Unreal 20 Years Later: An LGR Retrospective

When Epic MegaGames released Unreal in 1998 it was an absolutely monumental title for PC gaming. Let's take a nostalgic look back at Unreal and its expansion, Return to Na Pali!
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● Music used in order of appearance:
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[@Pozer714]

In 1998 I was 40 and enjoyed this as much as any 13 year old. Still play it sometimes even to this day! I still enjoy just watching the opening screen. Truly a classic!

[@richiec.7637]

Hey, I was 40 too. A friend and I use to play flight sim games. Falcon 3 I think it was. One day I came over and he was playing this game Unreal. I couldn't believe the graphics. It was my first introduction to fps. I didn't think much of it as far as wanting to play it. I finally bought it and I was totally addicted playing it for hours. I remember several times staying up all nite, only quitting to get ready for work...lol

[@Veldoril]

I was 3 in '98 lol

[@ChrisBa303]

@@Veldoril i was a sperm

[@Charlesmadeit]

@@ChrisBa303 I wasn’t even in my dads balls yet

[@MeltedMask]

@@ChrisBa303 once a gamete, always gamer

[@vsavoldi]

In 98 I worked for FPGaming, we developed the Assassin3D and sold the tech to Madcatz for the Panther and PantherXL. When the Unreal demo disc showed up at the offices, we spent at least an hour just marveling at the screen. Walking out of the ship for the 1st time was awe inspiring. ps. we designed the Joystick commands for all the first person games prior to DirectX implementing the code into directx. Sure was a fun time, playing every first person game there was at the time. (I still have all the original boxes and discs)

[@Jackjackjaxk]

Dude Id like to see your collection, thats awesome.

[@ignaciosavi7739]

Nice. You still do game dev?

[@vsavoldi]

@@ignaciosavi7739 No sadly, moved on

[@ELEKTROSKANSEN]

That's a nice piece of history right there, thank you!

[@Deadguy2322forreal]

The Panther XL was amazing. I had the Dreamcast version and it is one of the coolest peripherals I have ever used.

[@Slamraptor]

I remember the first time 14 year old me walked out of that prison ship. I immediately paused the game and called my dad to look at this marvel of modern technology and he was as baffled as I was. Good times

[@nbr1rckr]

That's a wholesome family moment right there

[@tekkenfan01]

I remember that day son, love you

[@tekkenfan01]

Agent J I remember that day, you've been a good son, husband and father, very proud

[@tekkenfan01]

Agent J in that case a great ex husband

[@tekkenfan01]

Agent J happy for you son

[@Tentin.Quarantino]

"At least you can use a weapon and a flashlight at the same time, so you're not _doomed_ to shuffle between the two." I see what you did there. Nice.

[@gameboii11]

Nice

[@camf33]

Good call indeed.. DOOM sucked ass when they pulled that.. LMAO.

[@PutYourQuarterUpGaming]

And with the re-released version on all consoles, steam now; being able toggle back to swap flashlights is one biggest requests cos absolutely guts horror element if you don’t. I love humans, never boring, never consistent.

[@lukeb1456]

Man, the moment you first walk out of the ship and see that landscape with the soundtrack. Nothing like it to this day.

[@icefrost5355]

Agreed!!;

[@cool3865]

that scene showed everyone what an engine could do, even without the support of MMX or 3d card

[@johnmccnj]

+1. I'll never forget that scene.

[@kvarnerinfoTV]

I agree...I wss in awe.

[@kvarnerinfoTV]

@@cool3865 and I had both...MMX and Voodoo 2 8 MB

[@janopd5026]

I have bit of development experience with UE 4 and was a bit surprised that the naming schemes in the crash message or in the editor are still the same! Even some of the classes mentioned in the error message (e.g. UViewport) still exist to this day! This software is older than me and still rocks the industry! My props to Epic Games!

[@lcrazy8l]

My only thought on why their game releases suffered as years passed is they went all in on the engine development bet with their development time and it worked. Mad props 20 years later.

[@gargar165]

I would hope that they would keep refactoring and adding on new features for their libraries like UViewport so that developers wouldn't have to keep memorizing the names of new classes, functions, etc. That would be an extreme pain for devs if they kept changing the names.

[@xan1242]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aaiZk2mMqMh_Z8U Much of the UE's code is, well, still there since the first day. Albeit rendering code has evolved much over the years (video uses vertex shaders to do vertex animation since UE3 removed it), at its core it's very very similar. Heck even UE3 has the textures from Unreal since 1996!

[@thakard]

Jan Opd if it ain't broke...

[@uniwasamistake6334]

thakard ..... you fix it 'till its broke.

[@labwa33]

This was truly ground breaking in 98, the dynamic lighting, transparency, music and sound effects etc there was simply no comparison in the sea of FPS at the time. Certainly pushed my 3dfx voodoo 2 and pentium 2 to the limit and loved every minute of it.

[@pillepolle3122]

with a vodoo 2 it should have run pretty good ?

[@marcuscook5145]

​@@pillepolle3122 He's probably CPU bottlenecked. I have our old family PC from back then which now has a couple of Voodoo 2s in SLI and the original 450Mhz P2 and I still get occasional frame drops in that configuration with heavy action happening no matter the resolution, so it's definitely the CPU. That said its way more than playable and I still average at least 60 FPS. Keep in mind 450Mhz is the fastest P2 they made. If he's running a P2 slower than 350Mhz, he's going to be bottlenecking even a single Voodoo 2 in CPU intensive titles, and Unreal was a CPU shredder back in the day. In my configuration, that 450Mhz P2 is really bare minimum for a Voodoo 2 SLI setup. It really needs something like a 700Mhz P3 to make the most of it in every title.

[@pillepolle3122]

@@marcuscook5145 I dreamed of a vodoo SLI setup as a kid. Well I was happy that o could afford a Monster 3D voodoo 1.

[@KarlRock]

I really appreciate these videos. I had this and a voodoo 3. I think this game came free with my graphics card - that's the only reason I had. It's probably the only game I had too. It takes me back to my childhood and forgotten memories. 🙏🏻

[@Malaymohanmahara]

Unreal and Unreal tournament were way ahead of their times

[@liamiangaming7931]

@@Malaymohanmahara definitely.

