Weeklies

Game: "Unreal Tournament 3"
System: PC
Genre: Action
Published by: Other

Reviewer: Dr. Boogie
Posted: 4/14/2008

Review: Man, is this really only the third game in the series? It sure feels like there's been a lot more, like 8 or so. Seriously, though, the game is, Tournament-wise, only the third, assuming that you collapse UT 2K3 and 2K4 into one game, since that is what Epic decided to do.

The idea that people would willingly endure one gruesome death after another, knowing that they would "respawn" after being killed was a weird enough plot element, but UT 3 decides to take this a step further. Apparently, military organizations can get their hands on the "respawner" devices used in the eponymous tournament and set them up during a battle, at which point small teams of fighters kill each other until they can no longer return from the dead. I'll give the writers credit, it's about as much sense as you could get from setting, but it's still more than a little weird, especially given that the first single player mission is a brother and sister gleefully blasting each other to bits.

Story aside, the game boasts numerous new vehicles, in addition to carrying over all the vehicles from UT2K4. However, if you're hoping that UT 3 will do what UT2K4 did, adding new content in addition to all the old content thus rendering the previous installments irrelevant, well think again. UT 3 is missing several game modes seen in its predecessor, including Last Man Standing and Assault. The new Warfare mode is vaguely similar, but there's really no way to recreate the kind of levels used in Assault, and that's a damn shame.

Graphics-wise, the game looks pretty slick. The Unreal Engine 3 turns out some great character and background models. At times, though, it shows the same sort of grey fetish seen in games like Gears of War, but for the most part, the textures are fairly colorful and well-made.

If you're an old fan of the series, you're probably going to miss Assault, but there's still plenty of other modes to enjoy. Just not as many as there should be.

Overall rating: WholeWholeWholeHalf
(Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best)

Reader Comments

pickled
Apr 14th, 2008, 06:50 PM
Ureal Tournament has a storyline?
frappez le cochon rouge
Apr 14th, 2008, 08:10 PM
Man, Assault was my fave. Couldn't someone create a similar objective-based mode as a mod?
Turrican't. :(
Apr 16th, 2008, 04:08 AM
You should have done a spotlight on the original. That's the best game-wise and soundtrack-wise, but then again I DO own the official UT3 soundtrack CD.
Funky Dynamite
Apr 16th, 2008, 02:55 PM
The original is my favorite, if for nothing else than because it had all those great mods thanks to that contest they held.

If they would just add vehicle support, it would still blow the newer games out of the water.
Hitler's Canoe!
Apr 16th, 2008, 03:04 PM
They still run the "Make Something Unreal" contest. In fact there is one coming up soon which will hopefully kick-start the mod community for UT3.
Funky Dynamite
Apr 16th, 2008, 03:21 PM
Bah, it could never capture the glory of U4E.
Prince Appalling
May 3rd, 2008, 10:21 AM
I like this better than ut2003/2004 when it comes to deathmatch. It has a faster pace and the bio and shock rifle are much better imo.