It suffices to say it's the game that's stealing the thunder from Quake III: Arena and as such, is the first game to bring the joy of first-person shooter multiplayer deathmatch to the masses.
The game has come along as expected with the issues raised during development tidied up nicely. The first time Unreal Tournament runs, it activates a video card hardware/driver detection phase. From hereon, it will detect a Voodoo card and select Glide, a generic D3D accelerator or, if you're a 3D pauper, software mode. Yes, D3D is now working and it's looking absolutely fantastic. The only noticeable difference to the Glide version being texture pre-caching delays on loading a level.
The new and different aspect of Unreal Tournament is obviously the Tournament single-player game progression. Here, the player must face an ever-escalating scale of AI players across the superb levels in each of the game types. When the player eventually comes first on the last level of that game type, they get a trophy for that game type. There's
Deathmatch, Domination, Assault, Last Man Standing and, of course, Capture The Flag.
The high standards of AI in the teamplay modes often defy belief. It's hard to tell what's being done by design and what's pure chance, but certain elements - like when a bot leader is killed and the bots nominate a new leader - are true quality stuff. The usual tricks and tips to fool bots - such as those free add-ons for Quake II - just don't work. Try running away from a Unreal Tournament bot if he wants to get you...
Similarly, they aren't super-human. Surprise is your best weapon - just the same as with a real player. If they don't hear you and you're out of their field of vision they won't know you're there. Playing Capture The Flag with a team of bots versus an
all-bot side is probably the classiest element of Unreal Tournament.
The first-person shooter genre is fiercely
competitive. But Unreal Tournament rises above the rest with its solid
multiplayer performance, from its good weapon balance to its great level design.
The numerous game types and mini-mods that ship with the game give you plenty of
options right out of the box, and the large variety of great maps ensure a
fast-paced and exciting game, no matter how many players you've got. Even
considering its lack of a solid single-player adventure, Unreal Tournament is
the most complete first-person shooter available.
Ultimately though, Unreal Tournament is going to excel on the Internet. This side of the game has been spit-shined beyond all recognition. Unreal Tournament produces some superb statistics including graphs via
ngStats. You can even opt to have your results lobbed into the global ngStats ladder! Hell, if you want to run a server, the administration is looked after via a Web interface. In fact, anyone who runs a server on a LAN or on the Internet is going to love this. The Internet/LAN GUI even has a built-in IRC client for chatting to players ahead of the game, and sports server browsing off a master list and adds servers to a favourites tab. Basically, it does everything Gamespy does - right out of the box. It's not going to be hard to find a place to play.
Finally, Unreal Tournament will allow you to check out what we've all been raving about without fear of embarrassment. The first time you play on the Internet or even against friends and workmates, you'll be one lean, mean, fighting machine having been to bot bootcamp and back. That means that only the most action-loathing gamers could possibly justify not picking up this great game.
System Requirements:
Pentium 200Mhz or equivalent, 32MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM
Recommended:
Pentium 266, 64MB RAM, 2MB SVGA Video Card, 3d Graphics Accelerator
Summary:
It plays very much like Need for Speed III, but with some extra play modes and
one big added feature.
Score:
8.6/10
Courtesy: GameSpot
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