[@MrSp0iler]

I am so glad weapons were original, now almost all games have only assault rifle and shotgun. Theres in-game model for shotgun and it is so good that they didnt make it another doom 3 or half life where all you use is overpowered shotgun. Also from what I understand it took 4 years to make Unreal 1. Most projects are half baked or mediocre is that there is no luxury of time anymore. You are either pushed to overwork for mediocre game or pushed out of business because of mainstream culture eating all the competition and sales. I mean examples likw Troika, Ion Storm are all gone now and Indie games are too simplistic to become Deus Ex or Unreal 1 level games. So at least I can feel nostalgic watching videos that video creators made about my beloved games. And I am glad that Epic Megagames is doing good even after so many years. Even if I hate Fortnite.

[@Vespyr_]

@@MrSp0iler This. This exactly. I mean sure, the Flak Cannon is a shotgun but... it's also not a shotgun at all lmao it richotets bullets and the chunks are massive. It's like, our human interpretation of the weapon just gets us into the door of the creativity behind it, and then it just opens up. The fucking, goop gun that hurt like balls. The pistol, that you can dual wield because why not? The freaking, Shock Rifle with its instant hit scan laser and instagib. Omg the instagib servers with 32 people in them and low gravity on. lmaooo

[@alpzepta]

@@Malaymohanmahara Yes! That's what I said too! The graphic was the next level compare to Need For Speed High Stakes

[@Cruor34]

Kids will never understand how big of a deal this was. Huge leap in graphics, seeing reflections, huge area, such "real" looking creatures. You have to understand just a few years earlier we were all playing Doom 2.

[@TheHopperUK]

Remember the coloured lights? COLOURED LIGHTS!

[@humphrex]

yeah the graphics were indeed unreal. if you got a 3dfx card that is

[@otakuwon]

I know I was there! Unreal had amazing color and water but Half-Life had better gameplay. I played a buttload of death match with Half-Life and lived for capture the flag on Unreal. Facing Worlds!!!!

[@grahamtaylor8912]

It looked nice but Quake was a better game in my opinion. It was a lot better to look at than Quake though.

[@luispanaderoguardeno3306]

I keep playing DooM!

[@d2factotum]

I always remember the Sunspire level, where you were walking up a massive ramp to an even more massive tower, and realised that the tiny dots you could see moving around were actually enemies so far away you could barely see them...

[@MothershipLoudspeakerz]

And the pitch black rooms inside, where all you can hear is the hiss of the Skaarj pupae

[@icefrost5355]

Got 2 enormous titans there to encounter with...

[@Kevin5279]

That was one long and convoluted level. I got stuck a few times the first time I played. I really enjoyed how Unreal used darkness to mask secrets and enemy ambushes

[@AcidGlow]

*They don't make box covers like that anymore* ✅🙂

[@bookipzee]

yup, they just don't make boxes period =/

[@DoomguyIsGrinningAtYou.]

@@bookipzee Oof...

[@AndersEngerJensen]

I know.. that's why we tried to do something worth while with Planet X3. :)

[@JurassicGamer2]

kinda like how they dont put art on DVD discs anymore kinda miss that

[@classicnosh]

@@AndersEngerJensen - I love the plug there! :)

[@Csumbi]

that reflection in the castle flyby still amazes me.

[@CakePrincessCelestia]

Me too. Even nowadays some devs say "our engine can't do thusly". Me then laughing in Unreal on a P133...

[@vallorahn]

The music tho... I never get tired of listening it.

[@Surplice]

same

[@Azariachan]

Yeah, the soundtrack was fantastic. I used to make separate saves for certain levels just so that I could jump in anytime I wanted to listen to a specific track that played in a specific level. Can't even count how many times I've played The Trench just for the music and that eerie "biosuit inoperable" voice line that you hear when you enter the space ship.

[@GeZz.]

Yeah man, this game has some epic f**** ost, music that kicks in and u feel all the epicness of the game

[@amberbaum4079]

Yup, the tracker music was awesome. No wonder they hired one of the composers(Alexander Brandon) to make the music for Deus Ex, which used the Unreal Engine.

[@Yadid1]

The music near UMS Prometheus was to die for.

[@indeimaus]

Damn man, Unreal scared the shit out of me as a kid, certainly that first level

[@christopherlangley4053]

Same. I was actually too scared to leave the cell because that damn alarm. I had thought it gave away my position to the monsters.

[@fredlup607]

It's UNREAL that even after all these years, this game is still my favorite FPS. But why do I love it so much? 1. This type of graphics is my favorite in video games. It wasn't a race in who imitates real life as much as possible like nowadays - It was more than everyone tried to make his own world with his own style, enemies, guns etc. 2. The gameplay is so smooth, fast, responsive, with a multiple selection of different and unique guns. Pretty much like other FPS Shooters from the end 90s/start 2000s era, but Unreal had that something more that everyone loved, me included. 3. That nostalgia music & feel, the sounds of birds cawing and flying up in the sky.. Everything. This game looks like it was made just to sticking straight into your head and fill it with beautiful memories, and never get you away. 3. Oh, and about memories.. The place it has in my heart and my mind.. Undescribable. I will never replace my memories, me, a kid walking and shooting in this beautiful world full of scary monsters (yeah I was scared of Skaarj AHHAHA). I will never replace these memories even for all the gold of the world. The only gold I want is Unreal Gold.

[@rich8436]

Gon dam is the music good, got it playing now. I managed to find the complete soundtrack a few years back.

[@7ktTube]

I Remember playing this together with my dad as a kid. This created some of my fondest childhood memories. This game is why why I became the passionate gamer that I am today and I don't regret a second of it! This video genuinely made me really happy! Thank you for the amazing content ಥ‿ಥ

[@europeansovietunion7372]

I remember being very impressed by the "detail texture" technology. I kept hugging walls to admire it lol

[@jari2018]

But it was masked texture imposed on the texture -anyway there was a way to make better textures -by cutting them into pieces at max resolution 512x256 then make the bulding blocks or grids to 512x256 or add it to 256x128 wall now you had double the resolution.

[@Noobshire]

Me and a mate just looked at the water for ages when we first played it. lol

[@johnmccnj]

Same. I had a mate watching as I got to the waterfall area, and we were both like "WOAH". It was absolutely brilliant.

[@Yootzkore]

That first look up at the sky when you get out of the Vortex Rikers. It's forever burnt into my head. It was less than two years after Duke 3D came out and felt like the future was coming _fast_.

