The Unreal series in one box doesn't get better than this

Author's Rating:

Pros: Weapons
Game Variants
Fast/Intense Gameplay

Cons: Unreal (Original)

The Bottom Line: 
Unreal's greatest moments are here in one box. I strongly recommend picking this title up.

Author's Review
Epic games has used the Unreal series to push sales of their engine time after time. The Unreal Engine is used in games ranging from BioShock to Borderlands. Rivaling the Havok engine, Unreal has pushed quite a bit for action and play. Still, it is the Unreal series that started it all. Unreal Anthology features Epic's key titles using the Unreal 1.0 and 2.0 engines.

Unreal
Unreal is the game that started it all in 1998. As with most games of the day, Unreal is a linear First Person Shooter (FPS) title. Players start as a convict who escapes shortly after his/her ship crashes. The following is about their survival while being stalked by a violent race known as the Skaaj.

In all honesty, the story is very bland and poorly developed. To learn anything, players must find Nali (an indigenous species) ruins. When you decipher them, you will learn more about what's going on. I had difficulty because the story is all text based and often lengthy. I found myself caring less about what happened and more about killing.

The game suffers from an isolation complex. Players will often find themselves alone, for hours before they run into enemies. When enemies do attack, there are usually four or less. Thankfully, the enemies are pretty dumb, so they're easy to outsmart, but difficult to take down, as they can absorb more damage than you'd expect. Players need to manage their weapon inventory well to ensure success in this game. Often times, I found myself using the pistol to take down moderate enemies rather than heavier weaponry.

This was my second venture in to the Unreal series. Having started with Unreal Tournament (99), I already had a feeling for the weapons. Unreal features a well balanced arsenal. The most notable were the flak cannon (which is like a cross between a shotgun and a grenade launcher) and the 8-ball (rocket launcher). These weapons would later become staples in future Unreal titles. All weapons feature multiple functions. The AMD Shock Core (later the Shock Rifle) is an interesting mix of rail-gun and plasma launcher. The first function fires a straight shot while the second fires a plasma orb. If players fire a plasma orb, then it it with the straight shot, it explodes as a more powerful energy blast. Up until this time, I had not seen such innovation in weapon usage. Sadly, the story mode forces players to find the additional functionality. When you first receive the Flak Cannon, it only fires like a shotgun. While useful, it isn't until you get the grenade launching upgrade that it becomes a truly destructive weapon.

What really made Unreal notable was the multi-player support. The bots are intelligent and don't simply follow the character, but have personalities of their own. In a way, Unreal's bot support allows players to play by themselves against what feels like real competition. I also salute the maps. Much of the maps are laid out in very intuitive manners so players do not get lost often and can keep the frag-fest frantic. The action is so fast, it'll make your eyes burn.

Unreal Tournament
This was the game that started my affinity toward the Unreal series. Epic learned that the best part of Unreal was the multi-player, so they threw together a game that emphasized the multi-player aspect. The result revolutionized how multi-player FPS titles were looked at.

To start, Epic threw in a detailed, but pointless, story. The tale tells of the Liandri corporation's trouble with miners. As frustration grew in the mines, miners began killing each other. To quell this, a competition called "The Tournament" was founded. Eventually, combatants from outside the Liandri employee pool were allowed to compete. The tournament became Liandri's most successful business and was hosted year after year. Unreal Tournament is the first year we get to see.

There are four modes of game-play. Players can compete in the standard Death-match (DM), Domination (Dom), Capture the Flag (CTF), or Assault. DM is the standard rules of kill everyone who is not on your team. DM has been a staple since Doom (1993). Dom is a new type of play. Players must hold check points to score. I found domination fun but confusing as the scoring made little to no sense. At times, I would hold a position and the other team would get points. How this works, I could not say. CTF is another staple of FPS titles. There are two teams with a flag to protect. The object is to get your opponent's flag back to your base without allowing them to remove your flag. Teams cannot score unless their flag is at the base.

Better than CTF is Assault. Assault forces team play by pitting players on a mission against an objective. In the fist installation of Assault, players are dropped out of a helicopter onto a bullet train. The offensive team must work their way to the engine and blow up the train while the defensive team must defend the team. When the match is over, the teams switch sides. If the first team to be on offense completed the objective, the other team will have to complete the same objective in less time to win. If they failed, the other team will only have to complete the objective to win. Because Unreal Tournament is a very fast paced title, Assault missions are a rush.

