|
Unreal Tournament 2004 Publisher: ATARI Developer: Epic Games Author: Primotech Staff Writers |
So good, it’s Unreal
It's finally here! (I have a feeling I'm going to be starting reviews with that phrase at least another two times this year) We've got not only the most numerous and biggest screenies than any other site out there, we've got three of our top gaming reviewers to give you their expert opinions on why Unreal Tournament 2004 rocks!
Alex Petraglia
Some of my fondest gaming memories are of Unreal Tournament. From the
first time I got the game over Christmas vacation '99 (and the four days of fragging
that followed) to playing with a friend in a seedy gaming arcade in Chinatown (true story),
recollections of UT have become permanently embedded in my mind.
Unlike the vast majority of hardcore-FPS'ers, I was more than a little disappointed with Unreal Tournament 2003. I felt like Epic had missed out on a few key ingredients that made the original fast paced, maniacal fun. I'm still unable to put my finger quite on it, but one thing is for sure; I can't sit and play UT2003 for more than ten minutes without walking away from it.
So needless to say, I was less than enthused upon hearing of the announcement for Unreal Tournament 2004. Thank god I gave the demo I spin, otherwise I probably wouldn't be writing this. I think everyone was a bit shocked by how truly amazing the demo was; new gameplay mode, cool vehicles, and silky-smooth online play.
Now, it wouldn't be much fun if I were to carry on about something everyone's already played. So how about the actual game itself? In a word: fantastic.
All your old favorite gameplay modes are there (Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Assault, Double Domination, Last Man Standing, and so on), with some much welcome new additions. The first is Invasion, which plays out more like a level in a single player game then anything else. There is one team of players that must defend a position against swarms of incoming hostile creatures. Dead players won't respawn until the next round starts, provided at least one player survives. The length of a round and number of attackers can all be set from the Settings menu.
Ahh! It's a creature!
Ahh! It's another creature!
A very cool Double Domination map
More DD
My teammate with the bomb in Bombing Run
Mutant mode begins like a regular Deathmatch game, but with a key twist. Whoever is killed first becomes the mutant, and must try to stay the mutant for as long as possible. Mutants are equipped with all weapons, and invisibility and berserk. As a trade off, the Mutants life is slowly drained, and can only be replenished when he kills another player. Tribes fans will feel at home with this one, for its very similar to that game's Bounty mode.
That guy's the mutant! Get 'em!
And finally, the one everyone's talking about, Onslaught. Each team has a Power Core, and scattered throughout the rather immense maps, are several Power Nodes. All Power Nodes start out neutral, but the first objective in the game is to claim these Nodes. A player claims a node for his team by stepping over it, and can quicken construction by shooting his Link Gun at it. Once the Node is complete, equipment dispensers, mounted weapons, and vehicles will spawn nearby and be available to the controlling team. Nodes can be attacked by the enemy team, and if one is destroyed, it becomes up for grabs again. Now, Nodes form a link system, known as, wait for it…Power Links . When a team controls all the Nodes leading along one Power Link to the enemies Power Core, that Core will become vulnerable to attack. The purpose of the game is to destroy the enemy's Power Core. Like I said however, a clear Power Link system must already be established by the attacking team, otherwise shooting at the Power Core will do nothing. This one takes some getting use to, especially if just killing anything that moves has become so second- nature that you can't perform any other task in a level, but trust me, the time and effort are well worth it, for no other game mode got me so worked up over succeeding than this one.
Showing off the mounted weapons and vehicles at my base
An owned Power Node will emit a vertical beam extending into the sky
In the Link Designer Winodw, you can see a map of the level, owned Power Nodes and Cores, and their status
This is a destroyed Power Core
I'm a Capture the Flag junkie at heart, and one of Epic's most creative new CTF maps can be considered the equivalent to medieval jousting. The Egyptian themed and aptly named 1-on-1 Joust map basically consists of a playing field shaped like an “I”…or elongated “H”…here's a picture, that probably took me entirely too long to make.
Yes, I do design levels for Unreal Tournament. How did you know?