[@Shmbler]

Hell yes, colored lighting looked great even in 320x240. My first 3D accelerated game on a "Riva128" from a strange company called "Nvidia" that noone knew at the time.

[@peterdes6792]

same me in morrowind. me and my friend were admiring how water there looks better than in real life

[@peterdes6792]

Marco Warga i had 3dfx

[@bzdtemp]

I played Unreal with a friend of mine, the two of taking turns and commenting on each others okaying. I remember blowing the first Nali away straight away, my friend commenting that maybe it was friendly and my logic being it had four arms, so an alien so of course not friendly. Lesson learned. Another really special moment. Some where in an big outside area I sneaked up a sort of guard building and peeked in, seeing three sort of soldiers clearly playing some sort of dice game - them taking turns throwing something dice like to the ground and gesturing about the game. Back then this was just amazing and I bet a lot of players didn't even see it because if you made a sound approaching the building or did not have the sniper, then you would not catch the guards not patrolling. Amazing.

[@lilmoris1]

I still play Unreal Gold online today. Long live DOG clan

[@Tavorath]

Dude, you just opened the expansion box for the sake of the show!? very appreciated

[@fivesquaredyt2521]

Tavorath 69 likes

[@neubtuber]

@Tom lol

[@TraumaER]

Tom send me $2000 then.

[@donthr]

damn!!!

[@AliShuktu]

Maybe he just left plastic on. We did it back then with cassette and later DVD.

[@TheDarmach]

20 years ago this was magic, the castle flyby gave me the goosebumps after 20 years!

[@Brian424]

Yep...I remember the first time I saw that flyby, after my brother-in-law (who was my computer guru at the time) helped me build my first home computer. I had just gotten online (the "World-Wide Web!") for the first time a couple days before, and then to see that flyby, I was like, "this is awesome!" I still wish I had followed my instinct to get into computers/software/programming back in 1983 when I had my first high school computer classes. I probably could have retired by now. Instead, I drive through the snow every morning to go drive a truck through other snow. Money is good and I don't hate it too much, but I wish, I wish. :-)

[@beeRADify]

The flyby was a must watch at our LAN parties. We would compare PC rigs speed and the visuals on guys who had a 3DFX or say Riva TNT etc.

[@Cr4z3d]

@@beeRADify built-in benchmark, haha

[@farsc8p]

Great video! This took me down memory lane... I was 27 back then and remember grabbing this game because it looked sooo good. Us old gamers...had to go through hell to make games run on PCs back in the day. Half the time when you looked at the requirements on the boxes (even though your pc met all of those requirements) - you never knew for sure if it would "really" run - or- how much time it would take to figure it out to get it to run. If you wanted to play a multiplayer game (ex:Doom) getting the correct baud modem and having your land line phone connect to your friends phone was a battle in itself (of course though, once youd finally get everything running and you were finally connected with your friend - someone would pick up the phone to use it and disconnect everyone). Younger gamers don't have a clue as to what we went through back in those early days...now they just plug and play. We actually had to think and troubleshoot for our early pc enjoyment (or frustration). Ha :)

[@DreamwalkerFilms]

Wow. That desktop capture at 4:35 has me in shock. It's like I'm really there in 1999 again.

[@hkoizumi3134]

I can't help but to geek out here but younger people cannot possibly fathom what Unreal brought to the PC gamer back then. For my personal experience, Unreal was the reason why I bought my very first Graphics Card ever. It was Voodoo Banshee. First time seeing the castle fly by in the title screen, I literally were shocked. Up until then, most of the PC gamer never seen a reflective mapping along with amazing shading. Like Clint said, THIS WAS LIKE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. The game Unreal was the reason why I was cemented into PC gaming. There were nothing like it on the console and frankly, I forgotten about console gaming after that.

[@MilitaryHistoryVisualized]

the times before steam, when one would borrow those games from friends to play them...

[@jk9554]

"borrow" :p ahhh... good times.

[@Xegethra]

Yeah I'm quite glad that's over now....

[@MrPoeGhost]

Shit, I _still_ borrow games from friends to play them. The wonders of having mostly console gamers for friends, lol.

[@JejeSuRojajaja]

"DON'T COPY THAT FLOPPY"

[@IronRAVENxvx]

And suddenly I find one of my favorite KZbin documentary makers. Hey, man!

[@gunship4720]

8:50 hell, even now if I were to play this game that would scare the crap out of me - I cant even think of how terrifying it would have been to witness this when it was new.

[@RekzaFS]

Dude funny story me and my cousin were playing this game in my parents living room back in 2000 when I was 7 and he was 10. This scene happened, and when all the lights were off my dad, who was also in the living room reading a newspaper, let out a MASSIVE sneeze and we jumped out of our seats. The sneeze aligned perfectly with this scene. Me and my cousin still talk/mention that moment occasionally.

[@handlesarefeckinstupid]

I thought Unreal Tournament was even better. 30 of us having a Lan night once a month in a companies board room. It went on till 8am from the evening before. Great memories.

[@AndersEngerJensen]

Just lovin' it! UNREAL was my first entry back into PC back in 1997 after being "offline" for years (we didn't have much money and couldn't afford having a both an expensive PC AND a professional synth/keyboard at the same time. Being a musician I of course chose the musically direction at the time). But at this point in time my mom's school had an offer of an Zenith Data Systems or Bull computing if you will (Clint, did you do a piece on this PC company already?) desktop PII 266 MHz for a super bargain of NOK 8000,- back then! :D I remember buying Unreal several months before getting the actual PC and drooling over the box and manual. Finally getting the machine and setting it up and running it in Software rendering mode - it still blew my mind with its awesome atmosphere... but I soon sprung for my first Righteous 3D VoodooII 12MB accelerator card and HOLY MOTHER my mind was blown at 800x600 in millions of colours!

[@Exnem]

Skål :)

[@mrttripz3236]

Anders Enger Jensen I feel you

[@F0nkyNinja]

You two look similar

[@mrttripz3236]

F0nkyNinja hmmm.

[@MrVuckFiacom]

My mother _still_ plays Unreal Tournament 99 to this day!

[@francescoragghianti6068]

My dad is the classical accountant, with glasses, serious guy and so on...he only played two games in his life: Unreal Tournament and Age of Empires 2. I remember that he stole my CD many times and brought it to work :D thanks for the memories LGR!

