Unreal Tournament III Reviews

• Three Times More Intense

  
  By A2XPDQ3CMATK67 on 2007-10-30
  As a hardcore Unreal aficionado since the very first version way back in 1998, and having followed the changes with every subsequent release, I had an idea of what to expect with Unreal Tournament III - faster gameplay, more eye-popping graphics, better AI, etc. But how could they improve on Unreal Tournament 2004, one of the most heralded arena shooters of all time?
  
  The most immediately obvious change from UT2004 is the graphics - even without the DirectX 10-enabled video card, you still get sunlight reflecting off of water, textured stone and soil, and as remarkably photorealistic visuals as featured in the preview images and videos. The 50+ bundled maps help show it all off with more symmetrical and organic design, and WAY more built-in visual gimmickry (neon lights, plasma fields, etc) than was featured in 2004; anything in the game that could be made shinier, flashier, or just generally more impressive looking has been given serious and creative attention to detail. But even with those details set to minimum in the graphics options, you'll want an NVidia 7800 series or better for a playable game experience (8800 or better for max details). Sound-wise, some of 2004's better sound effects have been used again here, and this is the first shooter I can think of where I've actually left the music on; it's more like soft background ambience than music, and it changes in tempo and intensity with events in the game such as taking damage and kills.
  
  Gameplay is largely unchanged, but with a few nice additions and a whole lot more speed - you'd better bring your "A-game" and some caffeine or you'll never keep up with what's happening. As with most new incarnations of Unreal, the transition from an older version (or other older/slower shooters) takes quite a bit of practice just to build up your reflexes for the huge leap in game pace. Every aspect of the game has been made faster from vehicles to melees to even just walking - on larger maps, every player has a Hoverboard, a hovering skateboard device, so even without a vehicle you can quickly cruise from one side of a map to the other (but without a weapon while in use, though you can use it while carrying the flag in Capture The Flag). Those of you who need or like bots in your matches will find the higher-difficulty versions to be remarkably cunning and/or helpful. Enemy bots can fire based on predictions made several steps in advance, and can Shock Combo from vast distances, also often predictively. And teammate bots now give details on where they're going and where enemies are on the map, making them more helpful than a lot of human players.
  
  Little has changed with the gametypes as well, with only the addition of Vehicle Capture the Flag (large-map Capture The Flag with vehicles) and Duel (one-on-one deathmatch). Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture The Flag are still there, and Onslaught has been renamed to Warfare. (The Warfare gametype now also features an "Orb" device which spawns at each team's base, and when used on any unshielded power node, regardless of color or power status, turns it instantly to that team's color with full power.) Single-player Campaign can now also be more than just single-player [see below].
  
  When you do get a vehicle, you'll find they have much snappier responses and can be maneuvered in ways that were never possible in UT2004. The now-smaller Manta can change direction on a dime, the revised Scorpion features an "afterburner" which sends it rocketing at the push of a button (and should it collide with any other vehicle, explodes Kamikaze-style), even the Goliath main battle tank brakes and accelerates so brusquely as to produce suspension nose-dive and -lift. There's also the addition of the dark and alien "Necris" vehicles, such as the several-story tall Darkwalker or the jellyfish-like Fury, all of which effectively double the number of vehicles the game has to offer. And all vehicles now have the ability to take along teammates - a teammate on a hoverboard can "grapple" to any vehicle using a tractor beam of energy and be tethered along a la waterskiing.
  
  Weapons are mostly the same from the previous version while having undergone visual changes. Of note is inherent weapon inaccuracy; unlike 2004 where a perfect aim always meant a perfect hit regardless of the weapon, most of the weapons now are slightly inaccurate, and more so with distance (including vehicle weapons). There's a new class of weapons/devices known as deployables, which include the famous Spider Mines (now laid as a single trap, as opposed to a weapon), a EMP Mine (shuts off all vehicles in the area and sets off their ejection seats), and a Stasis Field (slows down time over a given area). The Double Damage power-up is still part of the game, but now can be knocked free for anyone to pick up if the user is killed, plus there can be more than one per map. There's also a "Berserk" power-up, which doubles the rate of fire of any weapon for a brief time, and even an Invulnerability power-up. And yes, you can have more than one power-up at the same time...
  
  Those of you who enjoy internet battle will be glad to know that UT3's online experience is as fast and as seamless as previous versions; pick your game criteria, pick a server, and you're playing. Also of note is the new "Customize Player" option, which allows you to select and alter various physical details of your avatar, such as armor configuration and clothing, giving you your own unique visual identity. And if you prefer solo playing, the Campaign gametype provides an entire storyline-and-objectives game, though you have the option here also to let others join your Campaign, either by internet or LAN.
  