Unlike Unreal, Unreal Tournament doesn't force players to unlock weapon functions. Each weapon has two functions. The new Rocket Launcher (no longer the 8-ball) can launch rockets or deploy grenades. Other weapons include a bio rifle which uses toxic waste to dispatch enemies. Normal fire attaches and slowly drains life while second function is a charged goop shot that kills instantly. The Shock Rifle and Flak Cannon return along with new additions including: Sniper Rifle, Plasma Rifle, and the Redeemer. The Sniper Rifle is the only gun in Unreal Tournament that does not have an offensive second function. The second function is a zoom, allowing for extreme ranged attacks. A personal favorite is the Ripper. The Ripper is a gun that shoots saw blades that do minimal damage, but will bounce off of walls. The Ripper is one of three weapons capable of head-shots. The second function on the Ripper is an exploding saw blade. While this doesn't yield head shots, it is useful in a bind.

Because this is the Game of the Year edition, Epic threw in a second set of weapons. The normal Redeemer (which is a massive rocket launcher that kills everything in it's blast instantly) is replaced with the auto-turret and the vortex. Both are about as powerful, but deploy differently and last longer for more kills. Epic added trap grenades and a special cross bow to the new weapon set. While the new weapons may seem fun, the bots fail to use these as well as the originals. I didn't find many of the new weapons as useful as the core weaponry.

The bots are a piece of work. Epic gives players the ability to tailor bot performance. You can adjust how accurate they shoot, how jumpy they'll act, and whether they like to camp or not. Moreover, players can set up preferred weapons as well as whether the bots are right or left handed. The detailed and adjustable dossier built for each bot is insane.

Unreal Tournament features slightly better graphics than Unreal. The game originally sold with a second disc including updated effects. This edition includes that and will run on most modern PC's (though possibly not net-books). Arenas and maps are very well designed. Deck 16 is a favorite, and it feels just like running around on an operations deck of a ship. The only complaint I have is risque artwork used in the Cathedral.

Unreal II: The Awakening
Unreal II is the first game to use the Unreal 2.0 engine. The game moves the series forward in a number of technological aspects. Most notably, the graphics are far improved over Unreal Tournament. Given the 4 year difference between release dates, Unreal II is welcome update. This game won an award on GameSpot.com for best fire effect. While much more textured, Unreal II still suffers from slightly blocky enemies.

Unreal II follows in Unreal's lineage with a story based drive. Players take the role of John Dalton (an ex-marine) who is looking to be reinstated. Instead, Dalton finds himself surveying the most uninhabited sectors of the galaxy. Hating baby-sitting missions, Dalton is excited to hear of a disturbance at a Liandri mining facility. His warm greeting soon becomes a confrontation with the Skaaj empire.

Unlike Unreal, the story is told through voice over. While I'm running through mission fields, I enjoy hearing the chatter. The run, gun, and story unfolding is much better than finding runes with 6 page essays on their importance. Dalton is joined by a small crew that players are forced to meet during between mission exploration of his ship (the Atlantis). While you can meet the crew, the XBox version did a much better job of this by playing the interactions as more of a video than an interactive mini-quest. Aida is the superfluous eye-candy disguised as Dalton's first officer. She explains what you're up against. Isaak is a drunk, but the weapons specialist. And Ne'ban is the ship's pilot. Having faces to go with the names is nice, but the characters really don't do much in the grand scheme of things. Most of the game is spent by yourself, wondering through facilities and jungles.

Unreal had weapons, Unreal II had the flame thrower. Unreal II developed its own set of arms, which differentiated it from the remainder of the series. Players can use an assault rifle, flame thrower, and rocket launcher. There are other weapons, but I found myself using these mostly. I would have liked to see the Unreal Tournament weapons used in Unreal II, but Epic decided not to. I would say that the weapon set works with the game, but is by no means what I've come to expect from Epic. Even the alien guns seem like extensions of weapons used in other Unreal titles.

