Unreal Tournament III
By Ian Wilson
Monday. Jan 28, 12:45 PM
"HOLY SHIT!" all over again...

Well, after waiting for what seems like WAY too long, we are tossed back into the gritty world of Unreal Tournament. It was three years ago that I was playing the last installment and loving it, though this time the elation has worn away. I think this mainly has to do with what I said earlier: It's been THREE years. During this time, Half-Life 2 came out and has had the first two parts of the second half released. That's practically two full games that have WAY more put into them.

We got our first real taste of the Unreal III engine with Gears of War. But the game, while great, left us only wanting more. Next came Bioshock, which in turn left the same aftertaste. Everyone was sure, though, that Unreal Tournament III would blow them out of the water. Look at Unreal Tournament 2004 and what it accomplished.

So, when I finally acquired a copy of the game, I was ecstatic. This was the moment I has been waiting for, this was the moment that I could return to the glory, this was the moment in which I sat in utter disbelief...

This was the moment that I was underwhelmed.

Now, mind you, it' not a bad game by far. It's by no means a great game either, though. I guess after three freaking years (no, I'm not dropping it), I expected there to be more to show. Instead, we get a game that just does things well, and in some cases not as well as its predecessor. Everything from the UI to the weapons is just sort of there and doesn't really grab at me and make me want to gush about how awesome it is to people who would rather not hear me babble. Sure, there are a lot of cool toys and stuff, but a few cool new toys does not make a cool new game.

Some things return to the series, some things are added from offshoots, but the most shocking is that crucial things are removed. The excuse for the removal is that these things could easily be added by the mod community. The issue I have with this is that they had the time to leave everything in, but were lazy about it. Assault was going to be in the game, but was taken out for some reason or another. No matter what anyone says, to me, it still boils down to relying on the mod community to finish their job. Granted, there is no other game out on the market besides Unreal Tournament 2004 that is this malleable (well, there is Oblivion, but there are so many compatibility issues and no real unity). At least UT2K4 felt like a complete package right out of the box.

Everything else comes down to the previous game: if you played it, you know what to expect. If you didn't play it, then Unreal Tournament III will probably be awesome to you. If you hated the last game, then stay away from this one because it's pretty much the same. If you are one of those people that rail Hellgate: London for being derivative, then you'll loathe this game. Anyone wanting something new from Unreal Tournament should get themselves familiar with the Unreal III engine and get to work making what they want, because it’s the only way that’s gonna happen.

I would take time to cover all the new content, but the majority of the "new" stuff is actually retread from previous games – as I said before – that is either just ported right in or has been given a severe facelift. There really isn't anything new here save for the single-player story line, which seems to have nothing to do with a tournament at all and tries to take things that would seem normal in a game type setting into something that would make sense in a war type setting. This is the equivalent of fighting world wars with Wheel of Fortune.

Love it or hate it, Unreal Tournament is back. I'm quite happy with the game personally, but then again I hated Bioshock for being so damn derivative and run of the mill. Maybe I've taken one too many impact hammer shots to the head, or perhaps my brain rotted away due to the single-player "story." Whatever the case, this game is fun… but only if you liked what the last games had to offer.

Ian Wilson

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