  So Epic has once again delivered on all counts in this season's faster, harder, better arena shooter, destined to create another bump in hardware sales as gamers rush to update their computers to take in the carnage in its full glory. Highly recommended if you have the video card and reflexes.
  
  

• THE ABSOLUTE GAME OF THE YEAR!!!

  
  By A74TA8X5YQ7NE on 2007-11-19
  Games that are as long awaited as UT3 always bear the inherent danger of becoming over-hyped and to inevitably disappoint in the end. Well, this is NOT the case with this game. UT3 ROCKS!
  
  Graphically you have not seen anything that beautiful this year! Surfaces, shadows and explosions are just GORGEOUS! Yes, I liked the graphics even more than those in CRYSIS (and I gave CRYSIS a raving review - check it out if you like): they are crisper and even more atmospheric.
  
  Fans of the UT-series will meet again all our old ...friends: the Bio Rifle, the Link Gun, the Shock Rifle, the Flak Cannon (my favorite!), the Rocket Launcher and the Sniper Rifle. New additions are the Enforcer (to replace the under-used Assault rifle) and the Impact Hammer (replacing the shield gun). An interesting twist: hitting an enhanced target with the Impact Hammer's alternative fire will drop his power-up for you to grab!
  SuperWeapons are also at our disposal, both the Redeamer and the new Target Painter.
  
  The number of available vehicles has been enriched as well. Besides the Axon vehicles from UT2004 (which have been renovated), a new Necris set is available: vehicles that demonstrate novel behaviors, yet are beautifully balanced with the Axon set.
  
  What is really impressive once more are the environments. You have to see them to believe them...! And the skies...! I have not seen more breathtaking skies ever since, well, the original UNREAL.
  
  Since this is a pretty demanding game, once the rockets start flying do not trust that by meeting the Minimum requirements you will be cruising. So, here are the official RECOMMENDED requirements:
  · Pentium 2.4GHz Dual-Core (or AMD equivalent)
  · 1GB of RAM
  · nVIDIA 7800GTX (or ATI x1300 equivalent)
  · 8 GB of HDD space
  · WinXp (SP2) or WinVISTA
  
  CRYSIS is surely getting a run for its money for GAME OF THE YEAR!
  
  I cannot imagine anyone not enjoying this...
  
  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
  
  

• Going In The Right Direction.. Slowly..

  
  By A2T5J1IU3TACWN on 2007-12-06
  Before I start I'm going to admit that this game is very fun and very intense. No doubt that it contains way more action than it's predecessors. The only problem is.. it's not finished. And what I mean by that is that this game needs some serious patching updates before I'd even consider it a full fledged product release. Some players have embraced it's flaws with hopes of fixes (like myself), but some people need to understand what they're getting in to before they get disappointed.
  
  When Epic released the UT3 demo back in October it was released with GREAT anticipation. FINALLY a glimpse at an Unreal game that contained lifelike characters with bigger and badder action like never before. Created with the Unreal Engine 3, the characters and environments alike are definitely sweet eye candy.. which leads me to believe that the last several years this game has been in development have been merely to make it look good. The Beta contained a LOT of bugs, which is normal considering its a "Beta Demo," but when it was announced that UT3 had gone gold in a matter of weeks many had their doubts that the bugs that plagued the Beta Demo would be fixed in the retail version. Many of the bugs had remained. One such bug has the players viewpoint very close to the ground. It's like playing UT3 with little people instead of the proper height of the character models.
  
  Much of what made UT2k4 and UT99 so great have been stripped from UT3. If you're a fan of the movement styles of 2k4 then you'll be greatly disappointed as the jump dodge has been removed. Jumping in itself is bad enough because some obsticles just aren't low enough for the character to jump over even with double jump. Fans of both eras will notice that the colors are washed with 100 types of gray and brown. The absense of bright colors (on players and environments) tend to make the game depressing and grundgey. Only a few levels even contain color and even so they're just lights. The game is also drowns in bloom and distance fog. Sure, the bloom and fog give the game more realism, but they also hinder sight when playing the game. At one point a players screen can get so bright (due to power ups coloring the screen) that it makes it even more difficult to see anything.
  
  The User Interface (menu system) is very consolized and not PC friendly. Because the game is coming out for the PS3 and 360, Epic decided to give PC users a very consolized looking menu. Many areas do not have tabs or drop down menus for easy navigation. You find yourself going menu after menu then going back to a previous menu only to go forward again. It's a real hassle. Deep customization is gone from this game. PC users cannot control many of the graphic settings they could control in previous Unreal Tournament games. It's either all or nothing by sliding "World Detials" and "Texture Details" 1 through 5 with 5 being the max detail settings. If you REALLY want Unreal Tournament 3 to be truly customized you would have to go into the game's .ini files and edit the code by hand. And even when you do so, your game still needs to connect to the internet where Epic and/or Gamespy have servers that SAVE your .ini files. Yes, Epic and/or Gamespy have servers that store your game's .ini files on their servers. The mothership does call. Sometimes your changes stick and sometimes they don't.
  
