Score
Gameplay:	7
Graphics:	8
Sound:	7
FunFactor:	7
PlasmaFactor:	7
Overall:	7.2

Unreal Tournament 3 Review
July 29, 2008 by Jereme Puik

I wanted to like Unreal Tournament 3, I really did. When I first booted up the game for the first couple of sessions, I was remembering its rich history. My memories of Unreal Tournament started back in 1999 and quickly became one of the premier first-person shooters on the market for the PC. Maybe that’s why I have a problem with the title; its release on the Xbox 360 gave me hope that I could hopefully enjoy a title that I had heard so much about over the years next to the Quake series. I’m one of those people who have quite a history with first-person and even third-person shooters, so I could easily adjust to Unreal Tournament 3’s play style. However, after the first few sessions and levels in the game I found my head spinning in quite a few directions. The opening sequence was a nice touch, but from then on, it just seemed like it wasn’t my cup of tea.

Find that Angle?

Now, I’m a big first-person shooter kind of guy, so I’ll always cut something new some slack to grab me and hopefully pull me into the experience. When I was flying through Unreal Tournament 3, the overall feel of the game didn’t exactly make it feel like home. The gameplay mechanics were a bit overwhelming and a little too much at one time depending on the kind of match you were playing. I still remember that this is a console port straight from its PC brother. However, I won’t let that cloud my judgment here. According to the box, this was tailor made for the consoles and thus why it hit the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 (version this review is based on).

For the Xbox 360 version of the game, Epic Games added on some new maps and characters to make the experience “deeper” for franchise fans and interested gamers. Unreal Tournament 3 is purely a multiplayer experience all in its own right, as it should be. The single-player experience is just a nice bonus for those who are new to the series or need a refresher. The single player mode is basically comprised of a bunch of matches from deathmatch to capture the flag. The story focuses on one man, Reaper, who you would swear looks like Marcus Fenix from Gears of War, fighting against an alien race known as Necris who don’t seem to have much back story given to them and only care about getting that next kill.

If you’re new to the series, you won’t find it hard to jump in and get yourself acquainted with the overall control scheme and weaponry you can find. Unreal Tournament 3 is simply a beat em’ up, shoot em up in every way possible. During the single player campaign your enemies and your allies will turn into AI bots, which can be fine for a practice run, but you’ll want the real thing. It’s always that much better to face off against real human opponents, allies and enemy alike. The overall tone of Unreal Tournament is that it focuses on speed and skill to get the job done. The Unreal Engine really gets it work cut out and gives you the most dynamic characters and settings.

To bring more depth into the multiplayer experience, you’ll have the chance to man vehicles and choose from a variety of weapons. The vehicles in the game are quite fun and can give you that quickly needed advantage during the match or help your friends who might be in trouble. The humans mostly get vehicles based on ground support such as tanks, along with a vehicle that has the ability to slice anyone in its path. You’re big ticket is the Leviathan, which will give you the most damage as far as cannon power is concerned. The Necris will get the most out of their variety of vehicles to play with, from crawlers to full ground support vehicles. You just have to find your stride with either race. Weaponry is especially true in this sense, as you could take advantage of any if you are a seasoned FPS pro. You’ll know what to look for.

The only problem I could see that people might have with Unreal Tournament 3 is the camera. Because of its focus on speed, the camera isn’t as tight as say, Call of Duty 4 or Halo. This camera is mostly loose and free form and seems to have a mind of its own at times. I found myself getting a little dizzy here and there during the heavy fire fights and trying to teleport (yes you can teleport) from one end of the map to the other and keep pace with my friends. Unfortunately, this is where my fun with UT3 stopped.

Sound

No gripes here, everything seems to be working like clockwork. What’s weird is that in the single-player campaign, that’s where you’ll mostly hear all the voice acting going on. It’s not bad in its overall production. Sound effects and battle sequences all play out nicely and at a smooth rate. Bullets and explosions are heard clearly and are not indiscreet. It’s your standard first-person shooter as far as the sound stage goes.

Graphics

Running completely on Unreal Engine 3, the new look is nicely done. Characters are nicely detailed and each is given their own personalities. It’s almost unmistakable not to notice the subtle similarities between Unreal Tournament 3 and Gears of War, in terms of characters design, at least. The major difference being that the team has a female lead character. You would almost swear you’re playing a less-violent version of Gears of War. That’s the first though that came to my mind when I was watching the opening sequence, which is quite long and detailed, I might add. In the overall scheme of things, Epic Games did a nice job making the maps varied in their locations and not to seem like their repeating themselves.

Plasma Factor

I’m going to base this Plasma Factor completely on the multiplayer experience alone. That is what the Unreal Tournament series has always been about. With the adjusted console controls, you shouldn’t have too much of a problem getting used to the characters and weaponry. Matches are always hectic and go by fast, so what you think will be a short half hour match could be you finding yourself playing their for hours. My sessions with the game lasted me for days on end getting through the ranked matches and fighting through match after match. The only problem is, as always, is getting a group of friends to play them. That is what multiplayer is about, killing your buddy’s so you can brag about it later.

Conclusion

Fans of the series will undoubtedly pick this up with no regard for what anyone else thinks, which is ok. However, if you’re on the fence about the title, I would consider renting it first that way there’s no harm done from the 60 dollar investment you would’ve made if you didn’t consider the repercussions of your decision. Just make sure you watch some gameplay videos and maybe read a review or two, like this one, to make your final decision. Just remember, that Unreal Tournament 3 is more or less going for the multiplayer experience rather then delivering you a single-player masterpiece.