Cheap Unreal (Jewel Case) (Software) (Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows Me) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Unreal (Jewel Case)

This one's going to last for a while!
With the best game engine currently in release underlying killer sound effects, great graphics, and the most evil enemy AI, Unreal is sure to stick around as one of the top games for a long time. Add to this the number of online servers and multiplayer support available for this game and you'll have a grand ol' time killing all your friends! The unsupported level editor which ships with the game can be fixed with a patch from the Unreal website and then you're making your own levels with the easiest design interface I've ever used. The game could easily benefit from some extra speech and humor (you don't hear a peep out of your own character until you die), but it's dark atmosphere and excellent surprises should have your heart pumping everytime you have to look around a corner. Whether your a die-hard gameplayer or a detail-happy level designer, this one's for you.

---

Gorgeous but marred by shallow gameplay
It still amazes me how good this game -- now over two and a half years old -- looks. Sure, the top of the line PC stuff is definitely prettier now, mainly due to higher polygon counts. But we have yet to achieve a quantum leap in graphics quality equivalent to what "Unreal" and "Quake 2" accomplished in late '97/early '98 (just compare "Unreal" to the previous year's "Jedi Knight" to see what I mean). To this day the game's textures are flat-out gorgeous, particularly the ones on the "Vortex Rikers," "Terraniux" and "Dark Arena" levels.

That said, the gameplay is pretty weak. I came to "Unreal" after having played "Half-Life" -- still the penultimate single-player first-person-shooter (FPS) experience -- and "Unreal" didn't even come close. I could barely be bothered to play halfway through the game. Only the lure of new graphics ahead kept me playing, but I never finished it. While "Half-Life" keeps you intrigued with lots of in-game scripted moments, a plot containing at least a few twists, and a series of unforgettable sequences that leave you shaking your head saying "That was so cool," "Unreal" just throws endless levels at you. And buttons to push, and levers to throw, and doors to open. Sure, the enemy AI is pretty good (for its time -- "Half Life" put that to shame as well), but the number of different monster-types is pretty low, and there's no context for any of it after the first few levels. The action isn't intense enough to hold interest by itself. To borrow an apt phrase, there's no "there" there.

Still, the atmosphere is amazing, and more than enough to justify buying "Unreal" given its now-low price. Some of the moments are simply breathtaking -- first emerging from the crashed ship into Nyleve's Falls; walking around the outside of the Coliseum in "Dark Arena"; and above all the approach to Terraniux, when the setting suns backlight the huge looming spaceship that dominates the landscape. There is also some fine architecture -- "Dark Arena" and "Sunspire" spring readily to mind -- but remember there is a difference between designing a cool building and creating a really great game level. The music is great too, although sadly not in Redbook format, so you can't just play the tunes off the CD.

Bottom line: if you haven't bought "Unreal," and your system has the appropriate specs, pick it up. It's a piece of gaming history and still pretty darn gorgeous. But don't expect a seminal gaming experience. Expect instead a sublime "it-might-have-been."

---

Awsome game
I played unreal when I was 9 and beat it in a week.
The game is just plain awsome. Unfortenutly that was 7 years ago and I doubt this will work on XP but when Im at his house I always play this amazing game. The begining is friggin scary when youre in the abandon space ship and all you hear are the lives of the sapce crew screaming and beging for there lives.
Later you soon find out that they are being torn apart by these disturbing creatures or aliens I might say. More games should be like this.
The only game to be like this would probably be The suffering cause you here the voices of the CO's getting torn apart by weird disturbing creatures. Maybe not the only game but there a little few games that are like UNreal.
The begining parts were the best for me. The scream the horror. I think this is suppose to be a survival horror game. I donno but Get this game but I think they dont make this game any more? Any ways get this and UNREAL TURNEMENT. AWSOME GAMES!