I guess calling it Unreal War would have been confusing

by Eric Silva

Fun factor: Fun

Worth to: Buy/Rent

You can add a war plot into the mix and give flags a fancy name, but in the end it’s still a "tourney", which somewhat spoils this fourth, err... third installment of the franchise

Few developers are as consistent in releasing their flagship title as Epic is with Unreal Tournament. In what is looking more like biennial event, Unreal Tournament 3 is out but this time without the year annotation in the name. At its core, for better or worst, UT3 remains the same old tournament game we have gotten to know since Epic released Unreal: Tournament in 1999 and gave Quake III Arena a run for its money. Some aspects have been improved, some have been omitted and some will leave fans scratching their heads, but in general this Unreal Tournament is a solid game. Not great, but definitely solid.

Overall Unreal Tournament 3 is a step in the right direction, though given the fact UT has been around for almost a decade, one has to ask why is this franchise still trying to find a direction? The core of the game is the gameplay – always has been, always will be – but attached to this core are numerous things that are hit-and-miss. So let’s begin...

STORY – WHAT STORY?

This rendition of the franchise attempts to break away from the “game show” theme by adding a war plot into the mix. Beautiful cinematics are interspersed between chapters telling the story of a group of mercenaries called the “Ronin” entangled in a war against the Necris lead by the evil, but oh-so-beautiful, inquisitor Akasha. The opening scene shows the Ronin being overrun by the Necris. Reaper, the main character (your character), is gravely injured. You recover from your wounds with one thing on your mind: revenge. To accomplish this, your team joins Malcolm - veteran Unreal Tournament player turned officer - in his quest to defeat the big, bad Necris.

Right there things get a little fudged. You see, this Unreal Tournament isn’t about a “tournament”; it’s about a war that happens to have elements of a tournament. When your character recovers, your sister, Jester, tells you Liandry respawners have been added to battlefields. Now armies are respawning until specific goals are accomplished. You are accompanied by your sister and loyal friends (the composed and effective Othello and the comically religious but deadly accurate Bishop).

Warning! I will now spoil the whole story: Battles rage in Asian strongholds, factories, spaceships and Necris cities until you have your revenge.

The bulk of this insubstantial plot is narrated while waiting for maps to load. Before starting a match your character explains where the battle takes place and how it relates to the war against the Necris. The narration is professional and maps are more accurately tied into the theme of what is going than in previous UT games. When you chase Akasha to the Necris capital, the map actually looks like a Necris capital. When you are sent to take out renegade robots in a Liandry robot factory, the map actually convinces you the bots went berserk. Matches even include comments from your teammates specific to each level - a nice touch.

Unfortunately, even though the story tries to convince us this isn’t a tournament, it still feels like a tournament. This wouldn’t have been a weak point had the narrator (Reaper) not tried to build things up so much before each match. Reaper explains how the battle is important to the outcome of the war, how it will decide the fate of humanity, only for you to end up running around with a blue flag strapped to your back. It kind of spoils the war theme.

Every so often the campaign mode gives you a choice between two levels while you advance in the story. All this is done in a rather confusing and lackluster selection screen and further disassociates players from the story. Optional maps give you cards that can be used before a match. A card can give you various extras while playing, from bonus health to more teammates. This is done quite nicely and proves useful, but the overall story-to-gameplay production lacks direction and gives the impression UT3 was rushed, or at worst, doesn’t know what to make of itself. Simply put, the plot is filler for what really matters: gameplay.

GAMEPLAY AS GOOD AS ALWAYS

As you would expect from any UT game, action is precise, brutal and balanced. Speed has been toned down a bit. You will still have instances of complete mayhem (War anyone?), but the game isn’t the bunny-hopping-fest it was in the past. Characters also don’t jump as high or as far and overall movement feels a lot crisper – an improvement. Some purists will even attest that this version resembles the original UT more than the last one.

The same weapons are back with a new look. Is it just me or is Epic on a mission NOT to remove the damn Bio-Gun? Seriously guys, get rid of that thing... I have found myself switching to the default pistol whenever I stumble onto that lame goop-hose. It’s weak, it’s slow and I don’t care how pretty it is. It sucks! Come on Epic, some new weapons, please! Or at least bring back the razor gun!

Adrenaline is gone, as are the effects associated with it. Invisibility, speed, berserk, booster, yup, all gone... This part left me scratching my head. When Epic introduced adrenaline I actually found the idea cool. When UT3 was announced I thought Epic would improve on the concept or change it up. That’s not the case. No more boosters whatsoever except for a few power up pickups in some single player maps, like the Invulnerability Shield used by the end-boss. Classic Jump Boots, Keg O’ Health and UDamage are back but why remove stuff that was already implemented and accepted by the general fan base? The least they could have done is integrate some boost features to combos and winning streaks.

