unreal tournament III
Matthew Cash
Ever since the release of the first Unreal in '99, the series went into a frenzy, changing the entire style and gameplay, eventually turning from a FPS with a story to a FPS where you senselessly take rocket launchers to the faces of random people you meet in an online game. Ultimately, the series is one of the most violent franchises you'll ever find. When you lose, it cuts the bullshit, comes right out and says it: You're fucking dead. And your friends, too. Whether you know Epic for their Gears of War series or for the "Holy Shit!!" gameplay of UT (pop off enough headshots and the big voice will actually say, "holy shit".), you'll find that the series holds up just as well as ever before.
You know the deal, pick a game mode, pick a map, join the game, pick up weapons, kill people with said weapons while usually fulfilling some other objective. Despite the simplicity, it's a formula that never seems to go old, despite the number of Unreal Tournament games that have come out (5 UT games, I believe). The single-player campaign is basically that, but with bots. The game has 40 "stages" I should say within the 5 chapters. That means there isn't even 10 matches per chapter, which is disappointing, but there ARE branching paths. Still, I fail to see the point in going through the campaign several times to fight bots when there is a very nifty "Instant Action" mode one analog swipe down in the menus.
The core gameplay consists of deathmatch and its team-based variant, CTF and Vehicle CTF, and Warfare. There isn't a lot of modes to choose from, but all of them are fun in their own right. Warfare is the only one that differs from genre conventions, as the objective is to destroy your enemy's power core. It isn't as simple as that, though. Let me explain. Both teams have a power core and you're supposed to keep your alive, or insta-fail occurs. There are usually several different nodes across the map. Your team has to capture these nodes to disable the shield for your enemy's core. To capture a node, you can either destroy it if in enemy control and touch it to turn it to your side (using the link gun increases the build speed and is also a great tool to heal vehicles and kill enemies), or you can grab a orb and bring it to the node to instantly turn it to your side and fully constructed with armor. This usually makes it a very big fight as to who can get there first and is a friggin' frenzy, I must say. Hell, you can even commit suicide if a opponent's orb is near a core to send it back to their base. It also introduces hoverboards, but the slightest shot will send you tumbling to the ground. It's a fantastic mode, but I have one question. WHERE IS ASSAULT?! Did Epic miss it or something?
The general community of UT fans buy the game for multiplayer, which is fine, but I seriously doubt any fans of the series knew this game existed. Since I couldn't play on my online-incapable Xbox, I played my friend's PS3 version. Guess what? There's only two servers. One doesn't have anyone in it most of the time, and the other is usually only half full with human players. What a disappointment. Still, if you can play multiplayer, do it. The game's fun regardless of the lack of players.
Another thing I should mention, of course, is presentation. If you want to see the Unreal Engine 3 in full force, this is the game to do so. Even a couple of years later, the game looks stunning. Aside from the texture loading in the beginning of a match, the graphics go off without a hitch. Enemy models are stunningly well detailed, as are the weapons (speaking of which, there aren't any new weapons). Level design is awesome, with very well designed maps that are a blast to murder people in. The auditory department is stupendously well done. The weapons has a nice punch to them in terms of their sound and enemy voices are pretty cool. I swear, Epic has a thing for testosterone-filled men and chicks with big boobs in body armor with blond hair and ugly enemies that look like they could have easily been slightly edited from Gears of War. Again, the models on these characters in stunning, and the "Krall" (the ugly dudes) look menacing. Oh, as a treat, you should beat a match, and taunt using "Hip Thrust". Funniest. Thing. Ever. Anyway, the presentation in this is one of the strongest in any game I've ever seen.
If you're in a fun-craving, fast-paced mood, pick this game up and enjoy its gibby goodness. You won't regret the purchase, which is especially cheap these days. And please pop in for multiplayer. Lord knows the multiplayer aspect needs it. This is one of the most solid FPS games I've ever played and one of Epic's finest.