  Epic chose Gamespy, much to the "delite" (sarcasm) of UT players everywhere, as their choice of software for finding game browsers online. The browser in both the beta and retail have not changed. You MUST create an online profile for yourself in order to play online. Sometimes, when you want to play offline, the game still asks you to connect to the internet. It's very annoying. One problem is that when browsing for specific games (like having the option to not show empty servers or full servers), you finalize your decision and then when the game list shows up.. it didn't even filter out what you're looking for. So you have to go back, redo everything and try again. There are no favorites tab, you cannot see who's playing on any of the servers, and you cannot spectate any server.
  
  The single player campaign in itself is a fun addition to those who just want to play offline. There is a story that goes along with many many battles. You play all the gametypes (except duel) with your team (Ronin). The bot AI on the enemy team is very good... but I can't say the same about any bot AI on your own team. You'll have to experience that one for yourself.
  
  Warfare is a fun addition to the game along with the other classic gametypes. It's one big game of capture the flag mixed with Onslaught (a gametype from UT2k4) with a ball. My only gripe is that Warfare has a LOT of maps, while gametypes like CTF and vCTF (Vehicle Capture the Flag) have a handful. A small handful.
  
  Character customization is not as deep as it could have been and there aren't as many characters to choose from. You have to play through single player mode to unlock new characters such as the Necris.
  
  There are many problems that plague this "final" release of the game that are currently being fixed in beta patches that are being privately tested as I write this. What's disappointing is that the game should have been finished when it was released, not patched heavily within a short time. If you're that picky about it then maybe you should wait for an official patch.
  
  Nonetheless, if you can look beyond the flaws and want a game where you can run and gun, blow things up with vehicles and lay some smack down to your friend across the country.. then this game is for you.
  
  

• Dumbed down version of UT.

  
  By A2W7PRT2HU7YOL on 2007-11-20
  This game just in not what it used to be. Epic has dropped the ball on this by trading eye candy for gameplay. The weapons are cumbersome as is the movement. No accuracy is needed anymore as the weapons have also been nerfed so bad it is like shooting fish in a barrel.
  
  Translocator, what a joke. You can run the distance on foot faster and longer than it actually shoots. I was really hoping this would be a great game. Disappointed~
  
  

• Worth the Wait

  
  By A1R5SQAWC1D745 on 2007-11-21
  Wow did this one take a while to come out. I have to say that I am very impressed with my short time playing it. I have tried it on a EVGA 7800 KO and with 2 7800 GT KO's in SLI. The performance was perfectly fine with just one card running. It really looks great and I really enjoy the new movement that is more realistic and doesn't let you do crazy stuff like double jump in the air.
  
  I enjoy the team play aspect of the game more than the deathmatch or duels. I really like the new team vehicle CTF game. The controls are easy and intuitive so figuring them out does not put a big learning curve in the way of you getting into the game right away.
  
  I did not think the shooting was nerfed to make it easier like one reviewer said and the bots are definately a challenge. You better work your way through a few levels of bots above the "Average" skill before you try your luck with real life players. I mean unless you just enjoy being pulverized the second you respawn.
  
  Also love the option for the server owner to select "forced respawn". Clicking this will make players come back into the game instantly after they are fragged. That way a few bad apples can't slow the game down by refusing to respawn so you can pwn them some more. I never started a server on UT2004, so I don't remember if that was there or not before, but I do remember that if it was some server owners didn't select it.
  
  Here is a list of the changes for the first patch that th Unreal team is working on. This will let you know what some of the shortcomings on the game are before you buy it this holiday season. I am sure they will be issuing it soon, and it's nice to know they are working on it already.
  
  Gameplay:
  Fixed scaling of certain player meshes (increased in size some human and robot meshes). *Addresses meshes being smaller than collision box, as well as eyeheight issues.
  Increased hellbender rear turret damage.
  Reduced Goliath machine gun spread, plus slight damage increase.
  Slightly increased momentum taken for damage by mantas and vipers.
  Flak, Rocket, and Shock do slightly more damage to manta and viper.
  
  AI:
  Improved bot AI with darkwalker.
  Tweaked bot voice message frequencies.
  Bot aiming tweaks.
  Fixed looking around while spectating a vehicle.
  
  Server Browser:
  Implemented "Server History" tab page in server browser, with ability to "lock" favorites on that page.
  Added 'Join as spectator' feature.
  Server browser uses smaller font to display more servers.
  Fixed custom mutators not appearing in server browser.
  Fixed custom gametypes not displayed in server browser's window.
  Fixed server browser's listed MaxPlayers being incorrect.
  Added filter option for dedicated servers.
  Fixed server browser showing an incorrect goal score and time limit when the .ini values were used.
  
