StarCraft, Unreal proceeded to alternate with StarCraft between positions 1 and 2 on the weekly charts through the May 31 – June 27 period. Jason Ocampo of Computer Games Strategy Plus characterized the games' competition for first place as a "tug-of-war". Unreal ultimately held at #2 behind StarCraft on the monthly chart for June as a whole, and became the United States' 15th-best-selling computer game of 1998's first half. Unreal maintained a position in PC Data's weekly top 10 from June 28 through August 1. It continued its streak at second place for July overall, and totaled sales in excess of 120,000 copies in the United States by the end of that month, according to PC Data. IGN described this performance as "a huge hit". In early August, GT Interactive reported that global sales of Unreal had topped 500,000 copies, which contributed to growth at the publisher. The game went on to appear in PC Data's weekly top 10 from August 2 through the week ending September 12, when it fell to #10, and in the monthly top 10 for both August and September. After falling to 19th place for October in total, it exited the monthly top 20. Ultimately, PC Data declared Unreal the United States' 11th-best-selling computer game during the January–November 1998 period. In the United States, Unreal finished 1998 as the year's 13th-biggest computer game seller, with sales of 291,300 units and revenues of $10.96 million. Its ARP for the year was $38. According to GameDaily, the game's sales in the United States reached 350,000 units by January 1999. Worldwide sales surpassed one million units by September 1999, and reached 1.5 million copies by November 2002. Critical response Unreal was very well received upon release. Critics praised the graphics, gameplay, music, atmosphere, enemy behavior, and bot support in multiplayer, but criticized the lag-ridden online multiplayer. Macworlds Michael Gowan wrote: "This 3-D shoot-'em-up reinvigorates a tired genre. Plot, atmosphere, and exploration mix with ferocious enemies to make this game stand out from the pack". Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it five stars out of five, and stated that "Unreal is the single best action game ever to appear on PC". Accolades In 1998, PC Gamer US declared Unreal the 13th-best computer game ever released. Further reading Notes References External links www.unreal.com Official Webpage (archived by Archive.org on March 31, 2001) 1998 video games