Line #72 VideoGame/Unreal


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/unreal_technology1.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:Yes, they've named [[MediaNotes/GameEngine their engines]] after this series.]]
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4	One of the most iconic [[FirstPersonShooter FPS]] franchises, made by Creator/EpicGames. The series started as a primarily single-player game, but its multi-player successor, ''Unreal Tournament'', saw such great success that the series has essentially split into three branches:
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6	[[index]]
7	Single player games:
8	* ''VideoGame/{{Unreal\|I}}''
9	** ''Unreal: Return to Na Pali,'' an [[/index]]ExpansionPack[[index]]
10	* ''VideoGame/UnrealIITheAwakening''
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12	Multiplayer games:
13	* ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament''
14	* ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament2003''
15	* ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament2004''
16	* ''VideoGame/UnrealTournamentIII''
17	* ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament4'' (A reboot developed by Epic Games, alongside their own mapping/modding community, using the Unreal Engine 4)
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19	Console exclusive games:
20	* ''VideoGame/UnrealChampionship''
21	* ''VideoGame/UnrealChampionship2TheLiandriConflict''
22	[[/index]]
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24	Lore-wise the games take place TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, starting with the adventures of Prisoner 849, a {{featureless\|Protagonist}} prisoner stuck in an ancient planet after the prison ship that carried her crashed onto it. While at first the series appeared to be your run-of-the-mill FirstPersonShooter, what really made Unreal stuck on its time were [[SceneryPorn the ginormous, gorgeous and colorful landscapes]]. Afterwards, the series moved onto an AnachronicOrder after the release of ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'', which started as an ExpansionPack of ''Unreal'' and became a multiplayer-focused SpinOff of it, focused on [[TournamentArc a multi-billion intergalactic tournament]] managed by the [[MegaCorp Liandri Mining Corporation]] and sponsored by the [[OneWorldOrder New Earth Government]]. The third game of the franchise, second in the single-player series, ''VideoGame/UnrealIITheAwakening'', is an {{interquel}} set between the other two games, and [[ASpaceMarineIsYou followed a]] SpaceMarine's adventures with his crew across many different planets. The games released afterwards have [[ContinuitySnarl a less-clear place in the timeline]] due to {{retcon}}s and contradicting WordOfGod, though nowadays it's mostly set that all of these games up to ''VideoGame/UnrealTournamentIII'' are set after ''Tournament''. Furthermore, with the exception of ''III'' (which instead took the WarIsHell route), all other ''Tournament'' games follow the TournamentArc, following different seasons of the Liandri Tournament. Meanwhile, the Xbox-exclusive ''Championship'' games are set in an AlternateUniverse, following the same TournamentArc as the mainline ''Tournament'' games.
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26	The first game in the series [[TropeCodifier codified]] the SecondaryFire trope, and set the template for every other FPS released after it, including their 1998 competitors. Meanwhile, the first ''Tournament'' (alongside rival game ''VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena'') popularized the [[OneHitKill Instagib]] gamemode (even though it started as just another game modifier, later games and even other franchises would ascend it to main gametype) and AnnouncerChatter (at least for {{first person shooter}}s) tropes.
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28	Like many popular FPS series, [[GameMod modding]] potential is a large part of its appeal and success; both the single- and multiplayer parts of the series have seen many releases. Part of the dodgy reception of ''[=UT2003=]'' and ''Unreal 2'' is the fact that their modding tools were half-broken. Of particular interest is the fact that almost all of the original ''Unreal''[='=]s assets and textures are available in ''Unreal Tournament'', so with the right mod (along with transferring the music and maps from the original game to the UT folders) it is essentially possible to turn UT into one big "super-game" with a full single ''and'' multiplayer component.
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30	The ''Unreal'' series fell into obscurity near the turn of TheNewTens due to the lack of a followup to ''Unreal Tournament 3'', helped along by a number of outside factors: the rise of team-based / "tactical" shooters (having started around the same time as ''Unreal'' with ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'', but really reaching its peak concurrent with ''[=UT3=]'' with the ''VideoGame/{{Call of\|Duty}} VideoGame/{{Modern\|Warfare}} VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' glut), the rise of free arcadelike shooters (''World of Padman'', ''VideoGame/{{Nexuiz}}'', ''Alien Arena'', ''VideoGame/OpenArena''...) taking the place of commercial ones, the overwhelming popularity of ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' (which combined the strategic elements of the former with Unreal's action-packed and over-the-top vibe), and Creator/EpicGames's shift in focus towards the Platform/Xbox360 with the ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' franchise. However, Epic president Mike Capps was quoted as saying that the franchise is due for a revival, and with ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament4'', they eventually delivered... at least until [[VideoGame/{{Fortnite}} a much bigger success]] caused them to shift focus.