  User Interface:
  Can now save settings/progress even if have never created a profile.
  Added ping and connect time to scoreboard.
  Removed annoying confirmation menu when starting a game.
  Removed unnecessary top settings page (can use tabs at the top of the settings to navigate).
  Added a Messages tab to the mid game menu.
  Friends messages now saved until explicitly deleted.
  Finer control over mouse sensitivity, using an edit box instead of a slider.
  Added framerate smoothing and FOV options to the advanced video menu.
  Increased max players/bots in menus to 32.
  Fixed auto switching to vote menu at end of match.
  Improved mid game menu performance (don't render world behind it).
  
  HUD:
  Added the killer weapon to victim messages.
  Fixed flag and orb scaling in minimap at high resolutions.
  Fixed node teleporter not showing "You can't teleport with orb" message on clients.
  Fixed situations where "get in vehicle" pictograph wouldn't work correctly.
  Still draw the clock on the scoreboard after the game is over.
  Fixed Duel HUD issues.
  
  
  
• The first one since UT that actually measures up in my book.
  By AFJZI3SDFFWUO on 2008-01-30
  I've had no problems so far technical wise. A few minor bugs but nothing that is a deal breaker and they've been fairly timely in getting a patch out. In my old age I've been burned too many times by buying on release day so I just won't buy then anymore. My rule of thumb is until the game hits $40 and has mostly decent reviews (Not everyone can be happy.) I don't buy anymore PERIOD! PC gaming has suffered over the years because us gamers have been willing to put up with shoddy products & support we have noone to blame but ourselves. Now on to my review.
  
  
  Wow it's been a while since I've played any Unreal. This version is like going home. The game has returned to it's roots. UT2003 was graphically pretty but felt way too slow, too floaty, and the weapons too inaccurate. I never gave UT2004 a chance after playing around with the demo and seeing what appeared to be more of the same, but with vehicles. It's like they fell in love with Quake 3 and Halo, both of which I never liked, and just kept copying everything those guys were doing. I was probably being unfair to 2004 since much of what is "new" interesting in UT3 to me most likely came from that game.
  
  It took all of an hour or so to start falling back into the old groove, the game feels that much like the original. Most of the weapons are old hat, though they've tweaked some of them down in range (alt flak cannon, translocater)
  
  The sniper rifle is pretty much you see it you shoot it (and you can see a LONG way on some maps), though they added a tracer to it so no camping with impunity.
  
  The enforcers are tight enough and just like the original, nasty with a pair of them and more than lethal enough at most reasonable (close/medium)
  
  The chain gun is about the same but only usefull at long range on fliers or wearing down groups of bunched up opponents. The alt-fire mode is much more accurate and more like shotgun slugs, but they aren't insta-hit so it suffers at long range.
  
  The shock rifle is the shock rifle, nothing more to say, though the vehicle mounted versions can cause you pain and suffering. (Think 10-15 cores coming at you then shock combo'd all at once.)
  
  The plasma-rifle is the plasma-rifle. Use the primary against vehicles, it eats pretty quickly through their armor and for infantry suppression. The alt-fire is nastier than I remember it and repairs vehicles.
  
  The only one that did not make it back from the grave was the Razor-Jack. That one was mostly a solution to some of the maps back in the day that had too many inpenatrable camping spots. Those tend not to show up anymore, so it didn't really have a place in the game. Still I miss it since it was such a challenge to use, that and playing the "explosive ammo crate" mutator would make razor ammo death traps to anyone unlucky enough to pass near them.
  
  The Bio-gun is no longer a one hit insta-kill with the alt-mode. It is still pretty much a guarenteed frag. It just takes the sludge a while to "eat" your opponent.
  
  The translocator is pretty wimpy in range compared to the old and is a little harder to kill with since it moves slower too (A little faster than you can run.) (I never was that good with it anyway.), but it's twice as big now and glows the team color so dealing with someone who likes to tela-frag is pretty easy. Just snap shoot it out of the air to damage it and they'll die as soon as they port.
  
  Vehicle wise I couldn't tell you, I hardly ever use them. Vehicles can dominate but aren't too hard defeat as long as you don't try to go toe to toe with them. Get up high and chew them up with your favorite flavor of weapon. There are some pluses compared to other games out there. Vehicles don't instantly expode on contact with water or when flipped over or 20 seconds after they are abandoned. You can get stuck, but in a more realistic ways then just the common stupid clipping errors you usually see. Vehicle physics looks good and they are fairly tight to control. They behave the way you think they would in terms of mass, velocity, acceleration, and momentum. They can't be stolen until driven off the lot by the enemy team, but they can be destroyed at the spawn points.
  
