5 Best Epic Games That Aren’t Fortnite

These days, when most players think about Epic Games, their minds go straight to Fortnite. Okay, maybe you’re a big fan of all the free games they give away on the Epic Game Store, but Fortnite is what butters Epic’s bread. However, the studio has a long history from before Fortnite took over the world, filled with great games from across various genres. Most of these games don’t have the world-changing pull of Fortnite, but they’re still worth playing if you missed them the first time around (or can find a way to play them).

Here are Epic Games’ five best games that aren’t Fortnite.

5) Jazz Jackrabbit 2

The Jazz Jackrabbit series helped put Cliff Bleszinski on the map. The 2D side-scroller is very different from the later games he made at Epic, but that doesn’t mean this wacky adventure wasn’t a blast to play through in 1998.

Sure, Jazz Jackrabbit 2 didn’t do much to change the genre, but it’s a quality side-scroller with a good mix of shooting and platforming action. You can hop into five different multiplayer modes with up to three friends, or take it online, where Jackrabbit 2 supports up to 32 players in everything from Capture the Flag to a treasure hunt. It’s one of Epic’s early successes and is still relatively fun to go back to.

4) Infinity Blade 2

Chair Entertainment’s Infinity Blade series was one of the big winners of the early days of iOS gaming. Epic purchased the team just before it released the first game, which quickly became a smash hit, pulling in millions of players. Epic and Chair launched two more games in relatively quick succession, but it’s the second one that’s stood the test of time.

Infinity Blade 2 is, like its predecessor, mostly about one-on-one sword battles that you fight along a set path. However, this time you can dual-wield smaller weapons and even pick up heavy weapons that pack more of a punch. And the New Game+ option provided players with plenty of replay value. Unfortunately, all three games were taken down from mobile stores, but you can still access them on PC if you’re willing to jump through a few hoops.

3) Shadow Complex

Shadow Complex is another game from Chai Entertainment. This time, the team decided to join in on the Xbox Live Arcade craze and release a new Metroidvania on the Xbox 360. It quickly proved to be a success, picking up several end-of-the-year awards after grabbing high marks all around from reviewers and fans alike.

In fact, it’s fair to say that Shadow Complex‘s excellence in gameplay, level design, and storytelling helped kick off the popularity of Metroidvanias in the indie scene. Obviously, it wasn’t the only game that led to it becoming a go-to for indie devs, but it was absolutely an early success story that showed $15 games could compete with the big boys.

2) Unreal Tournament 2004

To be clear, you can replace this entry with your favorite Unreal Tournament game. UT ’99 is a solid pick, and I’m sure there are plenty of fans out there for most of the other games in the series. Your preference will likely come down to when you were playing Unreal Tournament the most.

Regardless, the point is that UT rules. It was one of the best shooters of its era and an absolute blast in multiplayer. Heck, even if you couldn’t get into a lobby with friends, the bot AI wasn’t that bad. Unfortunately, we haven’t had a new UT game since 2007.

Epic has flirted with a comeback a few times over the years, but nothing concrete has materialized. With Fortnite being such a success, it’s hard to imagine Unreal Tournament coming back any time soon.

1) Gears of War 2

Again, you can pick your personal favorite Gears game to take this spot on the list. Cliffy B’s baby boy was a revelation when the original launched in 2006, showing fans that the third-person shooter was alive and well with the hardcore audience.

Since then, we’ve not only gotten several sequels, but quite a few spin-offs as well. As far as the Epic-developed games in the Gears series, Gears 2 is generally seen as the best of the bunch. Some fans might prefer the original or Gears 3, but many see the second game as the series’s peak.

And for good reason. It’s got just about everything you could want in a modern shooter. The gunplay is some of the best of its era. The campaign is a roaring romp that dives much deeper into the characters introduced in the first game. The normal multiplayer modes are solid additions to the franchise. However, it’s Horde mode where things really stand out. Putting up to five players in a co-op mode against waves of attacking Locust was a masterstroke that made Gears 2 one of the more endlessly replayable games of the time.

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