Unreal review | Edge Online

This review first appeared in E60, July 1998.

Loading Epic’s long awaited first-person shooter is among the most impressive experiences a gamer will ever enjoy. The game begins with the player as the sole survivor on a crashed prison vessel, unarmed and close to death. As the ship is explored, every corner reveals a fresh demonstration of Unreal’s powerful 3D engine. Noisy firefights behind locked doors and bloodied remains on the floor increase the tension. When players finally emerge, blinking into the sunlight, en route to Unreal’s first level proper, all thoughts of its rivals have been banished.

It’s clearly intentional. As well as immersing players right away, it seems Epic is suggesting that Unreal marks a new beginning. Certainly, as what is effectively a second-generation game for 3D accelerators, Unreal, like Forsaken and Incoming, is one of a new breed. Equally, the level design, pacing, weapons and AI places it firmly at the pinnacle of its genre. Yet it’s a genre that might benefit from a more original approach. As it stands – perhaps fittingly for a project of four years ago – Unreal represents the best of a generation.

Describing the gameplay is like quoting from any number of post-Doom reviews. Essentially it involves finding more powerful weapons to dispatch ever-tougher opponents, hitting switches and getting from one level to the next while rooting out secrets.

Yet superb games are frequently rehashes of well-worn templates. Like Tekken 3, Quake 2 and ISS 64, Unreal achieves greatness by doing nearly everything as well as its peers, and doing many things better. While we long for a developer to exploit the potential of the first-person shooter, it would be churlish not to recognise that it’s the many innovations that advance a genre over the years.

Unreal’s biggest single achievement is its AI. Players might battle a lizard-like Skarrj on a walkway, wrong-footing him so that he falls off the edge only to watch him climbing back up. Enemies play cat-and-mouse ducking behind corridors, diving clear of projectiles and occasionally even retreat when outgunned. The AI-controlled deathmatch bots are better still. Apart from a lack of imagination, they play just like people.

The weapons are equally refreshing. While Epic has faced the perennial problem of topping the shotgun and rocket launcher of Doom II, it’s explored its own avenues with shuriken hurlers, semi-guided missiles, sniper rifles and toxic bio-guns. Every weapon can be fired in two ways (a couple also offer combination attacks), equipping the player with nearly 20 offensive options.

Less remarkably, Unreal represents another small step from the shoot ‘em up to exploration game. (Think Hexen meets Tomb Raider.) It’s levels are to be savoured rather than blasted through, which will please the cerebral but could frustrate those looking for quick kills. A nice touch is the four-armed native Nali priests, who guide the players to secret areas – provided they’re not harmed. The adds an extra element to combat, since the dim-witted Nali frequently blunder into the player’s sights.

Undeniably though, it’s Unreal’s atmosphere that will win most fans. The music is pacey, while the creatures, machinery and even the air have their own distinctive sounds. Equally, a roll call of Unreal’s graphic features reads like an advertisement for 3D cards; volumetric lighting, translucency, environment mapping, procedural textures and more.

Unreal’s artists have mastered their craft. Scrolling holographic screens hang suspended in control rooms, reflected in the silvered floors. Flares, torches and even gunfire illuminate dingy passages, as players scramble for an exit. Outdoors, when players explore the terrain beneath a vast beached spaceship, the sensation is more Starship Troopers than Quake II.

In stark contrast, Unreal’s worst flaw is its animation. The monsters are unconvincing, barely flinching when shot at and dancing in thin air beyond ledges. It’s not a totally fair comparison (at least its monsters can fall off the edge) yet we can’t help wishing its animations matched their environments.

Another complaint is the limited number of onscreen opponents. While PC shooters from Doom onwards have continually got more lifelike, something is undoubtedly being sacrificed here.

Ultimately though, Unreal lives up to its somewhat corny name. Through its attention to detail, the little ideas injected into well-worn formats (particularly in multiplayer) and the decision to give away complete level creation tools, Epic has pulled out all the stops in an attempt to make a masterpiece. It it falls short, it’s not because Unreal isn’t better than all its opponents, but because it’s just a little too much like them.