a game that "everyone thought would never see the light of day, finally appearing without so much as a trumpeted fanfare".

The main complaint in the review is that the weapons are too puny compared to those of Quake II and that the later levels are "an absolute bitch to complete". Still on weapons, the review complains that Epic perhaps tried too hard to be different from iD and preferred variety over, well, that certain je ne sais quoi that the weapons in Quake II were supposed to possess.

There is no particular surprise in the things that they liked - scale, looks, AI.

Whilst acknowledging that you do need a decent PC, the review really does skate over the hardware requirements for playing the game at the resolution used for the various screenshots.

My experiences with Unreal DM were, perhaps, atypical. I got to play a lot of DM on a LAN and so I never really experienced the problems that folk experienced playing using a modem or where there was a lot of packet loss. I suspect that the review was conducted in similar circumstances as they find it all quite shiny.

For all that the game was rated at 94%, the summary does come across as damming with faint praise,

The only downside versus Quake II is an arguable lack of character. The weapons often seem a fraction too feeble and you rarely feel the power of launching a quad rocket launcher into someone's face. The monsters also (despite their design brilliance) fail to exude the same loathing and identity as Quake II's accomplished beasts.

Also reviewed in that issue...

• Claw
• Dark Reign: Rise of the Shadowhand
• Deadlock 2: Shrine Wars
• The Golf Pro
• Great Battles of Caesar
• Jack Nicklaus 5
• KKND 2
• Liberation Day
• Lula - The Sexy Empire (a porn business simulator with no dirty pictures!)
• M1 Tank Platoon 2
• MTG: Spells of the Ancients
• Motorhead
• NBA 98
• Pilgrim
• Red Baron 2
• Redline Racer
• Sabre Ace
• Ski Racing
• Star Wars: Supremacy
• Subspace

 

[Sir_Brizz]

Dark Reign was awesome... I should dig out my Dark Reign 2 disc sometime, I loved the music in that game.

 

[IronMonkey]

Dark Reign was awesome... I should dig out my Dark Reign 2 disc sometime, I loved the music in that game.

I know that I played it but I honestly cannot remember anything else about it.

Some of the previews were more interesting (whilst in list mode):

• Grim Fandango
• Superbikes
• Extreme Warfare
• Virus 2000
• Mechcommander
• Klingon Honour Guard
• Spec Ops
• Fallout 2
• Star Trek: Birth of the Federation

There's a news item that Quake III will replace a planned mission pack and feature "a completely new graphics engine merged with the Quake II game framework" (where did that go?) and that it would be 3D card only.

Oh, and the quoted Unreal system specs were hilarious.

Min: P166, 16MB RAM
Rec: PII-200, 64MB RAM, 3D card

(I thought the minimum PII clock speed was 233MHz???)

 

[Raynor.Z]

Here's one Unreal review video that dates a while back (bad it's in german though):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INBw6zXVqsE

 

[Leo(T.C.K.)]

Yes they always pit it against Quake 2 and complained about weird things. Like the weapons, not only these weapons were far better DM set than in most of released games at the time, they proved to be really good, as UT series proves it. I really laugh at how they've put these reviews together. And bitch to complete? C'mon, games like Shadow Warrior were far more challenging than Unreal, in fact the last SW level is complete overkill and it features three boss fights.
Quake 2 was very cheap with the any time activatable(although non deactivatable) invulnerability and quad damage. Makes the game easy peasy, Unreal had something cheap too and that was energy amplifier, it was overpowered in initial versions.

 

[Mister_Prophet]

The charge about the weapons in regards to Unreal's single player experience is a fairly accurate criticism, and I've heard it plenty. Yes, It's true that...as multiplayer weapons...Unreal's arsenal was probably among the most balanced of all time (Like Leo mentioned, just look at UT). But even when I played Unreal when it first came out I did experience moments playing the singleplayer game where I felt, more often than not, that I was shooting blanks. The weapons were simply much weaker than most shooter weapons at the time, originality in their design aside. I would say that Unreal was still easier to complete than most other shooters I played then, even with the amazing enemy AI. Probably easier than all of them, to be blunt about it. But I think that had more to do with the fact that Unreal really lacked a lot of "bruiser" enemies as opposed to other games, and the whole violence orientated themes that went with all the others. There were big guys like the Titan and the Warlord, but generally unless a regular guy got close enough to touch you, the player was never put in any of the ridiculous scenarios that other shooters used to trademark (as much as I love Duke Nukem, that game was rank with some of the cheapest enemy spawn/close proxy explosions I have ever experienced, and don't get me started on some others I could mention). Unreal was a different kind of game, a softer...atmospheric shooter. The fact that the guns fired napkin rolls sort of exemplifies that.

