Have you ever felt a burning hatred for a billionaire dollar corporation in your soul like me? You probably have, it's an unfortunately common feeling nowadays. But Unreal was something incredible. Something beautiful. Some of the best aesthetics in any game ever. I'm too young to appreciate the feeling of experiencing the mindblowing 1998 beauty of Na Pali on a Voodoo2 card. But even still, seeing that as a 20 year old in 2023 was incredible. The aesthetics have aged so beautifully, rivaling even Half-Life 1. And that's only a small fragment of the experience. The gunplay is immaculate…if a little janky. Not having a reload button is weird, especially after the Marathon trilogy made everyone hate that concept, but it's at least easy to reload the pistol by just quickswapping. Even still, all the weapons are beautifully balanced and designed. None of them ever feel outdated, obsolete, over or underpowered. The enemies feel especially tough to fight, thanks to the incredible AI based off of Quake deathmatch player data. But it never feels hopeless against any of them. You can very easily outsmart the AI, and it's not all that tough to figure out how. One complaint however. That goddamn dodge button. I'd rather have it than not, but it feels so finicky, like it only ever kinda works when I want it to. It's still a cool addition. Oh, and how about that MUSIC?! It's really hard to describe the Unreal soundtrack. Electronica…ambient…progressive rock…techno…DnB/jungle…? I don't know what it is, but I love it. It works wonders with the combat and aesthetics of the world, and vice versa. Unreal is an incredible experience that Tim Sweeney doesn't want you to have. And he should rot in hell for that. But there are still ways to get it if you know where to look. And you absolutely should look for it. It's called Unreal. Because it is.

This game is something special. Every single time I play it, no matter how much I know the mechanics, I always genuinely feel like I'm stranded on an undiscovered alien planet. It always feels fresh no matter what, especially in multiplayer. The music, done by the legendary Chris Christodoulou, definitely helps that feeling. It's one of those soundtracks that starts incredibly, but it somehow gets even better. And the survivors, too. Perfectly balanced. Even if some of them are more useful and fun to play as (cough cough loader cough cough), none of them feel useless or bad to play as. It's not easy to strike that sort of balance, but somehow, Hopoo Games did it. And the lore, too. Scattered and esoteric, yes. But it's so well written, makes you want to complete every log you can. You even start to feel sympathy for Mithrix at the end. This is rougelite perfected. Please, give it a shot.

Also, I'm pretty sure it gave me a gambling addiction.