Reviews - Unreal Evolution mod for Unreal

This mod does exactly what it promises: better AI, balance, graphics, sounds, and so on. The remixed enemy placement with new abilities from the Slith's shockwave attack to the Warlord's flurry of rockets really spice up the game. The AI can now dodge Razor blades and Flak shells, so less cheese tactics are available. The guns gib enemies more easily, have cool muzzle flash effects, updated sound effects, and better feedback in general. All of them have upgrades which let you choose between two weapons to improve in simple and/or creative ways, which increases the replayability ten-fold. The previously bland and empty outdoor (and some indoor too) areas have visual improvements, although they are subtle and organic, as if they have always been there and should have.

What must be the greatest and the most integral change is the difficulty rebalance. In 227, levels above Very Hard (formerly known as Unreal) simply increased damage received by the player, enemy projectile speed, and other somewhat unfair tweaks. Evolution does away with that and introduces the HARDCORE (all caps) mode instead. The most jaw-dropping change is the novelty checkpoint system; that's right - no more save scumming. Several enemy encounters, items, and even entire levels are exclusive to this mode.

While there still can be some issues, the mod is in active development. I've been around, seen some good and bad bugs during the beta. I'm glad I ran into this somewhere. Like the OldUnreal 227 patch, there is literally no reason to ever run Unreal without Evolution anymore. It is, in fact, Unreal but better.

Unreal Evolution spices up vanilla Unreal enough that I'm itching to play the game again. A really fantastic package - even if you think you're sick of Unreal give it a go.

Brilliant. Always a pleasure seeing mods for Unreal, as it's one of the most underappreciated games ever in my opinion. And this mod in particular is really good, as sort of a "vanilla+" type thing, as far as I've seen. Granted, I have not yet completed the entire game with it at this point.

This is an overhaul.
It's wonderful. Really.
More enemies with new placements, weapon upgrades to deal with them are making the shooting feel really fun and fresh.
Behavioral diversity of your opponents and new secrets, and locations make this mod feel like an official expansion.
I loved it. I really f@#king did...

I rated the game mod 10, but the true rating would be 9 (I left some of my concerns in the comments).

So why did I choose 10? Because once you've played with this, I don't think you or anyone else would go back on playing "vanilla" unreal.

This mod is simply a must.

Unreal was one of the best 'flawed gems' on the market in the FPS category. It had unique weapons, the level design was great, and the graphics were revolutionary for the time period. Sadly, the game had quite a bit of flaws. From bugs that make some weapons overpowered (Enemies don't dodge Flak shells) to generally weak weapons that you'd never use seriously (Stinger)

Unreal Evolution fixes this, it takes the weak elements of the game and polishes them. All weapons are now good, even the stinger. They were balanced by tweaking values when necessary, adding the new awesome upgrade system which adds a lot of replayability, and balancing the ammo spawn locations. Some also have new muzzle effects or sounds. Using different weapons instead of sticking to Flak Canon + Dispersion pistol is actually fun and not underpowered now!

There are some new enemies here and there, lesser brutes now have a Flak variant (infinitely more dangerous but thankfully not too common) and you might find something annoying in the water. Existing AI was improved by adding new attacks and tactics, boss fights were buffed and with the new weapon changes, you won't be able to cheese them anymore.

The expansion was changed the most here. Level design changes, improved enemy placements, cooler weapons (still not as good as the base game) and a new level at the end that'll truly test your skills (good luck finish it on hardcore.)

Unreal Gold, and evolution too, is not short like most other FPS bangers, is actually replayable, and gives you a decent challenge on the higher difficulties. Overall, I'd highly recommend Unreal Evolution to anyone looking for a good FPS game to play.

Simply Unreal!
Makes everything about the game even better.
Weapons have more kick, enemies have better AI and much more!
Just play this legendary game with this mod

Unreal Evolution, much like Totalitarian's other works, brings this classic game in line with modern sensibilities for balance and interesting enemy design, making the game feel fresh and more polished than it ever was.

If you combined this mod with the usual remaster texture mods, you could present this to someone as a brand new retro-styled indie shooter, and they would believe that it has just come out in the last few years, instead of over two decades ago.

This is a must have for any fan of the Unreal series interested in replaying this classic or giving it a try for their first time.

Unreal is one of my favourite fps games ever, and it's also one of the very best ever from a constructive point of view.

When it first was released it had better visuals than most things out at the time, just compare Unreal to Quake 2, and you will see this. It had some amazing AI and that holds up really well even now and it had great multiplayer.

As time has gone on the world has moved on and things have changed and as good as Unreal is it has aged in many ways. Unreal Evolution helps make Unreal feel more fresh again and cleans up some things to help with gameplay.

As a huge Unreal fan, i very much recommend this mod, especially if you have played the base game to death.

This is very good, but I wish it worked with the latest Unreal unofficial patch,