[@Face2theScr33n]

4:50 on the card it states, "we intend to... give you a game for the millenium". That's what I call replay value!

[@watchingponies]

Unreal, how old we are.

[@clock3001]

watchingponies Dirt. The answer to your question is always dirt.

[@katymiller3109]

watchingponies ii

[@Leit0]

it seems like yesterday for me heheh im 32

[@Sakuxxx1x]

I still have Unreal laying around here......im 33. ^^ I remember being in awe about the reflection at the starting screen.

[@WilfredZweverink]

I just turned 50, didn't play that much anymore in my thirties, but this was a stunner at the time.

[@crass340]

My favourite moment playing Unreal will always be walking up to a group of enemies while invisible... just to find them rolling dice. What an amazing game. So much personality and attention to detail.

[@matturner6890]

"UNREAL HAT: The coolest hat on the planet..." Now that's advertising.

[@Xelann]

The soundtrack is amazing, truly feels like an alien world. I wish you touched more on the lore though.

[@SilencerGDA]

When I was a teen, my parents left for a week, leaving me some money for food and stuff. The first thing I did, I run into the local store to buy Unreal... Most of the food money was gone, but it was worth it. And back then I even had voodoo.

[@spearPYN]

Silencer and I guess that week was spent just on playing Unreal...

[@SilencerGDA]

Of course.

[@armorgeddon]

:-) Nice! I love recounting comments like that.

[@Nergalsama01]

Oh yeah. Leaving the wreckage of the Vortex Rikers, stepping out into the open and just looking around, marveling at everything around you. To this day, I always do that, no matter how many times I play that level. That, together with the amazing soundtrack, makes Unreal one of my favorite gaming memories. :)

[@cheappyv5156]

Nergalsama01 it's best and hasn't been copied to this day!

[@housbinpharteen7445]

AWESOME VIDEO! Sadly my 20 +yr old gaming buddy passed away @56 we gamed for hrs back in the 90's so video's like these bring back so many memories .. i feel lost when i watch these video's knowing he would have loved to see videos like these just to bring back memories. luckily i was able to record us playing Duke 3d and unreal. GREAT TIMES!

[@drjenschn]

The SW renderer was even more impressive. Running on a then-almost-state-of-the-art PII-300, this looked almost the same and ran at the same speed (bit more grainy, but still spectacular!)

[@autismclips5076]

Some random notes and facts that might have been already pointed out but whatever: -Choosing the Skaarj Trooper not only changed the size of your playermodel (you couldn't fit in some tunnels that lead to secret areas/powerups) but it gave you more base hp (30% more I believe) -The secondary "gangsta" fire of the Razorjack makes the blades lightly change their path towards your crosshair, although it's hardly useful for hitting anything unless at really long range. -Although you could run out of flashlights or flares, it was common practice to just shoot the Dispersion Pistol cause it had regenerating ammo and its projectiles made a very bright light.

[@TheBypasser]

1 - funny, but it's been 20 years and I still never played as SKTrooper, though guess it is wrong. 2 - Wrong again. It does turn, but has nothing to do with your x-hair nor nothing like "slightly". In fact what it does is copying your turns just like a Redeemer missile from UT (yet without a cam). In short, if you want it to do a sharp, say, 90 degrees left turn, you can - just quickly turn left at the same 90 degs yourself when needed. 3 - DP has a pretty slim light radius and low RoF so whenever you are out of flares and flashlight, you are screwed :P (your only bet is to use the DP's altfire that consumes less ammo if uncharged to at least make it into some light) That's why those bigger dark maps at the end always contain at least a single searchlight (a big flashlight with a tough battery).

[@mvnkycheez]

IIRC, if you shoe the Razorjack's alt fire on the floor, the blades bounced along it, making it much easier to shoot ground enemies without hitting yourself etc

[@TheBypasser]

Well, back when nobody could use it it could go. Re-read my comment, when you get used to the altfire you can land some pretty sick kills starting with simply making that razor dive on the target's head and keep bouncing up and down if missed.

[@quadmas]

Thank you for the excellent retrospective! I very well remember the first time me and my cousin started up Unreal. With awe, we watched the whole intro loop a couple of times and the started up the first level. There where something really eerie about the prison - he the broken lights, the rumbles and the sound of an alarm. Horrifying screams of someone being killed or tortured echoed through our Juster Active 85-speakers and sounds of broken flourenscent tubes and electrical malfunctions just amplified the atmosphere. When the green fog/steam and explosions hit us in the vents, we knew we would shit bricks sooner or later. The, almost dead, guy in the chair by the control panel got us real good and we called for a pause :P

[@Vienna3080]

Back when Epic Games was an amazing game company

[@starbuckoof5219]

Yup no cringed fortnite vbuck kids rage

[@geefreck]

This game rocked my world. I hold it as one of my all time favorites. It's the rich atmosphere that makes it so awesome above all else. It's huge in scale, gorgeous, haunting, wondrous, and beautiful. I love the variety of level design. Richly detailed ancient Nali temples, villages, and castles, combined with unique spaceships from different factions - human, alien mercenaries, and skaarj, all there for seperate reasons, set in a beautiful, foreboding world. The music though... it's just _incredible._ Kudos to Alexander Brandon. The amazing atmosphere owes just as much to the music as it does the graphics and level design. It wasn't just another rock track thrown in (like other games of the time). It was surreal (or unreal, whatever). The colosseum with the original titan was so intensely foreboding because of the deep, dark, monk chanting theme. That ancient rock sunspire had some awesome spooky music, and the sky city caves just had this wondrous otherworldly vibe while you look down from a mountain in the sky. And the intense music that starts playing on the overrun ISV kran, when you've been alone for a while... and then reach a floor where dozens of Skaarj start coming out of the all the dark corridors and passages trying to shred you up... _goosebumps._ The last section has some of the most surreal, eerie music you've ever heard. Each track goes perfectly with the level it's for. Music link: unrealtexture.com/Unreal/Website/Downloads/Media/Music/Music.htm I could go on, the great weapons (quite original), the awesome AI (dodging, playing dead, crawling while wounded), and the well thought out enemies (Krall playing dice, Skaarj who range from brute hulk-like forms, to armored soldiers with shields and guns, to wacked out ones who have been experimented on, etc). But I'll keep this to a mini review. Someone pointed out to me once, that unreal is kind of a spiritual successor to super metroid. Holy cow, if you've ever played both, you'll know exactly how spot on that is. Tip for those who play it: the translator is a big part of the game. It beeps when you come across messages - of all sorts. It informs you of where exactly you are, what is going on, and even tells a story. Rush through without reading and and you'll miss a lot of the experience. Use it!

