It's, like, Totally Unreal! (Like, totally!)

Author's Rating:

Pros: Fun, fast action. Many mods available. 2 Games in 1.

Cons: Gameplay gets old and repetitive.

The Bottom Line: 
A great game in the true spirit of the 3D shooter. Lots of blood and gore, no distractions. No holds barred. Great for single player and multiplayer.

Author's Review
Contents: Unreal Tournament Game of the Year Edition
Unreal Gold (Original Unreal plus expansion pack)
Preview Disc of Unreal 2 / Unreal Championship
Editing Tools

Unreal has been voted to be one of the best-looking games of all time (Next Generation). Unreal Tournament was so popular that it was re-released as the "Game of the Year" edition. Among shooters, these two games are some of the most talked about in recent years. But are they really worth your hard earned money?

Unreal revolutionized 3D gaming. The engine is downright beautiful. It can render breathtaking scenes at amazing speeds. No wonder that it was used in other hit games (Deus Ex). Unreal is essentially a single player game (although multiplayer is available, UT is much better. See below). In Unreal, you play the part of a prisoner whose transport ship has crash-landed on an alien planet. The models are all great, the textures are beautiful, and the light effects are top-notch. Unreal set the bar for other games of the genre, and few have come close.

Unreal Tournament is equal in visual appeal to its predecessor. However, while the original game emphasizes the single player game, UT concentrates more on multiplayer carnage-fests. You fight in a series of arenas against computer-controlled players (bots). UT comes with several types of games including capture the flag, assault, domination, and deathmatch (of course). Although you can play the game in single-player mode and progress through all of the levels, eventually winning the trophy, the game was made for multiplayer. All of the game types that are available in single player are also available in multiplayer. In addition, a very strong fan base is constantly releasing modification to the game rules (mods). 2 mods, ChaosUT and Rocket Arena UT, are included in the GOTY edition.

This purchase is actually a rather simple decision. If you like first-person shooter games (DOOM, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D), then you will like these games. While the visuals are impressive, they do not take away from the extremely fast pace. If you need a game to play against other people over the modem or network, then UT is an excellent choice. You will find servers everywhere.

If, however, you do not like bloodbath style shooters, you will not like these games nearly as much. You will find that the gameplay gets tiresome very quickly. In Unreal, there are few puzzles. The most complex puzzles are environment puzzles. UT has absolutely no puzzles. Thinking is not the point of these games. If you are looking for games with a deep story and complex gameplay, then you will have to look somewhere else.

Otherwise, you might simply be looking for good games to play, and you are considering this boxed set. Since Unreal was voted by PCGamer as one of the top 25 games of all time, you should check it out for yourself. You should see what made the engine so popular. The graphics are simply amazing. This is definitely a gem to add to your game collection.

If you liked these games, you might want to try Quake 3: Arena. The gameplay is very similar to UT. In fact, many people have a hard time deciding between UT and Q3A. Give both a try!