Welcome to A LINE THROUGH T⌛ME, where I take the time to look through your favourite
franchises and work out how it all lines up.
Twenty years ago today, Unreal released on the PC.
...What do you mean you've never heard of it?
Everyone's heard of Unreal.
...No, not the game engine!
Unreal Tournament?
Yeah, now you know what I'm talking about.
Okay, I guess the Tournament stuff did vastly overshadow the original series, but come on
now, the Unreal Engine (on which many games run today) was originally created to run the
first Unreal game.
Learn your history, guys!
Anyway, Epic MegaGames, Digital Extremes, and Legend Entertainment's Unreal (yes, there
were that many developers) takes place around the year 2215, following Prisoner 849, who
escapes her prison transport ship when it's attacked by the alien race, the Scarj (Scar?
Scar).
849 flees to the nearby Na Pali, a planet under Skaarj rule.
She kills the Skaarj Queen and flees in an escape pod, left adrift in space until someone
finds her.
This event then kicks off the Human-Skaarj War.
Legend Entertainment alone developed the expansion pack, Return to Na Pali, where 849 is rescued,
conscripted into the military and sent back to Na Pali to locate a downed ship named the
Prometheus - truly, a fate worse than dying of exposure in space.
Yeah, I joke, but this basically is the plot of Aliens.
The military tries to kill 849 to keep their weapon secrets safe, but she disables their
ship and escapes into space, effectively leaving her in the same situation she was in last
time, as if this was a PSP interquel by a different team.
The following year, Unreal Tournament was released.
This one is an arena shooter with its plot largely relegated to backstory: the war with
the Skaarj is over, but riots on mining colonies became a huge problem during the war.
The government created "consensual murder" to give the violence an outlet, which was
fine-tuned by The Liandri Mining Corporation into an official tournament named...
uh, The Tournament.
The only real details we get on the game's actual events are that Malcolm defeats the
current champion, Xan Kriegor, and that the game takes place in 2341, later retconned
to 2293, as the third annual tournament.
With Tournament's huge success, the next entry in a franchise was Epic and DE's Unreal Tournament
2003 from September 2002, which showcased the Unreal Engine 2.
It started as Unreal Tournament 2, the PC version of the Xbox game, Unreal Championship,
but ended up releasing two months ahead with a new name.
Believe it or not, this is actually important.
By this time in the canon, Malcolm still dominates the tournament with a new team in 2302, being
challenged by the juggernaut, Gorge.
The next game, surprisingly, was not another tournament title.
Instead, Legend Entertainment released Unreal II: The Awakening in February 2003.
As you might assume, this game is set between Unreal 1 and Tournament, in 2251.
Sadly, it's unrelated to Prisoner 849's story, so her fate still remains unknown.
It's not even about the war, so I'm not really sure what the point was.
From here, the franchise splits.
Both Tournament and Championship received sequels on Unreal Engine 2.5, that vary significantly
from one another.
Epic and DE released Unreal Tournament 2004 in 2004.
It's basically an expanded version of 2003, but set in the 2303 tournament, following
Malcolm's loss to Gorge.
2005 saw the release of Unreal Championship 2 for the Xbox.
Midway Games helped to develop this one.
The gameplay now has a melee focus with Mortal Kombat-esque finishing moves, you can select
the PS2 Mortal Kombat announcer, and Raiden is a playable character with fucking lightning
pistols.
Its story is a precursor to what would later be done with Mortal Kombat with the big cinematic
story mode, only not shit.
The main plot deals with a separate tournament - the 523rd Nakhti Ascension Rites - which
determines the Nakhti's new emperor.
But there is a Liandri tournament after that in the character ladders.
The game's year of occurrence isn't stated, to my knowledge, but it's definitely a few
years after 2302.
Now, as for that split - we know this occurred because of Malcolm.
Both 2004 and Championship 2 have him lose to Gorge in the 2302 tournament.
According to Championship, his back was broken by Gorge, forcing him to retire to a career
in commentary.
His teammate, Brock, attacked Gorge away from the arena's respawners, where Gorge killed
him, leading his girlfriend Lauren to suicide.
Brock and Lauren were then resurrected as Necris.
All three characters appear in 2004, and Malcolm and Lauren in its sequel, perfectly fine and
active.
As a result, we have a split in the final bout, based on how badly Malcolm is beaten:
a savage backbreaker leading to Championship 2, and a standard deathmatch without lasting
damage leading to 2004 and...
2007's Unreal Tournament III, running on Unreal Engine 3.
Despite the name, this one's not about a tournament of any kind, and instead features a Gears
of War-esque cinematic campaign.
It follows the Ronin faction, battling the Necris alongside Malcolm's Iron Guard mercenaries
in 2307.
Some fans try to place it between 2004 and Championship 2, as if Malcolm's back was fine
until a second fight with Gorge ended a second streak, or something?
Just...
no.
After that, Epic found major success with Gears of War, and shelved Unreal for a decade.
This brings us to the upcoming Unreal Tournament, because every fucking franchise needs to do
this now.
Perhaps because its development is being crowdsourced, its single player is apparently challenge-based
instead of having a campaign or tournament ladder.
I guess we'll have to wait and see.
But as for right now, the primary Unreal timeline goes a little something... like this.
Pre-2215 - The prison transport ship, Vortex Rikers, is attacked by the Skaarj.
Prisoner 849 escapes onto the planet Na Pali.
She overcomes the Skaarj on the planet and kills the Skaarj Queen, triggering the Human-Skaarj
War.
The UMS Bodega Bay recovers 849's pod and sends her back to Na Pali to retrieve data
from the crashed UMS Prometheus.
Learning that the UMS intends to assassinate her, 849 destroys the Bodega Bay and escapes
into space.
2216 - The Skaarj commence the 7-Day Siege of Earth, ending with their mothership being
destroyed by a team of NEG Commandos, ending the war.
2251 - Disgraced marine John Dalton is offered reinstatement to recover Tosc Artefacts.
Sector Commander Hawkins murders Dalton's crew to seize the artefacts for himself.
Dalton kills Hawkins in revenge.
2291 - The New Earth Government legalises "Consensual Murder" to reduce violence in
the colonies.
The Liandri Mining Corporation holds their first Grand Tournament, which sees Xan Kriegor
emerge as the champion.
2293 - Malcolm of Thunder Crash defeats Xan, taking his place as the tournament champion.
2302 - Malcolm's winning streak is brought to an end by Gorge of the Juggernauts.
2303 - The twelfth Grand Tournament is hosted.
The winner remains unknown.
2307 - The Twin Suns Colony is attacked by Necris and Krall forces, leaving only a handful
of survivors.
James "Reaper" Hawkins works with the Izanagi Corporation forces led by Malcolm, to avenge
the colony and kill Necris High Inquisitor Akasha.
Malcolm sells Reaper and his team out to the Necris, leaving Reaper as the sole survivor.
He swears revenge on Malcolm and faces the Necris alone.
How Unreal Tournament 2000-Whenever-the-Fuck will fit into the timeline, if at all, remains
to be seen.
But one thing that is absolutely certain is that it should just be called Unreal Tournament
[Insert Year Number].
If you're not using numbers or subtitles, just use the fucking year of release officially.
That's what people are going to call it anyway, so you might as well make it official since
there's already a precedent for that.
I'm sorry I don't have a joke to end off on, but this shit just really bugs me.
Come on, there has to be a joke here.
Um...
O-Oh, hey, Lilith, how...
you look...
...fuck it.
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