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32	Furthermore, the Unreal MediaNotes/{{Game Engine}}s, one for each Tournament, have seen extremely widespread use throughout the gaming industry, with countless games in just about every genre released using Epic's code.
33	----
34	!Recurring tropes for the series include:
35	* AbnormalAmmo: Many of the weapons use unconventional ammo. A favorite is Tarydium, the resident power-producing crystals, where both the crystals themselves (the original Stinger, ''[=UT3'=]''s combined Stinger Minigun) and the waste product from creating power with them (the perennial [=BioRifle=]) are useful for the purposes of killing things.
36	* AccidentalSuicide: Especially in the ''Tournament'' games, the games will often lampshade this, regardless of the circumstances of the suicide (player-triggered via [[ClassicCheatCode console command]] or self-inflicted damage), taunting the player for doing the deed.
37	* AlienBlood: Some creatures and beings bled differently from humans such as the (nano)black-bleeding Necris and Unreal 1's Mercenaries, which are stated as being alien in origin and bleed green.
38	* ArmorMeter: Most of the games display armor as an icon with a number, on the HUD. The PC version of ''UT'' and ''[=UT3=]'' not only has this combination, but also a human-shaped figure showing which pieces of armor the player is carrying.
39	* ArmorPoints: Multiple methods:
40	** ''[=U2=]'' and the console versions of ''UT'' have a gauge for the armor.
41	** The PC version of ''UT'' and ''[=UT3=]'' not displays ArmorPoints, but also a human-shaped figure showing which pieces of armor the player is carrying.
42	* ArrangeMode: The multiplayer-based games of the series have the Mutators, modifiers which change the rules of the game by modifying the players' starting loadouts, the items in the match (including their availability), or modifying physics properties such as overall gravity and player speed.
43	* ConvectionSchmonvection: Lava is deadly only when touching it in this series.
44	* CrapsackWorld: Across the series, the Unreal universe's setting is ''extremely'' dark and edgy.
45	* EdgeGravity: In every game of the series, the player can't fall off a ledge [[RunDontWalk when not running]], though the implementation of it is odd enough that you can, for instance, crouch-walk far enough that you're levitating in the air just past a ledge, only to suddenly fall off of it when you let go of the crouch button.
46	* ExcusePlot: Most of the games prior to ''Unreal II''. The first ''Unreal'' at least had the excuse that your primary goal was survival, and anything else was at best tangentially related to it; the ''Tournament'' games, however, were generally just ToBeAMaster with the "story", at best, being backstory you could read about your opponents before they tried to murder you repeatedly, until ''Unreal Tournament 3'' tried to be both a third ''Tournament'' game with heavy multiplayer focus ''and'' a third ''Unreal'' game with an actual attempt at a story.
47	* GangstaStyle: Some weapons such as the ''Tournament'' Enforcer and ''2004[='=]''s Assault Rifle can be dual-wielded. In ''Championship'', most of the starter characters have dual-wielding weapons, such as the Nakhti, Necris and Juggernaut variants of the Enforcer, [[Franchise/MortalKombat Raiden's]] Thunderbolts and the Skaarj's Razik.
48	* GatlingGood: Most of the games feature the Minigun as a weapon, either the real deal or ''3''[='=]s Stinger variant.
49	* {{Hitscan}}: While most weapons end up firing PainfullySlowProjectile[=s=], generally each game will go for this instead for your starting gun, the Shock Rifle's primary fire, your [[MoreDakka minigun equivalent]], and the SniperRifle.
50	* LazyArtist: It's not uncommon to see assets from older games reused in previous ones, or even (almost) ''entire'' games being ported into newer ones, such as ''Tournament'' reusing the entire asset library of ''Unreal'' sans maps and music, or ''2004'' reusing ''2003''[='=]s entire asset library (including ''music, maps and characters'') and even ''gamemodes''.
51	* MoreDakka: A favorite way of increasing your firepower, with most of the pistols having an alt-fire that increases their fire rate (classic Automag and Enforcer's "GangstaStyle" mode, ''[=UT3=]'' Enforcer's burst-fire mode) when they're not replaced with something that fires faster outright (''2003'', ''Championship'' and ''2004''[='=]s Assault Rifle), and the games also frequently offer the Minigun and the Pulse Rifle/Link Gun as an option for both hitscan and projectile varieties to boost your dakka.
