Unreal Tournament 3 review

Drooling with Anticipation

There are only two things in the known universe that cause levels of anticipation and desire in teenage boys, which are so severe that they actually obliterate their common sense and ability to function in everyday society: virginity loss, and the release of an Unreal Tournament game. Philosophers and World Class Scientists can dispute if they want to, but we all know this to be true, and the parallel between these two things remains remarkable up to the point that if you spend too much time listening to the hype, the final product may not live up to your expectations.

Now shifting the focus completely and utterly to Epic's latest offering of UT (before a legion of humourless FPS fanatics sharpen their knives at my clear but likely pointless attempt at establishing comparative material to which they can relate), we have a game which even without the years of development, bounty of screenshots and allegedly wonderful engine behind it would still inspire anticipation like you wouldn't believe. Ever since the games humble roots as an offline deathmatch companion to 1998's Unreal, the combination of speed, art and ferocious gameplay is something that has never failed to capture peoples attention. Many believe the series last offering, Unreal Tournament 2004 (which was the first UT game to include Vehicles and some seriously huge maps) to be one of the finest games ever created, with the balance between the aforementioned elements being above and beyond anything achieved in gaming beforehand.

So it's easy to understand where all this hype, anticipation and desire comes from. What isn't so easy to understand though, is where things have gone wrong. Whether it's because the gameplay is truly showing it's age, the attempt to integrate a compelling storyline falls despairingly flat, or the fact that the visuals plain and simply aren't as good as public screenshots promised is completely up to the individual, and although there is essentially nothing here which deviates from the core design plan which makes UT as popular as it is, perhaps this was what the game actually needed. This is one of those games which despite not really doing anything wrong, really isn't anything to write home about.

Now I'll admit that's a pretty negative opening, almost to the point of misleading because although as I have already stated the game feels like it's missing a lot, it's still at its roots a fun, pretty, fast-paced piece of interactive action which has obviously taken some of the highest talent to build, and I'm sure hardcore fans of the series will love this release just as much as the previous ones.

Telling a story which doesn't need to be told

The gameplay fundamentally isn't any different to that of old Unreal Tournaments. You've got guns, attitude, and you're going to need both those and a severe amount of pure skill if you're going to get through this game, particularly against the higher skilled level bots and veteran online gamers. One of the biggest changes Epic has made to the formula (and I only mean biggest by it's relative size compared to other changes in the game) is it's integration of an actual story. In previous Unreal Tournaments the structure of the single player offering I guess you could say was very much like older fighting games, such as Mortal Kombat. You moved up the ranks, fighting harder and harder opponents until you eventually had the game finished. Here however things are different, as you and your team have been drafted by Malcom (from previous UT titles, though much older now, sort of looking like a well groomed Danny Glover if he stole the Space Marine's armor from the original Doom game) to help the army out against an impending doom, bought on by rival species The Necris. The idea is you have to destroy enemy spawn points in order to keep them from... well, respawning, and elements such as Capture the Flag and Domination also play into this.

How do these gametypes play into the story? What exactly IS the story? I'll be honest I can't tell you, because I simply don't care, and this is the underlying problem with the story mode. It feels like a very shallow, last minute attempt to throw some 'narrative credibility' at the game to help it rise above it's previous 'futuristic gladiators' status. Sadly though it really does nothing to engage the player, with both the story itself (what I know of it) and the way it integrates with the gameplay feeling entirely insignificant, especially when compared to the likes of Crysis, Bioshock, and Half Life 2.

It's at this point that I find a significant chunk of logic to be missing. Previous (though not all) Unreal Tournament games came with an 'Assault mode', which were basically small missions set in a variety of areas where you and your team had to work together to achieve certain objectives, while still blasting the living dog muck out of the other team who would do everything in their power to halt your progression. Surely if you're part of an elite team who are systematically fighting back at an overpowering force, it'd make sense to actually embark on structured missions? Clearly my grasp of logic is not what it used to be, as Assault mode is completely missing from Unreal Tournament 3 (though there is Warfare - covered in more detail below). It's not that I don't appreciate what Epic is trying to do here, but for a studio as experienced and quite frankly 'good' as they are at what they do, it feels like a seriously amateur attempt to add depth to a game which with all due respect, doesn't need it.

Why doesn't it need it? - Gameplay. Unreal Tournament's strength has always deep down, been it's gameplay. But of course as with all aspects of game design, gameplay is only as good as the sum of its parts.

