I wouldn't consider it obscure either. It was the reason to buy a new PC at its day, and the Unreal engines still bear its name.
On 7/16/2022 at 4:15 PM, kerdios said:AFAIK it was just another duke/quake clone
You couldn't be more wrong. I assume you didn't play it back in the day. Some consider it a milestone in term of storytelling and graphics. But while this was impressive, it was really a pinnacle in level- and worldbuilding.
The most lasting effect however was its multiplayer mode, especially the competent bots. This was so great that the later installations - Unreal Tournament - just focused on this aspect. Quake III Arena, that you posted a pictue of, came out a whole year later and it tried to copy it. Quite badly, I thought at the time.
Duke Nukem 3D is still a sprite-based game. I don't know in which way you mean that this is similar.
Sadly, it never had a worthy sequel. Unreal 2 pretty much trashed all the aspects that made Unreal good and is just another bland early 2000s FPS.