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Unreal Mission Pack 1:
"Return to Na Pali"
Click box cover
(above) to purchase this game.
In a brilliant maneuver,
the Unreal team has delivered a mission pack that works
not only with the original game; Unreal Tournament can
use it too! However, didn't we all have to wait a little too
long for a "mission pack"...?
If you played Unreal, you remember the
open ending. Drifting in space in an alien escape pod, your only
option is to "drift and hope." Well, almost exactly
one year later, the wait is over; Mission Pack 1, "Return
to Na Pali," is finally out. The fact that this resolves
the open ending is good enough reason to buy it. The fact that
it doesn't leave you with just another open ending makes
it an even nicer purchase.
Watchful
eyes will notice the logo for Legend Entertainment upon
the game's startup. Legend helped make these additional levels,
and their core recognition is as one of the last great text adventure
storytellers (one such adventure, Time Quest, even
made it on Techtite's list of Top
50 Game Classics). Their contribution leads to an intriguing
"background story," which is even bettet handled than
the original game. Among the many nice added touches; each level
ends with a vocal "mission log" on your progress (a
la the "Captain's Log" narrations of Star Trek),
telling the onging story.
New weaponry, by comparison, is interesting yet not as unique
as the original game's. A combat assault rifle is hardly as unique
as the blue-crystal-shooting "stinger," for example.
There's also a new rocket launcher and grenade launcher, however.
On the plus side, alien weaponry from the first game is still
available, so you may find yourself just using the classic weaponry,
more than the new ones. New weapons also aren't very powerful;
I mean, how believable is it when it takes two grenades to kill
a spider...?
"Spider,"
you ask? Yes, there are new enemies, too. Small lizard "pack
hunters" often attack in numbers of 5 or more. The same
can be said for the mercenery soldiers who are on your tail,
who often co-operate with each other when attacking you. Much
like the new weaponry, though, it's more intriguing to see the
original aliens in new areas; yes, the Skaarj are back,
though how and why is left as a new, unexplained mystery...
What
additions in this "mission pack" are worth it? The
levels themselves, including 17 new single-player
levels. On "Dali's Peak," the majority of ground is
solid ice! On that level, you must walk across thin ledges
to get to some areas, all on a mountain peak; to fall is instant
death. An earlier level has you searching a crashed derelict
ship, which is far more intricate than the one from the original
game. There's even an additional sci-fi "castle" to
explore, which is equally superior.
Why is there so little enthusiasm in this review, given such
an elaborate mission pack? Perhaps fans of such packs are just
too spoiled lately. "Team Fortress" (a Quake
add-on) comes to mind; almost like getting a whole new game.
The add on pack for Dark Forces 2 Jedi Knight,
"Mysteries
of the Sith," was almost good enough to be called
Dark Forces 3. Fans of mission packs like these might be a little
disappointed with this one. However, fans of Unreal
itself will be pleased at having the open ending resolved, as
well as the intriguing new mission maps.
The end result? Return to Na Pali is
a nice add-on, except it took way, way, too long to release it.
These missions should have either been put in the original Unreal
(giving an actual ending) or Unreal Tournament
(giving a storyless game a story). As it stands,
the idea seems to be that we're to pay extra for a few extra
missions. Unless you're that interested in a resolution to the
open ending in Unreal 1, you may want to wait until
the price is discounted enough to make it worth your while...
To
purchase this game, click box (shown at left).
| All text, Title
graphics, and pix not of reviewed product, are created by TECHtite,
copyright 2000; all rights reserved. Screen captures of program
reviewed are discrete thumbnails, used only for the purpose of
review, and by no means represent any affiliation with TECHtite
and the distributors of that product. For further "legalese"
& disclaimers, click here... |
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