  Phys-X. I have a hardware card, but don't see things one way or the other, all physics in the game is smooth and looks good. I downloaded the two demo-maps from Ageia, they are cool to play with, but are not much more than toys. The shear number of objects are too much at times for my graphics card (880GTS 640mb 1900x1200)
  
  Speed wise UT3 is about as dead on with the original UT as one could hope, thought it still feels a little slow. After the original nearly every other shooter that game out felt like walking through mud, so this is a refreshing surprise.
  
  For all you young-in's who cut their teath on Halo, UT2003, etc. you are going to have to step it up to keep up. This is your Dad's (uncle's, older brother's, etc) FPS and he's going to trounce you.
  
  My advice crank your mouse sensitivity up and once you are used to that, crank it up again, load up a bunch of bots to practice, practice, practice. When you get sick and tired of the announcer saying "Godlike" with the bots set to Insane then maybe, and that's MAYBE you'll be somewhat of a minor challenge to an experienced UT player. (If he/she has been playing UT since 99' bring 3-4 friends along for them to shoot between your respawns so they don't get bored.)
  
  Time for me to dig up the old crew and drag them out of retirement.
  
  See you on the battlefield.
  
  Akula.
  
  
• Great graphics, but lacks game play
  By AGIXQS1S6GYEN on 2008-01-09
  I have every UT game released so far, so I've seen how this franchise of games has evolved. I'm a player who is more interested in good game play than fancy graphics so keep these things in mind when reading my review. Honestly, this is the first UT game to disappoint me. Overall, I think this game subtracts more than it adds.
  
  What I really like about the game are the great graphics and addition the new dimensions of gameplay. You now have vehicles and a hoverboard in CTF. The Necris vehicles are a nice addition. They operate so differently than the standard ones that it for interesting battles. The Onslaught mode (now called Warfare) sees the most improvement with power orbs and the ability to damage your opponent's powercore simply by controlling some nodes. You don't even have to shoot directly at the core anymore. These changes really make Warfare/Onslaught more interesting and requires new strategies.
  
  Those really are all the things I like about the game. So what's wrong with UT3? It takes out far too many things we had in UT2004. Domination, Bombing Run, and Assault are all gone!! No more adrenaline, fewer mutators, fewer characters. The weapons are toned down. The dodge+jump combo is gone. The assault rifle is replaced by the classic Enforcer pistol. (Why?! You have no chance of killing anyone with the pistol.) No more Ion Painter, grenade launcher, and spider mines. Plus, fewer options to customize the game. After a few weeks of playing this game, I'm sad to say that I'm actually getting sort of bored of it.
  
  Sure UT3 is much nicer to look at, but for a purist who is looking for good game play, UT3 just doesn't cut it for me. Special effects can never make up for lack of good game play. UT2004 is much better. In the past each new UT brought us new things: UT2003 gave us adrenaline, Bombing Run, Mutant, and other things. UT2004 gave us Onslaught, Assault, lots of characters, lots of options to customize the game, new weapons, and of course vehicles. UT3 adds some great graphics, special effects, and new dimensions of game play, but in return takes out far too many other dimensions of game play. I would only recommend this game for die hard UT fans or those who love Onslaught/Warfare.
  
  
  
• WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  By A215UEVN0I0VYC on 2008-01-18
  be aware that this game is known to NOT work properly on MOST systems and crash an inexcusably high percent of people computers. yes you read correctly the MAJORITY of people that bought this game have and are still to date having serious issues that make the game unplayable. my system meets not only the minimum but also the recommended requirements but wont play the game at all. the splashscreen (the picture on the cover) loads up, then my computer restarts. people that do manage to get the game going may have their computer restart midgame without warning once or twice an hour. this is happening to over 50% of the people that paid for this game it is not uncommon. don't risk it, go for quake wars or team fortress.
  
  
• Sad!
  By A1DFZV1JS91BOD on 2007-11-21
  Just didn't live up to my expectations. They left to much for the mod community to finish off, especially to have 3 years to work on it.
  
  
• Are you kidding me? UT3 is mediocrity incarnate...
  By ADJBG8T60500 on 2008-02-16
  Okay, so to begin, I'm as die-hard of an Unreal fan as it gets -- ever since my introduction to the game at the tender age of 10, I've been quite the Unreal afficionado. I eagerly anticipated the releases of UT2K3 (which wasn't amazing, but I certainly enjoyed it) and UT2K4 (best game of 2004). So naturally, I awaited UT3's release in wide-eyed awe as the days counted down to the release of the game. Come early November, I was in total dismay at the product that Epic attempted to pass off at Unreal Tournament 3.
  
