[v7.2] G59

[UB_]

What I posted yesterday on Discord (with today's updates)


From afar

[Diego96]

That looks awesome, they remind me a bit of UT2004.

[UB_]

[UB_]

ENTER THE DOWNLINK

[UTNerd24]

G59 is starting to look more like an EXU Benchmark honestly. Speaking of, IF EXU ever gets updated, will you update G59 as well? I ask cos Waff said something about Armor Shards for Mechanical enemies, possibly meaning you'd need to tweak some custom pawns if you use any.

[Sat42]

Just a quick message here to say that G59 [v.7.2] is still the best single player (SP) campaign for Unreal Tournament that I have had the good fortune to play.

Yes yes I have yet to play the Project Xenome campaigns (among others) - I took a break from Unreal/UT - but in any case, if I consider Unreal to be a very good game, then G59 is simply excellent. And I don't say that lightly (I consider Halo: Combat Evolved excellent, for example). For further comparison, I consider Operation: Na Pali and Seven Bullets to be both somewhere between very good and excellent.

The gameplay is intense, it's tough as nails at times but always in a way that feels justified, in no small part thanks to the narrative which is more than simply good (also thanks to the pacing of the adventure, which knows how to alternate between high adrenaline action and moments of contemplation). The graphics can be somewhere between very good and excellent (better than official UT) which is as good as you'll ever get with this engine barring heavy modifications à la Unreal v227 (and as good, technically, as the best stuff seen in such classics as Xidia Gold, Operation: Na Pali, and Seven Bullets). The actual art direction is superb (in an aesthetics category, I'd give this a 9 or 10 out of 10).

Currently, out of all the SP maps I've played for Unreal/UT, I have 3 favourites and 2 are in G59. Better yet, those 2 are the last 2 maps of the campaign, so not only is G59 the best campaign for Unreal/UT that I've played so far, it easily has the most satisfying ending.

It's rather unique (story-wise also), and leaves a lasting impression.

I had wished to give this campaign a proper review, following the UnrealSP.org Review Schema, but I honestly found the task a bit too large to my liking (for a hobby) and in conjunction with other priorities IRL, my effort floundered and eventually lay abandoned. I would like to apologise to UB for failing to bring about a real review that would do justice to G59. I don't like giving false hopes - but when there's something this good, I prefer to publish an "official" review I can feel confident in rather than just any write-up. This campaign deserves more attention, it's the kind of thing I could see featuring in an article on Rock Paper Shotgun the way Arcane Dimensions for Quake did.

[UB_]

Aw hell yeah, super glad about the comments!

The campaign surely looks rough visually in most maps (except the last level, still amazed how it turned out so well), and the gameplay in a few parts also requires a bit of preparation/knowledge. These downsides wouldn't have happened if I kicked my own ass since the moment I touched the editor; it's the result of a mappack being constantly changed for 8 years in a row, and I can't redo things forever.

Which is also the reason why I decided to abandon the rework above.
Too much time consuming, and it was going to be a full redone campaign with a bunch of new levels and new ideas. And frankly I don't want to waste those ideas that would prove otherwise great too in completely new maps (in the Xeops series, if it is ever continuing).
Maybe I will update the intro and the Limbo with the new reworks of last year since I cannot repurpose that stuff anywhere.

(I consider Halo: Combat Evolved excellent, for example)..

Damn right, I got the MCC on Steam at the end of last year and what a FANTASTIC purchase that was. CE holds up so incredibly well and the AI is as brutal as ever.

[Sat42]

and I still have Χέοψ ~Cheope~ to look forward to!!

[...] I can't redo things forever.

Which is also the reason why I decided to abandon the rework above.
Too much time consuming, and it was going to be a full redone campaign with a bunch of new levels and new ideas. And frankly I don't want to waste those ideas that would prove otherwise great too in completely new maps (in the Xeops series, if it is ever continuing).

Right on, UB! G59 is excellent (90%) and as such, there's no need to keep iterating, nothing's ever going to be perfect (I have to remind myself of that sometimes). Enjoy making new stuff!