Unreal Tournament

Unreal Tournament took the world of the first Unreal and turned it into a spectacle for the crowds, in which the player fights through a tournament from lowly matches all the way to a duel with the champion. Unlike the competition, it didn't rely solely on classic deathmatch: it offered Capture the Flag, Domination, Assault with progressive objectives on military-themed maps, and team modes, turning a single game into a whole package of distinct experiences. The weapons are designed so each one has two firing modes and its own tactic, from the bounced shots of the shock rifle through the plasma core combo to the bio rifle, which litters a corridor with sticky globs. Fights are slower and more readable than in Quake, which puts even more weight on controlling space.

Technically, it built on the Unreal Engine, which delivered richly textured environments, illuminated colored lighting and impressive effects on period hardware, including support for the 3D accelerators of the day. The maps are varied, ranging from space stations through dusty fortresses to the iconic Facing Worlds with its two towers on an asteroid, a map even people who never played UT recognize. The music runs on tracker compositions that shift with the tempo of the fight, and the announcer's voice with kill-streak callouts became part of the genre's culture. Bots with adjustable difficulty were good enough that the game worked as a full experience even without an internet connection.

At the time, Unreal Tournament received an enthusiastic reception and in many polls beat even Quake III Arena, mainly thanks to its variety of modes and accessibility for newcomers. Support for mutators and openness to map-making made it a beloved breeding ground for modding, which lived on long after the sequel's release. Today it's one of the most enjoyable shooters of that era to pick up quickly, mainly because it offers a complete experience with bots right away. The controls and speed remain enjoyable to this day; only the interface and menus give away that it's a game from the end of the nineties.