  At first, the game had horrendously demanding system requirements. My machine was getting pretty old (a Pentium D 925 and a GeForce 7800GS) so it was high time to upgrade. After upgrading to a Core 2 Quad and GeForce 8800GT, my performance issues were solved, but I was left wondering, "why does this game require so much processing power"? Where were the real time shadowing on every piece of geometry as was promised in the original UE3 demos? Where were the dynamic lighting, destructable environments, and ground-breaking physics? The extent of the game's graphical splendor lies solely in that it has neat "blurring" effects when under water/slime. Other than that, DOOM 3 and Half Life 2 are quite honestly not much worse looking than this game-- and they ran flawlessly on my old computer. Meh, so graphics I'd rate, perhaps, a 8/10. However, graphics hardly account for what I think of a game -- I still have a BLAST with the original DOOM, which has total crap for visuals by today's standards.
  
  The story that is provided is really, REALLY, cheesy. Okay, so apparently some clan is at war with a team of undead aptly called the "Necris". Funny thing is about this war is that, uh, nobody actually dies! What the hell kind of battle field is it where your dead soldiers are saved by respawners? Epic should have stuck with the whole sports/competition theme that was prevalent in the earlier installations of Unreal Tournament -- at least that was somewhat believable. Meh, UT isn't about the single player game anyway, but the SP game here certainly wasn't as nicely done as that found in UT and UT2004.
  
  So, the multiplayer gameplay is what this game's all about, and it's here that UT3 shows its shortcomings relative to the older titles. UT and UT2004 both had a plethora of game modes, and there were many high quality, brilliant maps for your gaming pleasure -- UT3 is not so. Its maps are generic, to say the least, and there just aren't that many of them. Furthermore, the only game modes available in UT3 are Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Vehicle Capture the Flag, and Warfare. This is in stark contrast to UT2004's plethora of modes, including assault, onslaught, invasion, bombing run, CTF, deathmatch, team deathmatch, mutant, etc. The previous game just was so much MORE of a game. It had more maps, more modes, and it was just better. UT3 looks, aesthetically, better than its predecessor, but who the hell plays a game for only looks?
  
  So, I'd say steer clear of this atrocity unless you're really itching to have a complete collection of Unreal games. But, quite honestly, the Unreal Anthology -- with UT, UT2004, Unreal, and Unreal 2 -- is only $[...] on amazon and is much better. Hell, the anthology would be more of a value even at the price of UT3.
  
  So, if you already have UT2004, don't buy this. If you don't have UT2004, don't buy this and get the Anthology with the groundbreaking UT and the amazing UT2004. Stay away from this trash until it his $[...] in the bargain bin.
  
  
  
  
• They borked this one up..
  By A195LZOIVNSJYX on 2007-12-11
  There's plenty to complain about so I won't. Go read around on some UT forums and you'll see what I'm talking about. The game was released unfinished. The amount of people playing online is very low. I have a feeling some of the good reviews here have a vested interest in seeing this game do well.
  
  Don't waste your money until you've done some research.
  
  
• Nothing changed, which is good
  By A3TZU05ICJTZGC on 2007-11-24
  The Unreal series is one of the best FPS series in the videogame industry for hardcore gamers. This game is just as fun as its predecessor, and then some.
  
  Graphics: Just beatiful. It is similiar to Gears of War, but a little better. However, the physics are unrealistic, but its probably Unreal's trademark to have extreme physics.
  
  Sound: For an Unreal game, the sound improved. You can actually hear your opponents sneeak up on you.
  
  Gameplay: This game is for hardcore shooters, but noobs are free to join. Its best to play offline so you can be prepared for the online battles. If you join a battle online, you will get creamed. The game has the same weapons from UT3 and similiar levels. The levels did get bigger, but the problem is that some levels are just better than others. Each level isn't special in their own way, they are just better than others. The same with the weapons(Bio Rifles are useless). There are more features in the game, but thats for you to find out.
  
  Overall, this is a solid FPS and is definetely worth buying. There isn't anything new, but its' still enjoyable. BUY IT!!!
  
  
• GAME IS A MUST HAVE!
  By A3JTYP3IOAHWWV on 2007-11-28
  The game is awesome. Truly great. Why anyone would give it a bad review beats me. This is a great replacement for ut2004 and i can't too see what the mod community puts out.
  
  Pros: Beautiful game if you have the correct hardware. Awesome weapons and new vehicles. Gameplay is fast and fun.
  
  Cons: Not enough default maps, More player skin choices.
  