[@salokin3087]

Ah so many great titles in 1998, from half life to spyro and ocarina

[@DinnerForkTongue]

Salokin Isn't HL from '99?

[@demizson576]

Dinner-fork tongue Nope; late '98 (roughly at the same time as SiN, Blood 2 and Shogo IIRC) - for the PC, at least. The ports came out in 2000 and 2001.

[@algunlugareneltiempo]

You forgot 'Metal Gear Solid'

[@-Armageddon-]

Also the year of Starsiege Tribes, 64vs64 multiplayer in 1998 what a time.

[@85percentcocoa]

you forgot Thief The Dark Project ;-)

[@RobVespa]

I remember when I first saw Unreal in person. It was almost a religious experience. It was hard to comprehend what you were seeing. It was so amazing. I'll never forget that experience. Thanks for revisiting it. This video brought back such good memories.

[@uria3679]

Sadly it’s currently being treated the same way Jews were treated by the Third Reich

[@kaiomfanfarraum]

This was one of the most iconic games ever made in FPS genre. The soundtrack and the graphics together are both a masterpiece.

[@m0ther_bra1ned12]

I always loved how these older games looked.

[@Cepp61]

игры делала "от сердца " с любовью

[@someguy8951]

Ikr sometimes when an old game is remastered for some reason I sometimes prefer their old graphics

[@Juanknes]

They were very stylish. A lot of emphasis on level design and overall style.

[@PeteOliva]

The texture work really made the game what it was when the polygons were this simple. But Unreal's textures were just so well done.

[@DyingCr0w]

This one of the things back in the day, games had charisma and charm. They did have a serious advantage tho, they had a lot of potential unexplored territory to cover. This was a leap compared to Quake and Doom, but there were other games exploring other kinds of gameplay with the introduction of newer technology, like C&C, Battlezone, Civilization, and a few years later Morrowind, just to mention a few. All this stuff was revolutionary back then, but all has been beaten to death nowadays. All games have left nowadays is charisma, charm, and the feeling that the team behind the game did pour sweat, blood, tears and joy into it, not just a paycheck, stupid game design decisions and spaghetti code with more bugs then a 200 year old attic. One example of a game so full of that is Witcher 3, that raised the bar so high (for me), that i seek nothing else but a really good story, memorable characters and a feeling of emptiness when it's over. But like everything else in life, some will be good, most will be frustrating or disappointing. Personally, i had my share of frustrating and disappointing. So many games having disastrous launches just because Steam is a thing, we're like guinea pigs dishing out money for something which is potentially a turd from some dudes learning how to do things and trying to make a quick buck. Or the big AAA titles trying to stuff loot boxes down our throats because reasons. Thing is, back in the day, Games were like Music. Studios or bands needed to have some serious talent to have their stuff published. Nowadays, any pile of steaming stinky shit has the potential to get out there and make money. Heck i could make a vomit simulator and publish it for $5 a pop. A lot of ppl would pay that for a good laugh.

[@ioandragulescu6063]

@9:33 THAT moment in 98, when I saw what an exterior can look like+the ambient sound and the music ... that memory still brings tears to my eyes :)

[@DionHewson]

totaly - thats my first memory of unreal - that erie sound of the atmospherics

[@davidewhite69]

I was so impressed with the 3d graphics I went out and bought a second Voodoo2 to run in SLI mode to get that extra couple of fps

[@dragons_red]

Lol same

[@radium69]

I remember the game being 380mb. Blew my mind in the 90’s. I had it running on a Pentium MMX 233MHz with 32mb ram and a voodoo2 8mb. The moment the splash screen went away and it starter loading all those components was so exciting! And then... seeing everything come together with the music on... sends shivers down my spine, still does! It’s still mind boggling what little “power” we had back in the day and what awesome stuff you could run. Truly remarkable. Ohyeah, i still get a hard on from those “old” setup screens. Something about those simple and logical installers that are a joy to look at. Nostalgia goggles FTW. I also installed Hexen II and I LOVE when installers use music during installing. The experience and immersion is just something that can’t be replicated these days. (Also: Fallen Haven 2 and Heavy Gear used music during install) (Random thought: Does anyone remember the bone cracking sound when starting hexen?Such little things makes me a happy man) As a kid starting with dos games, wolf3d, skunny kart, wacky wheels, duke, hexen, heretic. All the way up to unreal was quite a sight to behold. Every year the improvements in hardware and software were amazing... Truly gratefull of those times. Keep up the good work.

[@DinnerForkTongue]

*Errata:* The Amplifier ONLY works with energy weapons, i.e. the Dispersion Pistol and the ASMD. Using it with the sniper rifle did no more than tint the screen red.

[@LeFaucheur]

lol, I've just beaten the game like a few days ago. killed the queen with sniper + amplifier. was like "damn, it took a lot of shots, even with headshots". checked the wikia... only works with energy weapons. oh...

[@asfsdasd]

@@LeFaucheur It's funny because it makes perfect sense logically -- how do you want to amplify bullets or missiles? But of course, everyone is used to game mechanics in which a damage power-up increases the damage output of all weapons, so it is not surprising one would expect it to work the way it does in different games.

[@FroggyMosh]

@@asfsdasd Exactly, this was before we all got conditioned to expect 'better'. Hell, Unreal Tournament itself replaced it with double/quad damage (I forget which). Thus adding to that conditioning. I'm a bit of an UT99 veteran, and I'd assume the amplifier would be for all weapons.... Thinking about it, I believed it did back then as well.

[@Peter-MH]

It still looks good, 20 years later! I remember being blown away by the graphics and the speed in this game. Online multiple was intense - can't believe that was the late 90's!

[@DJAYPAZ]

Great game. The alien world was so “unreal”! The soundscape was particularly good as was the haunting music.