Epic know that toying around too much with a formula as successful as UT's would be exactly the same as Lexington Steele dangling his prized manhood in front of the jaws of a starving Great White Shark - dangerous and potentially very costly. This is why there's nothing here you haven't seen from previous games, and with all due respect it rocks just as hard as it ever did. It's fast, furious, and new additions such as The Alien Necris vehicles do add a grander sense of scale to proceedings, baring more similarities to organic, underwater beasts than vehicles. They don't really alter the gameplay as such since at the end of the day, a vehicle is a vehicle, and whatever tactics you adopt for each will never be substantial enough to change the feel or pace of the game entirely. The same goes with the gameplay types, and while tried and tested favourites such as Deathmatch and Capture the Flag make welcome returns, the addition of Vehicle CTF and Warfare (essentially UT2004's Onslaught crossed with the old Assault mode) try to breathe a little life into the game.

Yes, the same goes with the guns too. As far as I can tell all the guns have appeared in previous Unreal games, and as with those games their implementation here is well balanced, and accessible to newcomers and veterans alike. I found that the gun's don't feel quite as 'heavy' as they used to. In Unreal Tournament 2004 it felt as if every weapon you yielded was capable of utter destruction on a galactic scale, whereas in UT3 they feel far more modest. It's purely a cosmetic detail, but one which I noticed nonetheless.

hmmmmm, pretty

The graphics themselves have always been a big selling point in the Unreal Tournament series, and while the pre-release screenshots of the game were/are absolutely stunning, I can't help but find them a little misleading. The UE3's visuals are good, colourful and sharp, but they essentially aren't that massive an evolution from UE2. Regardless of timelines, when you compare Crysis to Farcry, Doom 3 to Quake 3, or even UT2003 to UT, while obviously being an improvement you can see a clear line of progression. UE3 really feels more like a selection of fancy tweaks than a complete step up, which while you can argue is irrelevant if the game still rocks seems a little out of character for a studio which has always taken pride in its ability to push above and beyond the call of duty. It's no that the graphics suck, not by any means, it's just they feel more like the 'next logical step' for the technology rather than the complete visual powerhouse we've seen before.

That said the quality and talent of Epics art team is absolutely outstanding, as the level of detail on every surface, character, vehicle and individual pixel is nothing short of mesmerising. If you give a genuinely gifted cook two strawberries, a cows head and a pint of yeast, they'll still be capable of making you a (well, almost) beautiful meal, and while I wouldn't suggest UE3 is comparable to this selection it is clear that the artists and designers at Epic have drained every bit of power from the engine, facing little obstruction in realising what they wanted to do with this game visually. From an artist's perspective I'd say this is the one area of UT which has been given more than a 'little tweak', as you do feel a strong but consistent sense of character from everything within the game. The maps are no exception to this, as the pacing, design and atmosphere of each are all sincerely poignant. Some (such as myself) will feel that the quantity of maps released with the game to be a little on the short site, but I'll take quality over quantity any day and these maps epitomise quality.

The sound is generally stellar, though as touched upon earlier some of the weapons do feel a little underpowered. When I fire a trigger I like to hear every little mechanism blistering at 10,000db, followed by the sludgy, dense impact of my enemies recently removed face against a cold concrete wall, and the guns simply don't offer this to me. However it's not something which is substantially detrimental to the game, and overall the balance throughout is immersive enough to keep you hooked, without getting dull or repetitive.

I guess by now you just want me to make up my dam mind, and sum up my experience of UT3 as plain and simply as possible, so for the benefit of your mental health I will try:

Overall - 7/10 - Nearly the same game, but without the freshness

Previous UT sequels have explored a variety of ways to develop the excellent core gameplay the original game offered. Epic have clearly now come to a point where they really cannot do this without deviating entirely from their well-established brand, so instead have dedicated far more time and focus to realising their visual dream. As a result you have a game whose artistic merit boasts a splendid sense of depth, which unfortunately does not carry on through to the core gameplay elements. Attempts to reestablish this balance (such as the thrown together singleplayer story or integrated gameplay modes of Assualt and Onslaught) feel as if they've been exploited not through choice, but through a sincere lack of alternatives. I am a big fan of the series, but while the fun has returned from previous games, the freshness, immaculate sense of balance and consistently high standards throughout every last element of the title have not.

If you're looking for a quick and easy entrance into digital violence, buy this game, if you want something altogether grander, go for UT2004.