Unreal Tournament 3 is a fun, fast paced, (yes, faster than UT 2004), shooter, and should not be missed. Fans of the series will probably have turned off their PCs and raced to the nearest outlet that stocks a copy. As for us, we’re practising hard in the guise of writing this review—we have a UT 3 match this weekend, and the winner gets two days off!
Michael Browne
It’s been a dry patch for fans of the UT series since UT 2004, a patch that’s lasted more than four years. A franchise can only be kept on life support for so long before people lose interest in it. This is especially true for multiplayer based FPSes—one genre we have no dearth of. Having played all the previous instalments of UT and Quake 3 and 4, we’ve always felt that that UT series could do with a slight boost in gameplay speed, and after quaking for a couple of hours UT 2004 seems to run in slow motion.
What Epic Games did get right was the game engine—and graphically UT 2004 was splendid (it still is). Amazing levels, sprawling, well detailed, and superbly balanced gameplay and weapons—these are the charms. UT 2004 also introduced vehicle-based combat to the franchise and while it wasn’t all that fun, it does add depth over the run-of-the-mill multiplayer FPS.
UT 3 tries to do things a little differently by adding very basic map-to-map shoot ‘em up style single player campaign to the already robust multiplayer component the series is famous for. The gist of the campaign is centred around revenge—you and a team fight in various maps and team up with an unmentioned corporation for help. The goal is to take over more corporations by defeating opponents in various kinds of matches. While the campaign itself is a little lame, it does serve to give you some practice for taking UT 3 online. And this is where the game will really earn its keep. The online component is serious fun, with a number of gameplay modes, several excellent maps, and a few new weapons added to the list of familiar ones.
Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and CTF modes are joined by Duel—a one-on-one mode that should be the ultimate test for clan leaders and such. There’s a new vehicle CTF mode, which (you guessed it Einstein!) involves using vehicles to capture enemy flags. The vehicles are varied and you actually depend on them—just get caught in the path of a speeding enemy hoverjet and you’ll realise why! And this is the best part about UT 3—such gameplay modes aren’t really add-ons—they are actually functionally useful and sometimes imperative to survive. One of the bigger and more time consuming game modes is Warfare, where you need to connect power nodes to reach the opponents’ base. Power nodes need to be captured by your team by firing your link gun at them, and during the 10 seconds or so that it takes, you’re vulnerable to enemy fire. This mode requires even better team coordination than the other modes, and also offers some secondary objectives, the completion of which gives your team some desirable bonuses. There is a similar mode called Onslaught, which is a scaled down version of Warfare. Both onslaught and warfare mode also feature vehicles.
UT 3’s maps are beautifully detailed, and the texturing and shader effects are amazing, especially for a game that focuses on a multiplayer component rather than eye-candy. What is even more interesting is the design and structure of the maps—well tuned to each gameplay mode. For example, in a particular map in warfare, there was no way to advance close to the enemy base with vehicle support as the entry points to the interior of the large complex where their lair was quartered had extremely small entrance / exit points. Going on foot was the only way in—and enemies inside had access to vehicles which was an immediate disadvantage for our team. Another Deathmatch map had a double damage in the middle of a clearing, within easy reach, but this open area was surrounded by elevated positions, perfect for the headshot seeking camper to end your dreams of carnage.
Graphics-wise, UT 3 is a goodie-laden Christmas tree. Fluid textures are excellent, as are textures on foliage and even ramparts of ancient fortresses look lifelike—although you need to max out settings to get this effect. Character animations are also really well done, with very lifelike weapons, armour and facial animation. The good part is that UT 3 isn’t a graphics hog—and something like a GeForce 8800GT / Radeon HD3870 will render UT 3 at high resolutions with all bells and whistles—even lower systems should do fine as the game scales really well.
The weapons are a mixture of new and old—the shield gun gets dumped for an impact hammer, and the assault rifle gets the boot for enforcer pistol. The sniper rifle makes a comeback with more head splattering goodness. Certain weapons have also been balanced—the most noticeable being my favourite—the Bio Rifle—which does significant damage, and in secondary fire mode, the large ball of green slime it spits out will actually cling to a hapless enemy, all the while chewing through his armour, and ultimately his flesh—ouch! Such animations are also well done, and you’ll see him running around with green goop all over him.
Unreal Tournament 3 is a fun, fast paced, (yes, faster than UT 2004), shooter, and should not be missed. Fans of the series will probably have turned off their PCs and raced to the nearest outlet that stocks a copy. As for us, we’re practising hard in the guise of writing this review—we have a UT 3 match this weekend, and the winner gets two days off!
michael.browne@thinkdigit.com