Name: Unreal: Gold
Publisher: Infogrames(now Atari)
Developer: Epic Games, Digital Extremes, Legend Entertainment
Media: 1 CD
HD Installation: 531.1 megs
Dirt Cheap Price: 4.99 

Unreal Gold was played on a Pentium 4, 2Ghz machine under Windows 2000 with a 32 meg ATI Radeon 7000(AGP) card and 1 gig of ram. It was running with all options turned to their highest settings and at a screen resolution of 800X600. The game was played through on the "Normal" difficulty level.
Patches?
Yes, one.		 Just for kicks, let me present the recommended system requirements:

Unreal Gold 226b Patch - Size: 477k

All this patch does is fix the urls in the Unreal Gold GUI "Weblinks" section. That's it...

 CPU: Pentium II 233MHz, Memory: 32 MB RAM(64MB recommended), Available HD Space: 100 MB min.(450 recommended), Distribution Media Drive: CD-ROM, Audio System: Windows 95/98 compatible sound card, Video System: 4MB for software mode/8MB for 3D acceleration, O/S: Windows 95/98, Network and Internet Play: via TCP/IP
After being sentenced to life on a remote prison planet, you are incarcerated on the prison-transport vessel "Vortex Rikers" for the long trip. Due to some unforeseen navigational issues, the ship is sucked into the atmosphere of an uncharted planet and crashes leaving most of the crew and prisoners dead. Waking up after the crash, you begin to make your way through the ship to search for any survivors and a way out. Unreal Gold also includes the Mission Pack "Return to Na Pali" that will have you exploring the events of your character's life after his/her ordeal on the planet.

What's it all about?
It's a first person shooter set in huge environments where the emphasis is often on exploration more than straight out action. You'll explore the alien world of "Na Pali" in order to find information on a possible escape from the planet, as well as a path to get there. Along the way you'll come across the Na Pali civilization who have been enslaved by a race of beings know as the Skaarj. This makes matters worse as you've not only defend yourself from them, but also try to slip through their countless outposts across the planet.
Graphics - Absolutely gorgeous! The world of Na Pali that you get to explore goes from lush, wide open fields to tranquil caves beautifully lit by the various crystals found in them. You also get to explore the homes and temples of the Na Pali people, and marvel at the amazing color and definition in the textures used to adorn it all. Enemy models are very well done, with a cool "single-skin" sort of texturing thing going on that gives them a very lifelike look and feel to go along with some great animations.
Sound - Excellent. The music is a combination of really ambient pieces that quickly pick up to a nice upbeat tempo when the action kicks in. It's really groovy, and seems to fit perfectly for the game's mix of exploration and action. The game's sound effects are just cool...no other way to describe it. You get an assortment of outdoor noises for the wide open, outdoor areas, ambient effects in the caves and some metallic clanging in the ships. The enemies also all have their unique set of sound effects, so you can actually tell what you're about to come across, just by hearing them.
Control - Solid. What needs to get done, can be done and extremely well through the quick response of your character. You move about at a decent pace, and can even perform a quick dodge with an easy double-tap of the direction keys. Add to this the simplified methods of hitting switches, opening doors, etc(you simply walk up to them, or touch them) and you get a control scheme that's not overly complicated, but also not entirely too simplistic. My only real complaint about it all is: Where's the "previous weapon" option? There's a setting for "next weapon"...but as for going back...
AI - Fucking intelligent! These enemies will dodge, they will run away, they will jump, they'll do just about anything you'd do...and they are fucking quick about it. It almost gets to the point that you'll be very annoyed at fighting some of these enemies as they exhibit such lifelike behavior, but at the same time it's just so impressive to see AI that doesn't just stand there, letting you mow it down...
Replay value - Moderate. It's a definite epic, no doubt about it....but just the sheer length of the game may have you taking quite a break before you plunge into it again. There is an option, however, to just play "Return"...and with its much shorter levels and smaller environments, you may come back just for it. Like Daikatana though, the game *does* include a co-op mode...so it may just be worth it to drag a buddy through the trek with you at some point down the line. Finally, the game is also playable online for Deathmatch and other similar modes, though with Unreal Tournament being better in pretty much every respect, it's kind of hard to not only go back and play regular Unreal, but get others to do it with you.
Getting it to run - Easy. Just pop in the disc, the autoplay installer comes up...choose which of the game's pieces you'd like installed(go for the full install). Be sure NOT to install the version of Direct X on the disc(not that Windows would let you...but, just to be safe, uncheck it anyway). You can also install the Unreal Editor from here, if you'd like to try your hand at creating your own levels...
Tips for better gaming experiences:
When using the RazorJack, aim high...most times you can take off an enemy's head with as little as two shots. The Sniper Rifle can also be used to shoot enemies' heads off...

Don't forget about the Nali Fruit Seeds! They grow Fruit Plants incredibly fast, and yield 29 points of health per plant. They can get you out of some potentially deadly situations when you're running low on health and have pretty much depleted the entire level's supplies.

When a Nali signals you to follow him, do so. Watch out though, if an enemy sees you, or them, they will attack.

Still Supported?
Yes, and you can receive support for the game at the Support Section of Atari's site.
My rating: 97(out of 100) - One of the true FPS classics, in the same league with such greats as Quake and Duke Nukem 3D. A great mix of shooting, exploration and straight-out survival coupled with gorgeous graphics and an interesting story that unravels the further in you make it. The game's sheer length will definitely test your endurance, but it never seems to get to the point of being monotonous...though fulfilling certain objective in such huge environments can be a real bitch. Still, after all this time, the game truly is unreal...

iMac's yapping: Though Bel used to have Unreal for the Mac, and I ran it pretty well...I had to miss out on Return to Nali as they never ported it. No big deal, Unreal was much better, "Return" seemed kinda rushed and not nearly as good.
I apologize for the small size of the pics, I accidentally deleted the originals...so you can't click on them for a larger view. Please try the official Unreal site for more pics.
Big mamma ain't happy!
Admiring the waterfall with a local Nali.
The always-annoying Warlord.
Look familiar?
Inside the spaceship Prometheus.
You'll get to explore more of the gorgeous Na Pali planet in "Return".
Fun Stuff on the CD:
The manual for both games, in a nice PDF format, are on the disc. It's kinda wild, it really is the manual, just scanned in(not recreated in some text format or something). Interestingly enough, if you buy the Unreal strategy guide, it comes with the game's full soundtrack. That alone makes the price of the package worth it. To listen to almost every track, from the game, check out the Sound{e}Scapes section(Tape 9).