Score: 9.0
Ever since the release of the first Unreal in '99, the series went into a frenzy, changing the entire style and gameplay, eventually turning from a FPS with a story to a FPS where you senselessly take rocket launchers to the faces of random people you meet in an online game. Ultimately, the series is one of the most violent franchises you'll ever find. When you lose, it cuts the bullshit, comes right out and says it: You're fucking dead. And your friends, too. Whether you know Epic for their Gears of War series or for the "Holy Shit!!" gameplay of UT (pop off enough headshots and the big voice will actually say, "holy shit".), you'll find that the series holds up just as well as ever before.
You know the deal, pick a game mode, pick a map, join the game, pick up weapons, kill people with said weapons while usually fulfilling some other objective. Despite the simplicity, it's a formula that never seems to go old, despite the number of Unreal Tournament games that have come out (5 UT games, I believe). The single-player campaign is basically that, but with bots. The game has 40 "stages" I should say within the 5 chapters. That means there isn't even 10 matches per chapter, which is disappointing, but there ARE branching paths. Still, I fail to see the point in going through the campaign several times to fight bots when there is a very nifty "Instant Action" mode one analog swipe down in the menus.
The core gameplay consists of deathmatch and its team-based variant, CTF and Vehicle CTF, and Warfare. There isn't a lot of modes to choose from, but all of them are fun in their own right. Warfare is the only one that differs from genre conventions, as the objective is to destroy your enemy's power core. It isn't as simple as that, though. Let me explain. Both teams have a power core and you're supposed to keep your alive, or insta-fail occurs. There are usually several different nodes across the map. Your team has to capture these nodes to disable the shield for your enemy's core. To capture a node, you can either destroy it if in enemy control and touch it to turn it to your side (using the link gun increases the build speed and is also a great tool to heal vehicles and kill enemies), or you can grab a orb and bring it to the node to instantly turn it to your side and fully constructed with armor. This usually makes it a very big fight as to who can get there first and is a friggin' frenzy, I must say. Hell, you can even commit suicide if a opponent's orb is near a core to send it back to their base. It also introduces hoverboards, but the slightest shot will send you tumbling to the ground. It's a fantastic mode, but I have one question. WHERE IS ASSAULT?! Did Epic miss it or something?
The general community of UT fans buy the game for multiplayer, which is fine, but I seriously doubt any fans of the series knew this game existed. Since I couldn't play on my online-incapable Xbox, I played my friend's PS3 version. Guess what? There's only two servers. One doesn't have anyone in it most of the time, and the other is usually only half full with human players. What a disappointment. Still, if you can play multiplayer, do it. The game's fun regardless of the lack of players.
Another thing I should mention, of course, is presentation. If you want to see the Unreal Engine 3 in full force, this is the game to do so. Even a couple of years later, the game looks stunning. Aside from the texture loading in the beginning of a match, the graphics go off without a hitch. Enemy models are stunningly well detailed, as are the weapons (speaking of which, there aren't any new weapons). Level design is awesome, with very well designed maps that are a blast to murder people in. The auditory department is stupendously well done. The weapons has a nice punch to them in terms of their sound and enemy voices are pretty cool. I swear, Epic has a thing for testosterone-filled men and chicks with big boobs in body armor with blond hair and ugly enemies that look like they could have easily been slightly edited from Gears of War. Again, the models on these characters in stunning, and the "Krall" (the ugly dudes) look menacing. Oh, as a treat, you should beat a match, and taunt using "Hip Thrust". Funniest. Thing. Ever. Anyway, the presentation in this is one of the strongest in any game I've ever seen.
If you're in a fun-craving, fast-paced mood, pick this game up and enjoy its gibby goodness. You won't regret the purchase, which is especially cheap these days. And please pop in for multiplayer. Lord knows the multiplayer aspect needs it. This is one of the most solid FPS games I've ever played and one of Epic's finest.
Score: 9.0