All that aside, gameplay is excellent, especially in the new gametypes. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Last Man Standing are back. Gone are Invasion (you know, the gametype nobody played in UT 2004), Domination and Bombing Run. New are Vehicle Capture the Flag *drools* (more on that later), and War, which is a simplified version of the Onslaught and Assault gametypes. I can understand getting rid of Invasion and Domination (there are elements of Domination in the War gametype), but why scrap Bombing Run? I’ll tell you why, it didn’t fit into this whole “war” plot.

For the sake of brevity, recurrent gametypes are exactly as they were in the past. Deathmatch pits everybody against each other and Team Deathmatch splits the chaos into two teams. Note to Epic: there are numbers higher than two (at least give us the option to have more than 2 teams per match). Last Man Standing gives players a set number of lives; once you lose them all you’re out of the match. Capture the Flag is still as good as ever. The Translocator returns to add more depth. Now onto the meat...

Vehicle Capture the Flag

Vehicle CTF reminds me of the days when my friends and I would rent a game for the old SNES, then after playing for a few hours we would brainstorm ways we could have improved it. So in that spirit, imagine taking an almost-perfect Capture the Flag game mode and adding vehicles to it, loads and loads of vehicles… and hoverboards, and the ability to grapple onto vehicles using some sort of energy beam while on the hoverboard… whilst carrying a flag. Now imagine running with the enemy flag, bullets and lasers whizzing by. A teammate makes a low pass over your head in a flying vehicle. You instinctively grapple onto the jet right before he or she pulls up, taking you to the air as rockets whistle under your board, leaving your enemies cursing and shaking their fists.

Don’t imagine it. It’s in the game. Now add unlockable super-vehicles during matches, anti-tank weapons, the ability to repair your rides and you have UT3’s centerpiece gametype.

With two completely different classes of vehicles (Necris and Human) things are surprisingly very well balanced. It is clear Epic put all their eggs into this basket. Refinement oozes the minute you load into a Vehicle CTF level. Vehicles handle amazingly well, regardless of which one you are driving (or hovering or flying or crawling). Yes, some can have passengers - multiple passengers even. Vehicle CTF is by far the best gametype in Unreal Tournament 3.

War

This one is a mixed bag. It expands on UT2004’s Onslaught gametype where battles revolve around Cores that can only be destroyed once Nodes from your base connect with the enemy base. In UT3, optional Mine Nodes can unlock added firepower in the form of super-vehicles, mountable sentry guns and other goodies. Mine Nodes are often the most enjoyable part of this game mode. Sadly, War tries to carry the single player mode and fails in the context of things. Each map begs the issue explaining why nodes and cores are so important. In the end, War looks and feels more like something out of American Gladiators than a real battle. The gametype is also the hardest of the bunch. Players will find themselves more stressed out than having fun, with matches often going into overtime. Had Epic focused War entirely on Mine Nodes needed to destroy the Core, and done away with “connecting the dots”, this gametype would have been quite enjoyable.

GRAPHICS AND ALL THAT JAZZ

No, Unreal Tournament 3 does not have Jazz music, but it doesn’t have any tunes that will leave you humming either. Music and sound effects unremarkably get the job done. It’s there; you just don’t notice it. I would have preferred if vehicle firing sounds - especially the tanks - would have carried more “punch”. It’s all so timid.

Graphics, on the other hand, bring everything into perspective (or rather they don’t). Let’s not kid ourselves: UT3 is Epic’s showpiece of Unreal Engine 3’s prowess. Characters are photo-realistic and textures are insanely detailed and vibrant – too vibrant. As much as I hate saying this (because more is always better, right?), I have found myself being overwhelmed by the amount of details in the characters and many of the maps. Textures and models will likely cause players to dissolve in the background amidst the action. This is a game about reflexes and perception, so too much stuff on screen can be a distraction.

UT3 also comes with Unreal Editor 3, giving us regular folk the tools to make our own levels. Some changes to the editor may not please the mapping community. Maps now heavily rely on static meshes. This forces mappers to use a different approach to making levels. Textures aren’t as easy to customize as in the past and a new Kismet tool completely revamps the way movers and actors function. The confusing map folder structure is also a downer.

To summaries

Unreal Tournament 3 is a good game. A small base of fans might have trouble adapting to the slower pace, some elements will be missed, and the whole “war” plot ended up being more of a burden than an asset, but Vehicle Capture the Flag makes up for the letdowns. Gameplay is still solid but it doesn’t mesh well with the plot. Unreal fans understand that UT games are designed with the intention of selling licenses, not game copies, but the story-to-gameplay transition could have been given more energy. Epic ought to take a page out of Halo’s book, or even Call of Duty, on how to create a war story while still giving players online tournament game modes. More can still be done. Let’s just hope Epic doesn’t release UT3: 2009 in the next few months…