The Ten Games That Changed My Life

Unreal was the one game I always wanted, but either I never had the money or a computer to get it.

I had played Half-Life before getting Unreal, and had thought I'd seen it all.

I still remember hurrying home from the shop early one Sunday morning in late 1999 or early 2000 (I can't remember anymore) and installing it on my machine, and suddenly realizing, to my utmost dismay that it could only run on software mode, as my video card was a TNT2 and the game supported only 3Dfx Voodoo cards out of the box. But Jesus, even in software the opening Castle Loop was simply amazing. Then I realized I had a Direct3D patch to it on a PC Gamer CD-ROM, and having installed it managed to finally have the Unreal Experience.

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The first thing that grabs you is the graphics. The texture detail, the most beautiful sky you'd ever seen, the vast environments the water model (so real you just wanna jump in) and the reflections all come together to create the most breathtaking virtual environment ever seen on a PC. Most of the time all I ever did was stare in awe at surroundings. And this wasn't a first time thing. Each time I loaded up the game I seem to notice even greater detail.

Then comes the ambient sounds, that surround you, suck you in, makes you think that you're living the game. With Eax 3D sound on, the projectiles wizzing past your head, the Razorjack spitting out spinning blades that ricochet around the corridors, must be heard to be believed.

Finally the creature AI hits you like a slap in the face. Whether its the Skaarj dodging your rockets or something else activating a force field around itself.

The level design is as good as it gets.

But to cap it off Unreal manages to weave a pretty good yarn and to involve the player in its intricate web, only to be let down by its clichéd ending.

And this amazing game, still has the best, funniest death animation of any creature in any game I have ever played:- In the later levels when a particular type of enemy gets its head sliced off by the Razorjack (just one of Unreal's impressive arsenal) its hands reach up, feels for its head , realizes its gone and then collapses. Life just doesn't get any better.