[@bkslsh]

My entire family enjoyed this game back in the day, and that's saying something as my brother and my mom were never really interested in PC games. It saw so much use that the CD became too scratched to read anymore, and we had to buy another copy of the game to continue playing. The graphics and sound design were mind-blowing at the time, and honestly still hold up today, easily looking better than even modern mobile games.

[@bkslsh]

Also that waterfall killed me right after I left the ship for the first time. I was so distracted with awe taking in all the sights and sounds that I stumbled right off the cliff and splattered myself.

[@fen4554]

The game play doesn't personally seem right without single digit frame rates. We held onto our diamond s3 way past it's prime.

[@corronchilejano]

I had an integrated 1MB video card in a Compaq Presario 150 that I used to run this game. When the brutes or whatever they were called fired missiles the screen would freeze for a second, so killing them proved a challenge.

[@polaris911]

It ran decent with the software renderer on our P-200 when I was kid.. as long as it was 400 x 300 lol

[@oreview]

I had that exact computer, and ran it in software too. Don't think I got a Voodoo card until I had Quake 2 for quote some time.

[@oreview]

It also managed to keep the graphical features intact, like the reflections. Usually the software mode dropped colored lighting, translucency, mirrors.

[@PrekiFromPoland]

Actually you can configure the software renderer to display translucency, mirrors and other stuff, at the expense of performance, obviously.

[@AltimeterAlligator]

8:23 Oh man! That alt-fire took me _right_ back to early 2000. Between Unreal, Dreamcast games, and Pokemon cards, it's a wonder I did any of my schoolwork. Thanks for the retrospective!

[@NickYoung22]

The first game OST I ever cared about. In 2001 a neighbor had a “CD Burner”. He had multiple shiny discs with sharpie on them. He let me have a few becaus “he could just make more”. One was Godsmack, another was thief, and lastly Unreal. The sound of flightcastle on load still makes me smile. I never beat the game but I have bought it multiple times to replay including anthology. I spent many hours playing with Unreal tournament but most of my unreal time since 2001 has been listening to the soundtrack. Amazing birth of the most impactful engine ever

[@luckyqualmi]

This game came with my new Diamond Monster Voodoo Banshee GPU and I played it with only the keyboard, since I wasn't used to a mouse back then. Great memories like the screams in the chambers underneath the arena.

[@EvilSSP]

Never played Unreal but I spent a LOT of time playing Unreal Tournament.

[@Skippy19812]

Unreal is one of my favourite games of all time. The story is more complex than people give it credit for. On the surface you're just some faceless schlub marooned on an alien world, but as you explore and read the logs you find out that the native Nali think you're some kind of chosen messiah, sent by their lightning goddess to drive out the sky demons. Then you have the side story of the ISV Kran and the crew's encounters with the Skaarj, which is worth paying attention to on its own. Return to Na Pali was a fantastic expansion. The new Spinner enemies made my skin crawl, and the pack hunting, hit-and-run Rippers were a pain in the backside to deal with (stop running away FFS!)

[@Ralesk]

This was one of the most important Windows games to me and I still regularly open a mod tracker to listen to the soundtrack. And you stepping out of the Vortex Rikers at 9:33 gave me the same chills as 21 years ago. That part is just that good.

[@macp988]

that intro music and castle still give me chills :D

[@PrimiusLovin]

I still wasn't a fan of FPS games in 1998, Doom and Quake were interesting but not my thing, but Unreal with its lush alien setting and moody atmosphere changed that. This was my 1st FPS game and it still holds a special place in my gaming memories.

[@philscomputerlab]

That was awesome, thank you! It really is a masterpiece. I still haven't beaten this game, started it many times, but never finished it :)

[@ebbiesoup1862]

#relatable

[@espablo220]

Funny, I bought the game quite some time ago in Steam and yet, haven't finished yet. It's cool and all, but there's something in the gameplay that makes me question it in comparison to other games like Quake and Blood

[@feiticeirafatale561]

Maybe you could do Anniversary benchmark with all those graphics card from that time, up until of course, ultimate Unreal card - VooDoo 5 5500 :D With Glide, OpenGL and DirectX API`s.

[@philscomputerlab]

Coloso I believe I got up to the Terraniux levels, and just got lost. Beyond a certain level complexity it stops being fun for me :D But that's just how games were back in the day, a lot more challenging.

[@philscomputerlab]

Feiticeira Fatale On a real Retro PC I'd go with Glide hands down. A Voodoo 3 plays the game very nicely. On modern machines there are new engines supporting DX10 and whatnot, so I'd go with that. You can also use nGlide if you wish.

[@SuperToughnut]

I loved the unreal editor. I made a level that looked like my workplace. Turns out it wasn't fun to play, but I made other fresh levels as well and the creativity that came out of that experience was endless. I remember liking the idea of starting a map by hollowing it out instead of putting up walls. Years later when I looked for those levels I could not find them. Since then I just sit here drooling into a cup.

[@kuruptzZz]

Man, I had forgotten about this game. I just remembered the first time I stepped out of that spaceship. My jaw dropped cartoonishly, and I felt drool on my lap

[@Mythricia1988]

Unreal was really the first time PC grabbed me, I was preoccupied with Amiga, C64 and NES up until that point. But a friend of mine had this, and wow, it was so impressive. I remember we found some cheat codes (because yeah, that's how it worked back then) that let you spawn creatures and enemies and stuff... And man, that was just the coolest thing. We would spawn ourselves into random single player maps, since many of them were truly huge and outdoors. Then we would spawn dozens of human Bot AI's as well as enemy creatures, and watch these massive cinematic (well, they looked cinematic to us at the time!) battles play out. Whoever decided that spawned entities like that would come bundled with a basic AI behavior was a genius! And the fact the AI was sophisticated enough to actually enter battle in an unpredictable state, on an unpredictable arena, just like that, and was smart enough to pick sides and do the intuitively "correct" thing was just so mindblowing. It even worked in the multiplayer levels - we would often spawn huge hordes of creatures in the arenas, and then enabled the bots and watch the gladiator-esque arena battle that ensued. The latter of course must have been quite a popular past-time, as Unreal Tournament would eventually add this "horde mode" game mode. I don't remember when it first appeared, but I do remember having a fantastic time playing this "horde survival" mode in Unreal Tournament 2k3/2k4, listening to the frankly excellent music in those games, on those beautiful maps, with modifiers (mutators) such as low-grav... All this, on summer weekend LAN parties with just 2-3 of my friends at our house.... Man that was a good time. Unreal! P.S. Oh and yeah the editor - I 100% blame the original Unreal shipping with the editor for getting me into game design. I didn't understand anything, and it's the least intuitive level editor ever created, but there was no alternative so of course you learned how to use it!