 

[Leo(T.C.K.)]

Well, for deathmatch especially the weapons were more powerful, like eightball dealing 100 damage in deathmatch while in SP just 80 or something like that.
The weapons might be a tad weaker in SP, but I never thought of that as disadvantage.

 

[IronMonkey]

The observation about the weapons in regards to Unreal's single player experience is a fairly accurate although couched in prejudicial terms.

Fixed.

I always liked the weapons in Unreal and UT. The "weakness" played to the strength that was alt-fire. One had to think about weapon choice and mode on occasion ("think" in a FPS being a relative term rather than just raining down destruction.


I don't see the apparent relative strength of Unreal weapons visà vis Quake II as a deficit, merely different and requiring a little more subtly in use. Mostly a matter of taste.

 

[Mister_Prophet]

Well, for deathmatch especially the weapons were more powerful, like eightball dealing 100 damage in deathmatch while in SP just 80 or something like that.
The weapons might be a tad weaker in SP, but I never thought of that as disadvantage.

In DM the damage differences are probably marginal to say the least since you spawn with a paltry 100 hp compared to the monsters of the game, and that's really a difference that matters. That, plus UT's hardcore mode amps the damage output somewhat, the damage they deal to human players (or bots) is pretty strong. That's why Unreal's/UT's spammy multiplayer was so awesome.

Fixed.

I always liked the weapons in Unreal and UT. The "weakness" played to the strength that was alt-fire. One had to think about weapon choice and mode on occasion ("think" in a FPS being a relative term) rather than just raining down destruction.


I don't see the apparent relative strength of Unreal weapons visà vis Quake II as a deficit, merely different and requiring a little more subtly in use. Mostly a matter of taste.

Well, I didn't read the article. But I maintain that they are only "weak" in the original single player experience compared to other games, and that's not the same as saying they were unbalanced with the gameplay. I think they were balanced accordingly. Clearly, it was an aesthetic choice first in regards to the weapons, and that made Unreal the game we all remember and love. I don't think the weapons being weak in the singleplayer of Unreal is necessarily a negative thing, even if...as a personal preference...I covet my tough guns sometimes.

 

[Leo(T.C.K.)]

In the Rocket's code, in any deathmatch game for example it really makes the damage higher as you an see, it checks if game is deathmatch (it applies to its subclases as well, which is in Unreal all the games including darkmatch) and if not, then its normal damage.

function BlowUp(vector HitLocation, RingExplosion r)
	{
		if ( Level.Game.IsA('DeathMatchGame') ) //bigger damage radius
			HurtRadius(0.9 * Damage,240.0, 'exploded', MomentumTransfer, HitLocation );
		else
			HurtRadius(Damage,200.0, 'exploded', MomentumTransfer, HitLocation );
		MakeNoise(1.0);

		if ( r != None )
			r.PlaySound(r.ExploSound,,6);
	}

 

[GreatEmerald]

Wait, it says "0.9 * Damage", so it's lower than in SP, only the radius is bigger.

 

[Leo(T.C.K.)]

No, it is not lower. 0.9 x Damage means bigger not lower, that would be -0.9 if it was lower.

And I know by experience that I killed freshly spawned bot with one rocket, which would not be possible if it was indeed lower.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

That makes no sense. 0.9 * damage is 90% of damage. Bot damage is affected by the skill level you are playing at.

 

[GreatEmerald]

Sir Brizz is right. 0.9 is lower, higher would be 1.9. -0.9 means that you heal the enemies!

 

[Bi()ha2arD]

Its probably equaled out because the enemies in singleplayer have more health?

 

[UBerserker]

Weapons in DM (Hardcore mode) do always more damage. No idea in Normal and in Turbo mode.

 

[Leo(T.C.K.)]

Sir Brizz is right. 0.9 is lower, higher would be 1.9. -0.9 means that you heal the enemies!

Ah yes, sorry. During other circumstances it would be higher though.
Must be the hardcore mode then....but I remember killing in one rocket even in versions 200-220 which didn't have hardcore mode afaik. Or maybe it was all time on hardcore.

 

[GreatEmerald]

Yea, those modes are rather strange, I mean, how come there is a "classic" mode in Unreal, the first game in the series?

 

[Sir_Brizz]

Because originally there wasn't any mode, and then there was Hardcore, so Classic is original Unreal.

 

[UBerserker]

Yea, those modes are rather strange, I mean, how come there is a "classic" mode in Unreal, the first game in the series?

unpatched Unreal was just a classic