The first time I saw Unreal running at a friends house was a literal game changer

I must have been exposed to Quake by this point, but Unreal introduced coloured lighting, more detailed environments and had a sci-fi aesthetic which really appealed to me.

I imagine it was running with only software rendering at perhaps a 320x240 resolution, but it was still one of the most impressive looking worlds I’d ever seen running in a computer at that point in my life

The way the lighting lit up the world with halos around certain light sources felt revolutionary. Fog was used to add atmosphere and really added to the sense that this was a real world.

With my newly obtained Pentium III 600MHz PC paired with a Voodoo 3 3000 I’ve been able to run this game using Glide for the first time ever. With the machine having a few bit more muscle than it required the game runs beautifully.

The funny part is that I can almost feel the same sense of wonder playing it again today. The first 5 minutes of the game are an amazing showcase for what the Unreal engine was capable of as it transitioned from the cramped metalic interior of the crashed spaceship you start in to the (then seemingly massive) outdoor world.

Also I imagine seeing it on my lovely Sony CPD-4410 Trinitron adds to the beauty of the experience!