I always overlooked the original Unreal since it came out at a bad time. I tried the Unreal Tournament franchise and never got into it. However, I am extremely happy I came back to Unreal about a week ago. Unreal is like an Adventure FPS with minor horror and mystery undertones. It offers the player an array of 10 unique weapons all with two firing modes. Whats surprizing about this is that not one single weapon goes unused throughout the game. The computer AI for monsters is very good even in today's standards. I have to save/load frequently on the hardest difficulty "Unreal". The level design is alittle "blah" compared to modern FPS games, but I found it intriguing and explored every nook and cranny in every map. The level designers reward exploration with caches of extra ammo, armor, and occasionally a weapon you normally wouldn't get for another level or two! This made the game very pleasing to go through. The game will drag you through spaceships, lush alien planets, ancient ruins, alien bases/towns, and spooky mine shafts! The levels feel pretty fresh and original. Another nice touch is that there are series of little puzzles in each level. This breaks up the action nicely. The last bonus to the single player campaign is that there is a bit of a story going on throughout the game. You really don't have any interaction in it nor are there any snazzy cut scenes. You basically find journal entries of fallen humans, and your notebook also acts as a universal translator so you can real alien texts in temples or houses. This adds a nice touch and kept me thinking subconsciously about it while I went through the game. Lastly the multiplayer is near perfect. I always felt that the UT series over polished the gameplay and took away a lot of the fun. Unreal feels slightly rough on the edges and rigid during multiplayer, but the controls and weapons are tight and very responsive. It's as good, possibly better, than the single player campaign. I find the multiplayer in Unreal to better than the UT series on all levels. All in all, Unreal is an excellent FPS for single player AND multiplayer. Unreal could stand on it's own with either game mode unlike most FPS(s) in today's world. 5/5
