As I stated earlier, the community response was excellent and it really reminded me why I’m proud to be here. Below are the best responses we got about the game:
It was a very bizarre time in my life. Two months before I had gotten the game, I asked my husband for a divorce. I spent more and more time online so I didn't have to think about it. I started reading about Unreal. People were saying the coolest things about it and I really wanted to try it. They were going mad about it on IRC (my IRC handle was Akasha back then, to those of you who were around) and some of the developers were even getting on to talk about it! One day I was at Computer City and I saw this beautiful box and
I had had to pick it up. There it was, the game I had read so much about. Unreal. I bought it and went to my computer guru to see if my PC would play it. It wouldn't. Back to Computer City. I spent damn near 700 bucks to upgrade to play the game. Oh well, I needed an upgrade anyway, Photoshop 5.0 was just out and I could barely run 4. So I went home and swore up a blue streak while I tried to upgrade my computer. Finally, the computer started and I went about installing the game.
I was floored. WOW. Tomb Raider went on the shelf, forever. I made my way around and discovered a new world like I had never seen before. I was immediately hooked. I would do as much work as I possibly could at my job so my day would go fast and I could get home and play. I played until my fingers went to sleep then I would chat about it online. Then I would dream about it. The Skaarj scared the crap out of me and I had all of my lights on when I played at night. I even had a few Skaarj nightmares. The ASMD and the Assault rifle were my favorite weapons. Online we we would argue about which weapon was the best and talk about the amazing graphics. I loved the Temple and Monastary. I remember seeing the crucifixes and getting goosebumps. I was actually sad when I finished the game. It was over. My world wasn't complete again until I heard about the expansion pack.
I still talk with a lot of the people I chatted with way back then. Most of them have gotten lives, my life however, still revolves around Unreal. You changed my life in a great way Unreal, Happy Birthday.
-Flak
The moment in Unreal that stand out to me most is on Nyleves fall, when all of a sudden a dead body is flung through the air and across the corridor, just before you see the Brute responsible. I was used FPSs like Quake 2 before that, so this was truely suprising. I've also many fond memories of sneeking up on groups of Krall playing dice games, trying to come up with the best ambush strategy.
Another moment thats stands out fairly well takes place on the Skaarj Mothership, when you go up to the forcefield cells and groups of mercenaries/Skaarj give orders and make threats at you!
-Gregori
What I really like about Unreal...
The vast levels. These are ideal for monster wars. I've organized quite a few (years ago) in spire village or the trench. Summon a couple of hundred monsters, put some Skaarj troopers in between the armies.
See an army of krall take on the mercenaries, throw in some stone titans and a band of pupae.
I used to play RTNP coop on an UT server. Basically it was called UTLNP. But those were the RTNP levels anyway. Upgraded- meaning tons of extra monsters. Anyway, this updated version contained some creature factories. These spawned tons of pupae. We had our pick of the weapons, basically everything, the entire unreal arsenal. My favorite was, naturally, the ASMD. Blow tons of pupae to shreds, quite a sight. You had to watch the gibs, they always tend to fling their destroyed bodies at your gun
Permanent decals and carcasses was enabled. Whew, did it get messy or what. The entire tomb was covered with black, red and green spots.
Biggest problem was making it out of the tomb. Those pupae spawned everywhere! And you know what happens if a pupae jumps you. You're stuck! There was no armour, so when we got caught we died quickly. SO, it was all about teamwork really. My buddy ran through the horde of pupae, and I placed some nicely timed combos, obliterating them and creating a pathway to safety.
Unreal coop also has these beautiful shieldbelt combinations. Really colorful. Totally unreal.
Heh, got a little carried away.
-Neonite
I've got to share the tale of my first time playing Unreal online. It literally changed my life. It was really late at night in 2002. A friend of mine had given me a copy of Unreal Gold several months earlier, and I had just gotten my internet hooked up. I was looking for a server to play on and the name of a map just begged to be tried out - DmZahltag.
I spawned into the game. I was shocked. I just stood there, looking around this huge cityscape at night, in complete awe. It was gorgeous. Pools of light on the street, the sounds of traffic off in the distance. And then I heard music, like a soundtrack in a movie. It was "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin. That was it - I was completely hooked. I played at the Eurasian server almost every night for nearly 3 years.
I've been an Unrealer ever since. In 2003 I was even the leader of Mars Clan 2k3. And in 2006 I made the "complete remake" of DmZahltag, which was then ported to UT2004. It has received fantastic reviews.
So, the Unreal 1 legend continues on. But the most important thing that Unreal has given to my life are the great friends I've met, and still have years later. They are the best. Happy birthday, Unreal.
-Buster aka Sneaki_B
The moment I remember most is when you walk out the Vortex Rikers into the big landscape. I even think it's one of the best moments I've seen in my FPS career. Not even modern day shooters with all their fancy graphics and dozens of on-screen events at a time can top that
I wonder how much time and effort they put in creating and perfecting that moment. Recreating the music-intro time after time until it would fit perfectly.
-Kaithofis
I was a totally FPS Noob before Unreal, I had played Tomb Raider and Forsakken before. Of course, I was hypnotized by the flair of unreal. The alien world, the sounds the creatures, weapons, and missions.
key points for me:
- I got lost in many levels.