[@KynikossDragonn]

Hello, I just like to shamelessly plug that I still continue to this very day play the original Unreal and do produce custom content with it. I not only use the original UnrealEd but I also use Impulse Tracker itself to produce music for import. I used to host a server with my self-produced maps and mods as a sort of "test bed", but ever since loosing all my work in both a crash harddrive and also a misplaced one, I'm no longer a active server host for the time being... Thanks for the wonderful retrospective, LGR! It's always really neat to see the original big boxes of Unreal and RTNP showcased. I'd also like to mention a few things: The Amplifier only works on the Dispersion Pistol and ASMD. If you have the Dispersion Pistol at the maximum upgrade level and a unused Amplifier in your inventory you can very well use that to kill the Stone Titan in the map before Bluff Eversmoking. Do be careful using the shock combo with the amplifier active, it becomes way more dangerous with it on than it is off. The 227 patches should be taken with a grain of salt. Alot of it changes stuff that should not have been changed, and the patches in general tend to be very unstable and crash prone in the strangest of ways. Unreal Gold 226b still remains the most well behaved client version for me, and I use 225f to host my server with. 225f is also the version I use to produce my custom maps and mods. Some of my mods don't even function properly in 227 to begin with... The retail release of "Return to Na Pali" has a MUCH better UPak than Unreal Gold. I don't know what they did between the retail and Unreal Gold release but the UPak that shipped with Unreal Gold has several missing resources and functionality. And unfortunately it's not as simple as dropping the UPak package from retail into Unreal Gold because UGold's version contains a console based on UMenu where as the retail version does not. The retail version RTNP should be staunchly archived as it is superior to the one that comes with Unreal Gold.

[@meronyach.]

Watching these videos in 144p resolution while downloading Blood makes this video even more nostalgic! Thanks for that video showing Blood off. It finally got ported on steam. So pumped to try it out!

[@universeconsciouscitizensc592]

I'm 63, but have been gaming since 1995, and I remember about the first third of Unreal vividly, but nothing after that. The Unreal Tournament series that followed was quite amazing to behold at the time. However, Half life changed all expectations, as did Half Life 2. In those early days, the game series that imprinted on me the most were Doom, Duke Nukem, Quack, Unreal, Half Life , Deux Ex, F.E.A.R., then Elder Scrolls Oblivion, which sort of turned me away from shooters (except Borderlands and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.!).

[@lorenzozinna4700]

Quack lol

[@alexghall407]

@@lorenzozinna4700 Is that the FPS where you play as a duck?

[@kurtdewittphoto]

I'll never forget walking into a computer store and seeing Unrel on display running on a 3Dfx card. Blew my freakin' mind.

[@acdcdave1387]

I can't wait for you to do a video on the Unreal Tournament series...my all-time favorite deathmatch shooter

[@destinationtropical2120]

Epic games is making a remake of the original.

[@mvnkycheez]

You mean Unreal Tournament 4? Or a remake of the ORIGINAL SP Unreal??? Because that would blow my fucking mind!!

[@Ritokure]

*[FACING WORLDS INTENSIFIES]*

[@causetheplumstasteyum7848]

Yeah its already dead , UT has had its day and long gone sadly

[@AKhellbindeR]

@@robertruge2916 Software like Fraps and Bandicam. You'd probably need the older versions tho

[@lonememe]

Man, this channel is a blast from my past. 35 now, so the sweet spot for these games. Loveeeeed Unreal so much.

[@IdaWeinberg]

Thank you so much for bringing back so many memories! I played this on my dad's pc in 2006 ish ! I remember that castle screen and the outdoors ! This is the first ever game I played and it's the reason I play games today!

[@alarak2159]

It's 2019! Will you be doing a retrospective for Unreal Tournament?

[@alarak2159]

Another 'nother comment.. Unreal is the type of game - as I'm sure Clint is aware - that rewards the second/third playthrough. Since the puzzles by that point are less.. puzzling, yet one can bump up that difficulty & be a little more adventurous in your exploration. Oh, the Razorjack alt fire also allows the wielder to guide the blades!

[@charlesballiet7074]

@@alarak2159 in what mutator allows the blades to be guided?

[@TheRealD4]

@@alarak2159 Are you the syzygy who used to play bunnytrack back around 06/07? Good times.

[@TheBypasser]

@@charlesballiet7074 In none. The blades were guided since the release! To test it, shoot the blade with altfire at some open area and quickly turn to a side - you will notice the blade will turn in the same direction. It will not mirror your strafing nor running/jumping, only the direction where you aim, and do not confuse this with flying towards your crosshair - it will not. It will just mimick your rotations, which is pretty tricky to get used to at first, but is a source of some really cool kills.

[@Jacobthejewela]

We don't do the straws no more man

[@lordeggo]

This game was truly legendary status. Shame it never got a worthy sequel. It was the first game I played perhaps still one of the few that used XM/S3M/IT modular music format instead of Midi or CD audio. The music of this game aged very well as a result. I still remember following the journey of Kira (?) rooting for her as the only other survivor.

[@-M_F-]

This game was one of my defining childhood games. Not only was it a masterpiece of technology at the time but the intricate console commands within gave me an introduction into how games worked internally. It's rare to find a game that lets you peak under the hood enough that you begin to learn without even knowing it, and I credit it for my interest in computer technology and programming to this day.

[@joelberlakovich8148]

Gaming in the late 90's: "It's an elongated rectangle, have fun!"

[@PeteOliva]

Those textures, though. Damn. They sure set that mood nicely.

[@FEROX-ZA]

Thank you for covering this game, Clint. I have been a viewer of your channel for years and I have seen you mention the original Unreal from time to time but never saw an in-depth video. Unreal is the best game I have ever played even to this day and my favourite game of all time. Thank you for your work and for providing such a great channel.

[@VoreAxalon]

i still listen to the sound track in my car to this day;-)

[@FunkiestChickenlawl]

Very nice touch using a song from Alexander Brandon's "Mod Collection" album, his music has been a MONUMENTAL inspiration to me, and he shaped my childhood. Such a genius musician.