The third incarnation of my all-time favorite CTF map is back; Facing Worlds
So, the checks designate spawn points, and the circle is the flag. It's the same basic principle as any other CTF map, just one on one and much faster. Spawn, pick up the flag, and try to get it back to yours as quickly as possible; just remember that your opponent is trying to do the same thing. Hence, Joust. For some added fun, use the InstaGib mutator to replace the map's default sniper rifle and rocket launcher.
JOUST!
JOUST AGAIN!
Well, I think there’s but one thing left to say.
The king of arcade-style shooters is back. Long live the King…long live UT…
Anubis, that's me.
Pro's:
-Flawless graphics and crisp, clear sound
-Some of the best NetCode I’ve ever seen (they did have 18 months to get it right…)
-Vehicles are amazing
-Assault is back, and Onslaught is a welcome addition
-If you snagged a preorder SE, you got yourself one hell of a good deal
Con's:
-I miss the Razor Disc Launcher
-6 CD’s and 5GB is a bit steep for some (but worth it, I’d say)
Graphics: 19/20
Gameplay: 27/30
Sound: 15/15
Lasting appeal: 15/15
Originality: 12/15
Interface/Stability: 5/5
Total: 93/100
Primotech’s Rating: 93%
System Specs*: AMD Athlon XP 3000+, 1024 MB DDR400 RAM, ATi Radeon 9800XT, Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe,
74 GB Western Digital Raptor HDD
*All screenshots were taken from this system
Jim Scouras
Since I haven't yet had too much time with UT2004, I'm only going to talk about what I have played so far... Single Player.
Showing off my fancy backflip move
Single Player in UT2004 is much more involved than in previous UT's. You start out with a certain amount of credits, and each match you play will cost you a certain amount of credits. If you win your mach, you are awarded money, if you lose your mach, you lost what you paid to play and you try again. After you work your way through the first qualification ranks, you pick a team. Each character you can pick costs a varying amount of money, dependent on his/her/its skill level. This is a pretty cool feature, as you can see what characters are good at what and what weapons they prefer, so you can decide when and what position (offence/defense/etc.) to play them. After each match it seems fairly likely that some of your teammates will be injured and you have to decide whether or not to tend their wounds, which you have to pay for (if your best player gets injured, you will probably want to heal him, so he can play in the next match). As the game progresses, you can fire teammates and hire better ones from the free agents pool with the credits you earn.
No detail (graphically, or property wise) is left out from characters
In Single Player Campaign Mode, you must assemble your team...
...and choose your battles
UT2004 Single Player is more enjoyable to play than most FPS single player because it gets you more involved in the game, and you are more in-tune with your team. So have no fear all you 56k'ers, this game is still kick-ass for you!
Puff in his later years
Graphics: 19/20
Gameplay: 27/30
Sound: 15/15
Lasting appeal: 15/15
Originality: 12/15
Interface/Stability: 5/5
Total: 93/100
Primotech's Rating: 93%
System Specs: 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 'C', 768 MB DDR RAM, ATI 9700 Pro (AIW), 36.7 GB Western Digital Raptor HDD
Matt Steele Winters
Since I'm sure almost every one of you has played a first person shooter, I'm going to skip the mechanics and jump right into the meat of Unreal Tournament . UT is the most popular multiplayer first person shooter on the market. With superb graphics and gameplay, and the fact that its practically the only FPS that focuses primarily on multiplayer, UT has rocket launched itself into our hearts since its first incarnation in 1999. Since then, Epic G ames has released UT2003 and now UT2004. When UT2003 came out, I was completely hooked, but when I heard that so soon after its release they were coming out with UT2004 , I was skeptical. I mean, with sports games, it makes sense to come out with a new game each year, because players get traded and rosters change. But, I wouldn't buy a new incarnation of UT solely because Kilgore was finally traded to Team Slaughter. So I wondered what more could they add to the game that has everything? Well Epic has once again managed to bitchslap me for my skepticism.