- The fight with the queen was amazing for me though I didn't know how to activate the jump boots.
- The level with the warlord, oh my, I was really scared when I saw him!
- The trench, there I saw for the first time that the monsters fight each other too.
All I can say is I played this game again and again.
I want to say a big THANX to all modders and mappers who still care for both games.
-Thug Life
I remember the PC Gamer article on Unreal a few years before the game was released and I think it showed an early version of the flyby castle in the opener. It was such an amazing thing when I compared it to Quack or Duke3d. As soon as it was available I went ahead and tried the first level. Complete shock and awe wouldn't even cover how I felt. The atmosphere, the amazing graphics, the leaking green gases in the ducts that seemed to be so realistic looking, and that was just the first level.
The enemy AI was so smart back then that I could swear that I was playing against a human player, but I had some kick ass weapons to combat these evil and devious creatures with. The ASMD was the one weapon that I simply loved; getting that pure gib-age from getting a combo on a skaarj was just a great feeling.
I wasn't new to Death match or online gaming since I played Quack online and the occasional Doom modem hell match but playing DM in Unreal was quite a bit different than most other games of the time. Instead of just one mode of fire, we now how the choice of two or possibly three combinations of firing modes on some weapons; the Eight ball had 4 modes, single, multi/multi spiral/grenades, we also had the Dispersion Pistol which had several upgraded forms, each more powerful than the last. It was just so much fun for everyone who was there and most of those people back then who played the game with me are still around today, that's how much fun we had.
9 years and still going strong, Unreal, you rock!
-JohnDoe641
Believe or not, but I heard first about Unreal after reading a review of Jazz Jackrabbit 2 from one game magazine, it was mentioned there as "...a killer cowboy from space...". I had a good laugh at that sentence, but I forgot it soon, because it was the only thing said about Unreal in that mag. About a year later I got a chance to play this game. It took a while when I finally understood about what I was reading in that article about that "killer cowboy".
The most memorable and moody levels from the Unreal were Temple of Vandora, Nali Castle (great background music btw.), SunSpire, Bluff Eversmoking (back then it took me almost a day to beat that level) and my favorite one - Spire Village that has another captivating musical and atmospheric feel. Most creepy levels were of course the ISV-Kran ones, first time I played those it was damn scary when bunch of Skaarjs suddenly jumped out from ventilations. The lighting and setting of ISV-Kran levels created the perfect eerie environment.
The Mothership levels caused me a lot of running around, because I always got lost in there, but regardless of that they were unique and interesting to play. Final Queen fight was a lot of floundering, but it was satisfying when I finally took it out. Ending scene was also really memorable when the shuttle shot through the sky into the orbit was really cool and the music did its own job adding the feel. Today I still play Unreal from time to time and it never gets boring, because Unreal offers great replayability. Unreal is a must-play game for any shooter fans who are looking for an unreal experience!
-Raynor.Z
Unreal was the first single player game that actually suspended my disbelief before I ventured into level design. I'm pleased I played the game first before understanding how levels and games generally are bolted together because seeing the game through a level designers eyes is a curse unfortunately.
If I had to single out one aspect of Unreal that separates it from all other games before and since I would have to say the beautiful musical score by Alexander Brandon which makes the game what it is I think.
My lasting memories from the original game would be:
- Vortex Rikers - awakening in you prison cell etc and grabbing the Universal Translator, moving through the ship and watching the guy getting electrocuted in his chair - moving on and that moment you hear all the screams from behind that partially opened airlock and seeing the first creature running from the scene - amazing. Then from those cramped, claustrophobic conditions you walk out into:
- NyLeve's Falls - who could ever forget that moment?
- Chizra - Nali Water God Temple - Music - absolutely mesmerizing - nothing comes close to the music in this level - perfectly fitting and uplifting.
- Harobed Village - So open and beautiful - I could sit and look at that skybox for hours - oh, and that spaceship.......oooohhhhh.
- Spire Village & Sunspire - beautiful ambient levels - absolutely memorable - check out the music and realize why nothing comes even close.
-Lruce Bee
When Unreal made it to New Zealand We hadn't even heard of using the WSAD key configuration to play games then so we were all still using the up down left and right arrow keys instead, we had only just started to explore the world of 3dfx accelerator cards so the release of the Voodoo rush and voodoo2 (released later on that year) cards were the wicked cool thing to have, however another company called nvidia was showing a lot of promise with their riva 128 and riva tnt cards. People where getting sick of playing the number one online game at the time which was still quake 2. Unreal brought a fresh new look at how things should be done which included game play, one of the coolest intro sequence levels i have ever seen and *to my memory* the first upgradeable weapon in any fps game not to mention the super wicked reflective surfaces bringing that ooooooooh aaaaaaah factor that gamers love.
-Ben
When I was on Na Pali for the first time, I really thought that I found the paradise in the universe. The planet looks like the paradise but there was a problem, the Skaarj, a deadly and cool looking race was on Na Pali to make trouble, but they made trouble with me. I walked through all of Na Pali to get out of this paradise, I had to kill so many enemies to get free, it was difficult, but cool.
-Anubis “The Shadowgod”
So thank you Epic for giving us one of the best experiences in modern gaming and thank ALL of you for keeping that experience alive and supporting the Unreal community! Happy 9th Birthday Unreal, make it a good one!