: I don't mind dated technology too much, though looking at a little Unreal
: gameplay, it seems like the animations really do feel a bit too dated for
: my liking. And it's all around a bit of a bloody game, something I don't
: find particularly attractive, even if the graphics are too horrible to be
: very believable. Half-Life, on the other hand, seems to imply brutality
: without really showing too much, if my assumptions are correct - that, and
: it seems to feel much more like Marathon than other games, with a definite
: emphasis on puzzles. Having glanced once or twice at descriptions of the
: puzzles in Half-Life, I can tell that it's the sort of game that makes you
: think "If Bungie had access to these kinds of tools, this is how they
: would've done Marathon". I may give it a try someday, just for fun.
First, they're both fairly graphic, that's just the style for shooters. So was Marathon! Unreal has a "Reduced Gore" option, for what it's worth. I'm not aware of one in Half Life, but I haven't played the original original, just HL:S. Half Life has the crowbar, so much for "implied brutality" :)
As to which one is more like Marathon, that's a tough call. Half Life has mediocre AI, and tends to throw more monsters at you to make up for it, like Marathon. It has more physics / jumping puzzles than Unreal. Unlike Marathon, the story is revealed mainly through spoken dialog. Ambient music is only present for scripted cues. Most of the time you are underground, but Half Life did have a few good outdoor levels. Half life starts out a little slow, and the best levels are near the end.
Unreal has a far better AI, so you're usually fighting one or two big, fast, smart monsters at a time. I find this more enjoyable personally. It also means after you beat them you're usually free to explore the beautiful levels. Like Marathon, puzzles are mainly switch puzzles, although none are as difficult as Colony Ship for Sale, and the story is presented in text form. Ambient music is always present, but it does fade out or in on scripted cues in some places. About half the levels are outdoor levels, and the rest are in mines or space ships. The first half of the game is excellent through and through, but the last quarter or so is a bit weak.
You need to play both of these classics if you're serious about first person shooters. It's like trying to decide whether to read Hawthorne or Melville :)