For a minute there, I expected the Balrock to appear
The most obvious aspect to update is the graphics, and just like in every other update to a FPS, the first thing to be updated is the physics engine. This has always been the least important change to me. When you get your ass kicked as much as I do, the last thing you are thinking about is how realistic to your gloating enemy your carcass is flying across the map. Other than that, the graphics look better than ever… if you have the hardware to appreciate them.
Check out the luster of the ground
The first thing I did after installing the game was tweak the settings, like any other hardcore FPS player would have done. I immediately noticed just how many options are tweakable. Now, I am nowhere near good enough to need to change 90% of the settings (mouse acceleration threshold ???) but it's comforting to know that I can. So I tweaked my mouse sensitivity and graphics options and I was ready to play. Being the impatient junkie that I am, I obviously chose Instant Action, and decided to jump right into the new game modes. First and foremost I had to try the mode that I've heard so much about, Onslaught.
My poor little is under attack
A Hellbender truck and Goliath Tank
In my opinion, Onslaught mode is the biggest and best change since UT2003 . Why, you might ask? Well it boils down to one glorious word, vehicles. Yes that's right, planes, trains and automobiles…well maybe not trains. The premise is very simple. Each team has a base with a Power Core, and there are Power Nodes scattered across the map. You have to capture Power Nodes in a “connect the dots” fashion in order to create a line from your base to the enemy base. Simple in theory, bloody in practice. I thought that a mode with this many players, vehicles and weapons would be significantly unbalanced, but again Epic proved me wrong. Vehicles are easily attainable from any owned Power Node and even if you don't have a vehicle, the playing field is leveled with the addition of the Avril, a heat seeking missile launcher.
The Raptor prior to take-off
The AVRIL is perfect for taking down any vehicle
The vehicles themselves are ridiculously fun, and make this mode completely unique to the series; it's like buying two games for the price of one. One of the settings that I played with was the announcer voice. As soon as I discovered this option, I immediately set it to “sexy” mode. If it's wrong to get hot every time you hear “VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER,” then I don't want to be right. Speaking of voice options, one of the greatest additions to UT2004 is the ability to voice chat. If you have a microphone [a headset is provided with the Special Edition-Ed.], you can talk in real time to your allies. I can't describe just how useful and fun this is. It's like going your whole life drinking water and thinking it was totally adequate, and then discovering the wonders of soda. Gone are the days of hiding behind trees while you stop to type insults and strategies. UT2004 really was designed for the lazy gamer. Not only do you not have to type, but with the text-to-speech option, you don't even have to read. It is pretty freaky to hear “laugh-out-loud” from a robot, but you'll get used to it. By the time I was done playing for the day, my inner monologue had turned into the robotic monotone voice of the game.
Boom!
My AVRIL missile just before colliding with an enemy Raptor
Yes, I did just flip that truck
If you have the time to spend playing (‘cause trust me, you'll be needing a lot of it) and the hard drive space to spare (the game is six CD's! [Or two DVD's for the SE version. Whatever the case, it's a 5GB install-Ed.]) , then I would definitely recommend it. If you have never owned an UT game, then this is the one to buy. If you have UT2003 and are wondering whether it's worth it to buy UT2004 , go for it. Onslaught alone is worth the purchase, and all of the other upgrades and new features make it a no brainer. I look forward to getting killed by each and every one of you…Happy Slaughtering!!
You know you're in trouble when that's all that remains of your body
Oh, the agony!
Pro's:
-Vehicles...VEHICLES...VEHICLES!!!
-Voice Chat and Text to Speech
-New extremely addictive game modes
-Unlimited replay value
Con's:
-While the game's gotten better, I haven't
-Not extremely smooth on my system
-Some lengthy load times
Graphics: 17/20
Gameplay: 29/30
Sound: 15/15
Lasting appeal: 15/15
Originality: 10/15
Interface/Stability: 4/5
Total: 90/100
Primotech's Rating: 90%
System Specs: 1.7 GHz Pentium 4, 256 MB DDR RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti 4200, 40 GB Maxtor HDD
Bears the NVIDIA Seal of Approval
This map features some gigantic asparagus
Discuss in the forums (no registration required in that section)