Conclusion and Score

In terms of actual packaging, I did pick up the Collector’s Edition for this review, and was happy to see that Epic went with a tin case, and provided a nice little hardbound art book to boot. After some of the more recent, and disappointing Collector’s Editions, Epic and Midway at least went ahead and made sure to at least give gamers a little something extra with their Collector’s Editions. All that’s missing is a rebate for the owners of previous versions.

In the end, Unreal Tournament 3 is what we’re stuck with for our next generation Unreal Tournament needs. Epic has been unusually supportive of their previous games in the past, and hopefully they will release additional content, and even game modes for free as time goes on. This is assuming that Epic does not get stuck on the Xbox money train, by looking to release packs for points on Live while giving the PC platform a blind eye. Time will tell, but as Unreal Tournament 3 stands in the present, it’s a moderately good update to an established franchise, but it could have been, or even should have been, much more feature-rich and polished.

UT3 doesn’t haven enough multiplayer modes and new features to make the game live up to the UT franchise.

Where I’m Coming From: I spend the majority of my time playing multiplayer FPS and RTS, although I have been known to occasionally play through single player in the rare exceptions of games which are hyped up to be truly brilliant or games which simply pull me in upon first play. Bioshock, Call of Duty 4, and Clive Barker’s Jericho are the most recent titles that earned a play through on a single player level, all which delivered a satisfying experience. The biggest adrenaline rush in gaming, however, comes from interacting with others online, and handing out some punishment, which I do on a daily basis. Lately, I’ve spent a ton of time with Call of Duty 4, Crysis, Team Fortress 2, and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars online.

What I Compared It To: I compared Unreal Tournament 3 to the previous Unreal Tournament games, including the most recent Unreal Tournament 2004, as well as games like Painkiller, Quake 3, Quake 4, Battlefield 2142, and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. Due to the single player and multiplayer aspect, I also had to consider the single player campaigns of each. I expected Unreal Tournament 3 to offer some sort of story progression like Quake 4, especially after the opening cinematics. In terms of multiplayer, Unreal Tournament 3 is a bit of a mixed bag, which is why I had to consider other vehicle and objective point-based games on top of deathmatch types. Multiplayer consideration made up the majority of my comparisons, as I realize that this is where most gamers will spend the majority of their time.

What I Liked: I enjoyed the new vehicles, especially the Darkwalker tripod, the cloaking and trap laying Nightshade, and the speedy suicide vehicle known as the Viper. Some of the maps are memorable and offer a lot of replay-ability, although with the voting system in place on almost all servers, a lot of the favourites continue to be replayed too often. The new items are cool, especially those which you can set as an individual or within a vehicle like the Nightshade. The graphics engine overhaul is nice, although I questioned if it created some of the limitations of flight. Retaining the frantic speed and pace of previous UT games was also a big plus. The sound quality and music are great.

What I Didn’t Like: The single player campaign most of all; it really should have been approached in a different manner, or just left out all together. Instead of having a single player campaign, Epic could have given gamers so much more in terms of retaining previously introduced game modes, and creating additional ones. The UI is a joke coming from the likes of Epic, and the server browser really needs an update. The maps are relatively well designed but I would have liked to see some of the old ones recycled as well.

Value Meter: If Epic goes on to introduce additional content over time, perhaps my opinion will change, but as it stands as it is on store shelves, Unreal Tournament 3 really should have been more than it was.

Final Score: 8.0 out of 10