52	* NoOSHACompliance: Many of the factories and buildings visited across the saga. In the multiplayer modes, they're key for getting some easy frags.
53	* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Normally, the Skaarj. As vicious as they are, they have a code of honor.
54	* QuadDamage: There's one per game which either empowers a few weapons (the Energy Amplifier of ''Unreal'', which only worked with the Dispersion Pistol and the ASMD) or your entire arsenal (such as the Damage Amplifier from the ''Tournament'' games).
55	* RocketJump: Possible across the series; in most cases you can also do it with a weapon you spawn with.
56	* SecondaryFire: A staple of the series, with each weapon having it's own use depending on the situation. Some weapons even have tertiary fire modes utilized by combining the primary and secondary in some way, an infamous example being the Shock Combo for hitting the Shock Rifle's secondary energy-ball with the primary beam.
57	* ShoehornedAcronym: There is a weapon called the [=AVRiL=] - the Anti Vehicle Rocket Launcher. InUniverse, the inventor [[InvokedTrope added the 'i']] to the acronym simply so the weapon's acronym could be pronounced.
58	* TheManyDeathsOfYou: The obituaries. Especially with the multiplayer games, what with the players being able to shoot themselves in the foot, being crushed or drowned in water, lava, slime.
59	* UpdatedRerelease:
60	** ''Unreal'' had '''''Unreal Gold''''', packing in the original game plus its expansion and porting them to the newer version of the engine introduced for ''Tournament''.
61	** ''Unreal Tournament'' had the '''''Game of the Year Edition''''', which packed in three of the four Bonus Packs as well as two well-known mods, Rocket Arena and [=ChaosUT=].
62	** ''Unreal Tournament 2004'' got the '''''Editor's Choice Edition''''', adding three new vehicles, four new Onslaught maps, six new playable characters, and in physical releases, another disk filled with various mods.
63	** ''Unreal Tournament 3'' received the '''''Black Edition''''', packing together the latest version of the game with the "Titan Pack", which added five new maps, two characters that were originally 360-exclusive bonuses, a new vehicle, two new game modes, and a "Titan" mutator.
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65	!Tropes found across the series include:
66	* ArtEvolution: Comes with an evolving engine. Compare, for example, the [[http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/4930/deck161.jpg Unreal]] and [[http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/4930/deck161.jpg UT]] (both running on the Unreal Engine 1) versions of the Deck map with [[http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/7615/deck17.jpg UT2004]] (running in Unreal Engine 2) and [[http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/6318/deck1.jpg UT3]] (running in the Unreal Engine 3) versions of the same map.
67	* CompilationRerelease:
68	** ''Totally Unreal'': Unreal + Unreal Tournament
69	** ''Unreal Gold'': Unreal + Return To Na Pali
70	** ''Unreal Anthology'': Unreal Gold + Unreal Tournament GOTY Edition + Unreal II (plus the multiplayer expansion XMP) + Unreal Tournament 2004: ECE Edition. [[note]]Unfortunately, Midway couldn't get the rights to publish the mods.[[/note]]
71	** ''Unreal Deal Pack'': Unreal Gold + Unreal Tournament GOTY + Unreal II (without XMP this time) + Unreal Tournament 2004: ECE Edition (again without the mods, but with the community bonus pack maps) + Unreal Tournament III Black.
72	* GameMod: THE series for mods outside of ''VideoGame/HalfLife''. Both the Singleplayer and multiplayer side of the franchise have seen a large quantity of high-quality releases, due largely to the fact that it was the first game that didn't require knowledge of C programming to make a mod. Unreal 1 featured [=UnrealScript=], which was simpler and less complex than C, and the main game itself was written in [=UnrealScript=], which gave people a strong example to look at. In short, there will be at least one person using a custom model on your map.\
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74	And if your mod is good enough, this goes even farther, since Epic Games has made in the past many {{Updated Rerelease}}s which included many community-made mods, and, starting from ''2003'', the ''1 Million Dollar Make Something Unreal'' modding contests that have spawned several commercial games like ''VideoGame/KillingFloor'' and ''VideoGame/RedOrchestra''.
75	* GreyAndGrayMorality: A common topic on the franchise as a whole. There's no such thing as "100% good" or "100% evil" characters; all of them are guided by their own interests.
76	* WomanOfAThousandVoices: Sioux "[=UnrealGrrl=]" Blue, who does nearly ALL of the female voices of the Unreal series. May it be a female announcer or a female player, you'll always hear her.

Context VideoGame / Unreal