Games - Unreal series

Home > Listing Index > Games > Unreal series

	Games - Unreal series

The Unreal series is a computer game franchise that began with the original Unreal, a single-player first-person shooter computer game which was published on May 30th 1998 by Epic Megagames, now known as Epic Games
. It was powered by the Unreal engine
which had been in development for over three years before the game was released. The game was the start of a long running series, and a successful game brand.
Early development
The Unreal game engine, simply called Unreal engine
, was seen as a major rival to id Software's Quake engine, and the Unreal game itself was considered to be technically superior to the Quake and Quake II titles which were out on the market at the same time. Since Unreal came packaged with its own scripting language called UnrealScript
, it soon developed a large community on the Internet which was able to add new mods (short for "modifications") in order to change or enhance gameplay. This feature greatly added to the overall longevity of the product and provided an incentive for new development.
The Skaarj
The Skaarj (pronounced "scar") are an advanced race of aggressive alien beings generally living in a highly tribal society, originally introduced in Unreal, but subsequently found in all later games of the series, usually as the antagonists. The Skaarj design seems to have been influenced by alien designs from various other franchises, often having green/yellow/blue skin, tusks of varying lengths, and are generally reptillian in appearance. Although they appear reptillian, they are in fact related by design to insects. Because of their appearance, many of the logs left by deceased crew members in the original Unreal refer to them as "lizard men".

At the head of any given Skaarj clan is a Queen, similar to the Xenomorph Queen, whom lays eggs in which eventually a bug-like creature (a pupa) emerges. These pupae eventually grow into the Skaarj as they are commonly seen. No female Skaarj besides the queen are found in the original Unreal, but no female Nali are found either (except for the mural of goddess Vandora). This may be due to restraints in model counts, lack of Skaarj sex diversity, or what is commonly acceptable in games at the time of release. A female nali may have been supposed to be included in Unreal Championship 2 as shown by concept art, but wasn't included.

A Skaarj warrior's main weapon is called a Razik, and consists of two (sometimes surgically attached) wrist mounted blades on each hand, similar to a weapon used by the Yautja from the Predator franchise. This blade design gave birth to the design of the different variations of the Circle-U logo of the series, and the Skaarj themselves can be considered the series' mascots. The Razik also is able to fire electrically charged shots of energy, which form between the blades, and fire in pairs. Skaarj troopers do without Raziks and rely on projectile based weapons such as the Razorjack. The Skaarj Razik design is also used in the different Unreal game logos.

They are highly intelligent, fast, strong, and their clans usually remain solitary, perhaps due to conflicts in code or competition. The clans have shown a significant amount of cooperation in the Human/Skaarj wars, however. Most Skaarj consider all other races to be inferior, and that it is the destiny of the Skaarj race to rule over all others. Many races such as the Nali, Krall, and Izarians have been enslaved by the Skaarj, and are technologically inferior. Rivals of the Skaarj include the Mercenary and Humans, who generally have technology at par with the Skaarj.

Since the Human-Skaarj war, the Liandri Corporation experimented with Skaarj/Human hybrids in their Grand Tournament. In the latest tournament, actual Skaarj from the deadly Iron Skull Clan have participated, generally holding that they will indeed one day conquer humanity, and the Tournament gives them the opportunity to kill humans in vast numbers until that day arrives. The Black Fist clan opposes the Iron Skull clan, whom are sworn enemies, and members of Black Fist Mekkor and Skrilax are currently enrolled in the tournament in hopes to battle the Iron Skull. A few Iron Skull members have been in the series since the beginning, such as Dominator and Guardian, and are also fighting in the latest tournament.
The Izarians

The Izarians had a small empire of their own and enslaved many minor races before they ran into the Skaarj,(pronounced:scar) and became slaves themselves. Due to their organic positronic brains, it is debatable as to if they really have minds.
[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Unreal series ]

Searches on eBay

unreal series