Unreal Tournament 2004
Unreal Tournament 2004 (UT2004) is a minor and major step forward. UT2004 is essentially a patched version of Unreal Tournament 2003(UT2003). UT2003 featured upgraded versions of DM, Dom, and CTF as well as introducing a new style of play called Bombing Run (BR). BR was a cross between DM and football. Players would carry the ball to a scoring pod on the opponent's turf then shoot to score. While I enjoyed BR, I was disappointed that it did not carry over into UT2004. UT2003 adds to the experience by refining the rules to Dom. Players must hold a select number of positions on the map for a five count. Once they reach this time, the game is reset.

UT2004 includes the refinements from UT2003, then adds Onslaught. Onslaught replaces Assault and adds vehicles. The goal of Onslaught is to connect power nodes to the enemy's reactor core. Once you do this, you can destroy the enemy's core. Power nodes are controlled by occupying points on the map for a period of time. Once a node is established, players can branch out into other nodes. Without coordination, Onslaught is difficult to play. The AI can be set to a specific number of commands, but in Onslaught games, the commands tend to fail.

Epic truly brings an epic experience with their vehicles. Vehicles range from ground and infiltration to aerial support. Tow of my favorites are the Hornet and the Scorpion. The Hornet is an aerial combat vehicle. It features a Gatling gun and missiles. While players can get a bird's eye view of the playing field, the Hornet cannot damage a power core in Onslaught matches. This helps balance out the play. The Scoripon is a killer land rover. The first weapon is an electric bola that wraps around enemy vehicles and troops for max damage. More sadistic is the retractable blades. The blades are used to decapitate enemies on foot. A trick I've used is to whip donuts with the Scorpion while in an enemy base with the blades extended. It's a good way to eliminate the competition quickly.

UT2004 brings back the adrenaline system from UT2003. The more a player kills, the more adrenaline they'll store. When players reach 100 adrenaline, they can use special bonuses. The bonuses include: added damage, health regeneration, invisibility, and super speed. I like the adrenaline system, but I also find it useless. The bonuses help, but it takes a while to reach adrenaline (unless you collect pills on the map). Once you hit 100, you can activate the bonus at any time. The bonus will last for 30 seconds or until you die (whichever comes first).

With this version of UT2004, all the weapons from previous Unreal Tournament titles return. While I enjoy the weapon set, I don't care for the assault rifle that replaces the enforcer (handgun). In the original Unreal Tournament, players could achieve head-shots, but the assault rifle usually gets me killed. Thankfully, Epic posts weapon racks in team games. The weapon racks refill certain weapons (based on what the rack has hanging). Epic added the AVril launcher to defend against vehicles. The AVril will destroy most vehicles in one hit and is useful in taking down Hornets from the ground. UT2003's Lightning Gun is the resident sniper rifle in UT2004. Like in Unreal Tournament, this weapon features a scope for the second function.

The graphics look like Epic was going for a cartoony look over the realism attempted in Unreal II and the original Unreal Tournament. While it works, I was a little disappointed. Still, the game is completely mod-able, as players have created custom skins/models, maps, weapons, and other additions to enhance game play. The environments work well as maps are well laid out and easy to navigate. To build up even more, UT2004 offers a choice of all the announcers since Unreal. I can appreciate most of the announcers. The Unreal Tournament announcer had a certain nostalgia. The female announcer from UT2003 brought a futuristic computer voice feeling to the series. I would say the orgasmic "sexy announcer" was quite unnecessary. In addition to the announcers, UT2004 included 8 or so character voices with nearly 40 phrases each. With each accomplishment (whether a kill or other), characters are never left speechless.

Bonus Soundtrack
If you purchased a hard copy of Unreal Anthology, the game includes a bonus Soundtrack CD. I enjoy the game's sound track, but some of the music I liked was omitted from the collection of 24 tracks. The average piece is two and a half minutes long. Most of the music feels like something from a game rather than a piece. I cannot see myself listening to this extensively. For the tracks that were no included, the OGG and UMX files are available for play. The OGG should be playable by most systems; however the UMX were only playable using the free VLC player.

Overall
Unreal Anthology was totally worth the $8 price. When it was first released, the series retailed for $40, and I believe it is well worth it. I wasn't a fan of Unreal, and Unreal II was a decent title. The Unreal Tournament games are certainly the draw in this package. I was surprised to see my laptop could run the UT2004, but it runs smoothly on moderate settings. With a good mix of game variants and 40+ levels per game, Unreal Anthology delivers hours of play. Strongly Recommended