  
• uNREAL 3
  By A3UU2PYK79PVUX on 2008-01-01
  not impressed lags and overall I am selling it. Really sucks
  ....Well, here I go.
  Camera, glitchy and to spot on.
  Animation, slow at times and uneven.
  Graphics, Good art but some of the blood and effects aren't.
  Gameplay, LOADS of stuff to do, but it gets boring after the first few deathmatches.
  Action, slow for a shooter,
  
  
  
• Game or Tool?
  By A2S2228KXMQ8I0 on 2008-01-13
  For starters let me just say i bought this game to use the Unreal Editor, I've never really enjoyed an Unreal Tournament game. I've always been more of a Counterstrike kind of guy. That being said Unreal Tournament III hasn't changed my position on the matter.
  
  The graphics are pretty phenomenal but be warned if your PC barely meets the system requirements expect to set your settings low in order to play the game fluidly.
  
  Gameplay though hasn't changed much and don't expect a single player experience. The campaign is just a bunch of random skirmishes like an online match but with cpu opponents. However there is an option to play through the campaign mode online which sadly doesn't do much.
  
  I'm just gonna end by saying Unreal Tournament III should only be purchased by diehard fans of the series or people that want to mess with the Unreal Editor.
  
  
• Extremely disappointed
  By A1WDDTKFJMZ0AW on 2008-01-18
  I am extremely disappointed in the quality of this game. I have come to expect much more from the Unreal franchise.
  
  
• OMG.....Halo? Whats that?
  By A1MQTQOGG4XUHQ on 2007-11-29
  This is a god send to all true FPS fans everywhere. Finally epic puts out a new title to crush Halo once and for all. This is the most intense blood bath you will have ever faced in a FPS shooter(comparable to Gears of War). If you are like me and are sick of seeing a childs version FPS(HALO) have such a critical effect on gamers, then BUY THIS GAME! It is everything that Halo is not, including fun. Somewhere along the lines people forgot about Epic games, and started praising these cheap wuss FPS games like HALO(Ooh aliens attacking earth, lets get master chief to put on his power ranger gear and kill them). Well EPIC is back to take their title as head honcho. Watch out Bungee, HALO rules no more. And please people, before you give this review ugly responses, play UT3. I gaurantee you will feel something you have never experienced from a HALO game, a decent single player mode that is not boring and repetative, and a multiplayer mode that has more than one character. (Bungee, remember, it is not all about graphics).
  
  
• Awesome game
  By A2VT9ZBPJKSQD2 on 2007-12-02
  I've been a massive fan of the Unreal franchise for ages now but I was slightly disappointed in UT3.
  
  The Main reasons I'm disappointed with the game is the fact that there are only 5 texture and difficulty settings when the past games have had about 15 each.
  
  Luckily this doesn't really pull down the overall fun factor of the game. The game is definitely doesn't hold anything back when it comes to gameplay and overall style.
  
  With the ability to download 2 Physx based maps the overall gameplay take a massive boost but in order to truly play using the Physx maps you need a computer stronger then what it takes to run EA Game's Crysis.
  
  This game falls under Unreal Tournament 99 as the second best Unreal Tournament game of the franchise.
  
  This is a must buy for all FPS fans and gamers just getting into the genre.
  
  
• Simply FUN!
  By A2DAW9XNBLUFMY on 2007-12-12
  This game is fun for anyone who likes the Halo type games.
  
  UT3 had better graphics than Halo, but overall, the game play and user allowable mods are what I love... multiplayer gaming is awesome now that you can play against PC and PS3 games, cant waith for xBox too.
  
  This game exceeds my expectations, I played Halo 3 and would give that a 9, while UT3 gets 10!
  
  
• Nothing New
  By AXK0SBU20PZX4 on 2007-12-28
  I bought this game for my husband for Christmas. I am not a gamer, so I collected information from him for this review. He reports that the game is fun to play, but hasn't really changed much from earlier versions.
  
  
• Awesome game with frustrating glitches
  By A3MYSZDP9RAKYU on 2008-01-02
  If you like fps, then UT3 is a really great game. Its fast, loud and addicting. However, like some other reviews mention, the game was released with several glitches. The most frustrating one is where the game crashes when loading certain online modes. For example, playing capture the flag or death match online usually works great, but when I try to play warfare or vehicle ctf, the game frequently crashes at the loading screen and returns to the windows desktop with an error message.
  
  However, when it works, the game is just fantastic in my opinion and worth the repeated crashes until the proper patches come out. In fact the first official patch was released a few weeks ago, but it still hasn't fully fixed the problem with the crashes (see UT3 forum for more on this).
  
  One other gripe of mine is that unlike UT2004, most if not all the environments in UT3 are lacking in bright or vibrant maps. Most maps seem to be dark, dank and depressing, even outdoor maps, but overall still a great game and worth the buy, especially after the fixes are released for the glitches.
  
  
• Unreal Tournament is unreal
  By A394LRROBEFO26 on 2007-12-17
  I bought this for my 47 year old kid of a fiance and he just loves it. He plays at least once a day sometimes more and not for only a few minutes either.
  
