ic-games Review - Unreal Tournament 2004 - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

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Unreal Tournament 2004

Information
Reviewer: James Collins
Developer: Digital Extremes
Publisher: Atari
Reviewed: PC
Genre: Online FPS
UK Release: 19th Mar 2004
Article Date: 19th Mar 2004
Difficulty: N/A
Retail Price:
Price Comparison:
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Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 96%

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Pros

Vehicles, and they work!

Mmmmm "Graphics...."

Many modes of play

Game of the year?

Cons

Some may find it all daunting

6 Cd's?

Screenshots

68 of 94

There are two sides to the FPS argument, and they are both firmly encamped in their way of thinking, there is the “Battlefield 1942” brigade and of course the recent updated version “Battlefield Vietnam” that think that a certain amount of realism is in order, and then there is “Unreal Tournament” with the recent 2004 version that is so far away from realism it’s certainly “unreal” Which one will rule the roost? Read on and buy the version you enjoy anyway. The gamer is certainly a fickle character but hell, we reviewed it anyway…..”

First of all, (for once) the offline, single player version of Unreal Tournament is actually worth playing, the bots are perhaps the best you’ll find in a game of this ilk. That’s because they play just as a real human counterpart would play. They use the vehicles, they pass the ball in bombing run and they camp. Boy do they camp! A few hours with configured bots and you'll certainly be a better player for it.

The weapons have been given a complete graphical make over since the somewhat disappointing efforts in the previous encounter and feel as powerful as they look. From the standard “Assault rifle” (which your kitted out with automatically) to the extremely scarce “Redeemer”, there will certainly be something for everyone and whoever you ask will have their own personal weapon of choice. Featuring the largest amount of weapons in the franchise to date, Unreal Tournament now boasts 18 weapons and when you add primary and alternative fire to the arsenal you’ll understand that some online (and indeed offline) battles will be explosive and frantic affairs. Plasma fire and other touches of graphical godness will leave you absolutely gobsmacked, games have never looked this good before and certainly played this good before, the whole experience will leave your breathless.

The smoothness of Unreal Tournament is probably the games greatest asset. Many gamers found Battlefield 1942 a laggy experience, but we can certainly report that this is not the case with the free flowing Unreal Tournament. Even with detail on full the game played like a charm and our test PC is certainly nothing out of the ordinary. An AMD running at just under 2gig and a bog standard (by today’s opinion) Radeon 8500 played the game beautifully and chugged along at over 40FPS which was more than playable.

The difference between single player games and online games is that (of course) the dedicated online affairs have been designed that way from the outset, and not as with games like “Breed” appeared to have been bolted on as an afterthought to satisfy today’s demanding gamer. Well there is no doubt that the Unreal Tournament series has been designed to be played online and this latest encounter features even more game modes than ever before with both Assault and Onslaught completely new to the unreal universe.

Featuring full support for today’s latest sound card technology is reason enough to expect that the game sounds fantastic, and it certainly does. The announcer as with the previous titles really adds to the atmosphere and spurs you on to achieve another “killing spree!” or stomach churning “head-shot!” as body parts explode onto the screen. Playing the game with the volume turned up will garner the best experience and with a decent speaker system you’ll be in gameplay nirvana. Your kills will now sound as painful as they look, and isn’t that the way it should be?

As you would expect with some of the heavily team orientated game modes, Unreal Tournament now features a plethora of communication options. In actual fact Atari recently announced that a special edition of the game would be made available that would feature a USB headset and if you have your eye on this game we certainly recommend that option. Standard text chat, shortcut keys and taunts and audible instructions are still available for those that just don’t want to go that extra mile, and they certainly work well enough to execute even the most strategic battle plan

Complaint wise, well there really isn’t anything wrong with Unreal Tournament. Rumour has it that a six CD version has been released for those unfortunate enough not to own a DVD drive with their PC and without a doubt installing that would be a complete pain, but thankfully we were sent the DVD version which installed in a breeze and we were gibbing in no time, if you don’t own a DVD drive then perhaps the thought of installing the six cd’s would spur you into making that purchase.

Newcomers may find the wealth of options and game modes within UT2004 slightly daunting at first but with the offline modes and countless tutorials you should be up and running in no time. We’ve said it before and we’ll certainly say it again, if you play only one online FPS game this year, make sure your playing Unreal Tournament as nothing else even comes close, or probably will for some time to come.

*As an extra incentive, if you part with your unreal 2003 playCD you will receive a £7.50 rebate voucher back. Certainly an offer worthy of a mention for all those cynical people wanting an 'add-on' rather than a new standalone version.

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