[@lainwakura]

I absolutely fell in love with this game, as a kid, when I got to first play it, and it is STILL a game I play, today.

[@rfvtgbzhn]

2:29 MMX still exists. It's still part of every new PC CPU.

[@TheBypasser]

IIRC it is not called 'MMX' anymore though, yet the corresponding instructions are now a part of SSE. The MMX-targetted software is reported that the MMX support is present in this case, even with it being a part of a different extension.

[@mechasam]

"at least not in the form that they did"

[@con-fu3677]

That game’s intro still gives me goosebumps!

[@MsFearco]

Thanks for this video! This brought back some great memories!

[@existdarrus]

This is a great channel. So much nostalgia. Unreal was such an amazing game.

[@OlraTube]

Awesome review - want to replay it again now. Much appreciated and hey, thanks for opening the expansion & reviewing that too!

[@metfan4l]

3:36 They were just 12½ years off, not too bad...

[@robertt9342]

Triple M . I am sure it happened, but I don’t recall people making fun of the Duke Nukem Forever’s initials, DNF.

[@RarefoilB]

Robert T | I never got why the other obvious joke with DNF's name was so rarely used, I mean it's right there. Duke Nukem Forever: It certainly took Forever.

[@demizson576]

In one of the cutscenes of Serious Sam 2, CroTeam made a joke about 'that blonde guy taking FOREVER just to get ready'... Since all the cutscenes in that game were such a pain to watch, I personally dismissed the joke itself as being lame. Can't say for sure, but until around 2005, fans and game devs alike used to make jokes about DNFs development. (See, for example Max Payne 2 had two subtle references to 3DRealms in the Part 2 Prologue.)

[@finonevado8891]

Still better timing than HL 2+1

[@camf33]

Got a subscriber here, you brought me back to my roots! I officially switched from SNES to PC gaming in 1996, and trust me I believe when you said.. 'My PC can do this!" Seeing that beige plastic box from showing American Online, CD ROM encyclopedias, etc, on a 15inch CRT monitor to actual Gaming, perhaps it's one of the best experiences in gaming I have ever had. Good memories... Btw I love your PC game collection. You should do on Deadly Tide and Titanic AOT.

[@steeez83]

Outstanding review. Thank you !

[@MerryBytes]

Having replayed Unreal these past 2 weeks after years of not touching it I was very pleasantly surprised to find that it still holds up incredibly well. Even with its unusually long play time I personally thought it stayed fresh all the way through thanks to its fantastic selection of weapons. Except the Bio Rifle, that thing was just sad until it got a buff in the sequels. Sad that Epic has basically stopped caring about the series. Tim Sweeney supposedly wanted to release the original game's source code to the public, so maybe with the 20th anniversary something will happen but I'm not expecting much. Either way, this was an excellent video, like usual.

[@Doot414]

They have? The new Unreal Tournament is quite nice. Epic Games just decided to release it for free instead of charging for it.

[@tadeustad]

Asatru19 unfortunately, UT4 got nerfed af, and for now, cannibalized by Fortinite :

[@MerryBytes]

What they already have is solid, but it's still lacking in content even though it has been in development since 2014. Unfortunately, the development blog hasn't been updated since June of 2017, and with Fortnite being a massive success, Epic doesn't really have much reason to keep working on the new Unreal Tournament, which I doubt has been earning them much money.

[@SuperFriendBFG]

Unreal Tournament 4 was never intended to be fully developed by Epic Games. They gave the community the core stuff, along with a few map layouts but the rest was the community. The weapon models, animations, most of the maps. I think Epic did make the mistake of not taking the reigns here. Or better yet, they should have pushed this project to Universities in North America and have it be developed by students. So not only would the students learn UE4, they'd be contributing to Unreal Tournament 4's continued life. Regardless, the engine is still dominant.

[@DiegoAlanTorres96]

The bio-rifle was honestly a lot better in this game than UT99.

[@chefitaly7339]

My all time favorite game and some of my greatest childhood memories ever.. I still remember day dreaming in 7th period about the sky and cliffs in this game waiting to go home and play

[@1337LesPaul]

This brought me right back. Thanks for posting.

[@RekzaFS]

Used to play this game with my dad when I was 5-6 years old with my dad sitting on his lap while he was controlling movement and I was pressing the enter button to shoot. Amazing memories. The OST, graphics and atmosphere are 10/10. The game falls of half way through tho being quite repetitive. This video is perfect in covering all that!

[@Jojje94]

Already posted as a Patron but thanks so much for giving this game its due. This game made me the person I am today by introducing me to modding, mapping and server hosting. It was my first big multiplayer title at the age of 8 and my first big creative outlet as a modder. Not to mention the game's unparalleled atmosphere, soundtrack and gameplay. The memories I made in and around this game will never fade and it will always have my number 1 spot in my heart. I think it's a pity it gets so passed up on, and UT99 usually takes the spotlight. Even though that game is amazing too, in its own right. But many still forget the father of the Unreal series. If anyone was kickin' around the Unreal co-op scene in 2002 and onwards, perhaps you remember me, as Jojje.

[@Jojje94]

Man, the shots of the Unreal Editor in the very end made my heart stop. I haven't seen that thing in 15 years.

[@lulub517]

I don’t remember this game as much as UT 1999 since that was when I was old enough to remember video games. I recently started playing it again and I found it so genuinely fun and even scary at times. I loved the classic unreal formula of having it be so isolated and no real need for complex story telling having the story be hidden in the horror and the adventure. Each level was a unique environment and it wasn’t even one genre of environment. One level is a spaceship, the next is a water temple. There were such great level designs. Some nitpicks I would have are the fact that some puzzles are very obscure (like finding hidden a switch on a gravestone) which would get on my nerves a bit. But it’s overall a great game!

[@thestorey]

Oh wow these sounds. This took me back to my first time playing on my Voodoo at like 8 years old!

[@brianmi40]

The way the music kicked it up in conflict was AWESOME. I really loved the soundtrack.

[@JimHudd]

8:33 - I actually shat myself when I played this first time round; the lights going out and then the baddy coming at you full on. I didn't have any flares to light stuff up so it was pitch black and I recall there was an obstacle on the ground to prevent you simply back pedaling and firing. Proper undie-filling stuff!

[@martinhorvath4117]

Did you just call Skaarj a baddy? lmao