  
• ut3 rocks....ut99 still king
  By A1GAT2WS6EE7L5 on 2008-01-07
  love the game, the graphics, and its ut! that said, the game seems slow (im used to playing 99 at 150 percent gamespeed)havnt found a site yet that seems fast...maybe gamespeed isnt even an option i dont know....eye candy city! if thats what you like youll love it! i turn mine down for better gameplay tho....but its nice...i had no issues whatsoever...p 805 abit n18 sli (2) 7600 gss ...was played using single card as well....no issues at all...well done epic! but , its not user friendly like 99 , and epic needs to address some things while moving around settings in game. im sure a patch is coming for it...there was a patch out in literally days of getting the game ...i highly recommend getting it. LOTS of FUN...LOTS of EYE CANDY! ENJOY!! ut 99 rules >:)
  
  
• unreal tournament 3
  By A8G1VKD5NYD3E on 2008-06-07
  This product looks great but the gameplay has change from ut2004 that it is no longer as fun. This try was much hyped and I was let down being that I have played ut games from the beginning.
  
  
• Disappointment.
  By A289XPF4EG7M72 on 2008-02-05
  Nobody was playing this game, so I sold it. The graphics were so "good" that they are too tasking on all but the most extreme gaming PC. Your FPS will be low, or you'll turn the graphics down till they look worse than UT2K4.
  If this is the future of PC gaming, I'll just buy a console. Maybe then when I get online, there will be people playing it. My final connect showed less than 100 people playing on any one game type.
  
  
• Frantic Pace...
  By ARXJOAG0S7NSX on 2008-03-19
  The game is nice enough, but the pace of it is frantic. It seems like it is moving way to fast to be able to actually navigate and aim. I've played my share of FPS, and I felt like a button pusher on this one. Not bad if you are into that I guess!
  
  
• PC intensive cooperative multi-player is enjoyable
  By AN907KZZITLZV on 2008-01-31
  This one is a large leap away from the first release. The first release was quite easy to play on most computers; shoot the monsters and get to the end of the stage. The graphics were impressive as they are again; but Unreal III offers a new alternative with too much detail that few computers can handle, unless you have DUO core.
  
  The games starts off quick. You create a login profile and a character of choice. Then you make your selection from several game types. My favorite being warfare and multi-player campaigns. As soon as you click "Begin" the first match-up begins with 3 group members off in some unknown abandoned land. The helmet's computer glass lights up with status indicators everywhere. A wireless voice will interrupt often with path instruction directing you to go some place. You can even send random voices to your teammates expressing frustration or congratulations. So much happens at once you cannot even keep up with it all.
  
  Killing enemies trivially is not part of this game. This one allows you to play cooperatively in support of the team's objectives. There are plenty of gun power and high-tech vehicles available. Depending on your circumstances, some more preferred than others.
  
  A+ for creative multi-player fun, C+ for PC compatibility.
  
  
• Unplayable without Internet connection
  By ALQAWMVNXO5FQ on 2008-02-03
  If you don't allow Unreal3 access to the internet it won't let you setup a profile to play the game offline. This dooms you to having to start the single player campaign over again from the very beginning every time you restart the game, plus all settings are reset back to the defaults. Not much fun. It seems getting an email address and IP number from the users was so important that EPIC decided anyone that didn't give that to them couldn't have a fully functional version of the game, never mind that you paid good money for the thing.
  
  
• even Epic is embarassed
  By A9YSILST8SCH3 on 2008-03-01
  This game is horrible, especially for PC. They've even said they are going to concentrate on console gaming since the PC gaming world is in disarray. This was their excuse for putting out an unfinished product. Don't expect any Linux Server that works cause you won't find it. The graphics look like the artists ate a whole bunch of red and brown food and barfed on the monitor. Truly a disappointment after all the waiting, will stick with UT2004 which is now like $9.99? and still a MASTERPIECE.
  I guess if it ain't broke don't fix it and it REALLY applies in this case.
  I wasted my money, want my copy??
  
  
  
  
• Warning do not buy this game!!
  By A1EIZQDZE7SL16 on 2008-03-08
  If you have a router and plan on running your own server so you and your friends can go head to head like the old 99 Ut , think agian. Even if you know how to port forward, epic programed the game to throw its hands up in the air and say, oh no Nat on a router who would ever do such a thing. Disabling it doesnt work, countless hours google-ing. Nothing , absolute trash. I am thinking of demanding my money back from best buy... Thanks epic, you really let the Ut fans down.
  $50.00 bucks less for me, and a $50 dollar rip off in your wallet.
  
  

• PC Gamer (1-year)

• Crysis
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
• The Orange Box
• BioShock
• Gears of War