Episode 106: Unreal

Unreal was the Crysis of its time. It pushed PCs to their absolute limits, with its advanced shader effects and enormous levels. It featured AI that was far beyond the stilted and simplistic enemies that people were used to. It built an alien world that managed to straddle the line between the more abstract early era shooter and what the build engine games were doing. And it was all wrapped up in a succinct 10 hour campaign, that eschewed genre staples like door keys and fodder enemies. Unreal seemed to represent a true evolution of the FPS genre.

But unfortunately for Unreal, there was another FPS that was released in 1998. And that was Half Life. Half Life went on to become the dominant FPS in a way not seen since Doom, and Unreal’s legacy would lie more in its ongoing arena multiplayer than its initial single player efforts.

But does Unreal actually deserve to be forgotten? Was there something magical and unique about its design that elevated it above its boomer shooter peers? Or was it instead ultimately just a shallow tech showcase, with no real substance beneath all of its glitter?

On this episode, we discuss:

Aesthetics.

• On the surface, from a modern perspective, Unreal looks kind of ugly, with its low-res stretched textures. But it combines this with a haunting OST, varied level design and a color palette that brings its scenes to life. Is the famed atmosphere of Unreal as alien and immersive as it is claimed to be?

Level Design.

• Unreal has a curious blend of massive open ended architecture fused with ultimately linear level design. Does getting rid of key doors in favour of switches lead to the player getting lost in the maze, or is there something deeper and more clever at work here?

Combat.

• Unreal boasts some very advanced AI for its primary enemy combatant: The Skaarj. They dodge roll your rocket blasts, maintain distance against close range weapons, and are generally a massive nuisance to deal with. But the number of enemies you actually fight at once is low, and the game is even lower on enemy variety. Just how fun is the combat gameplay of Unreal?

We answer these questions and many more on the 106th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Unreal OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8hkDjVYXQY&t

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Is there more to the combat of Unreal than we’re giving it credit for? Are there any mods which improve the fundamental Unreal experience? What is it about the level design that’s so special, and are there any other games that have built upon it? Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

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