Enter the Tournament
When it comes to the success or failure of a FPS, timing is just as essential as the gameplay. In 1999 when Unreal Tournament was released, it came at the most opportune time. The original Quake was fizzling out, and Half Life was all but modless. PC FPS gamers were thirsty for something new. Infogrames wisely took the most successful elements of Quake (Capture the Flag/online play) and incorporated it into a smooth engine with slick graphics. The end result rewarded the gaming community with the industry setting multiplayer FPS.
While I always leaned toward ID products, Unreal Tournament quickly shot up the ranks to become one of my favorite PC games. Five years later, the PC gaming scene is all but stagnant. Sure there are reminisces of scattered FPS littering the net, but none truly have the market. Infogrames wisely planned this release, and for enthusiast of the original, expect more of the same... and that's a good thing.
Demo-liscous
After playing the demo for the last few weeks, I have mixed reactions as would any gamer playing a demo. My initial first reaction was one of PC wrenching disgust. For my lowly "test machine" was a mere 933 MHz, 256 MB of RAM and a wimpy 16 MB GeForce2 card. The game quickly dropped to single digits as far as frame rate, and I was forced to migrate the game to my garaged Porsche (dual p4 1.8 GHz, 1.5 GB RAM, 128 MB GeForce4). Once UT2K3 was installed on my hidden beast, I let the aesthetics pour in. The game is drop dead gorgeous.
Once the choppy intro chimed in and I was into the gameplay (skipping past a myriad of game options) I felt as though an old friend revisited me. Unreal Tournament of 1999? Not even close. The game initially reminded me of Bungie's masterpiece, HALO, for the XBOX. And as a die-hard PC gamer, not even the muscle of Big Green could compete with the polygon count on UT2K3. The draw distance was phenomenal, and the environments simply panned forever.
I also noticed subtle hints of the underrated Serious Sam series of games. Things like grass movement the blowing of dust really crank up the need for a high powered system, yet in the long run really makes the game a rewarding experience. I'm excited about the final product, for other things like dynamic water effects weren't fully completed. Shooting in the water lacked the realism of other games, as well as wading/jumping/etc...
Remember the first time you installed GL Quake and you panned up and looked at the rolling sky? Well, the same feeling is back and I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. Again, the anticipation I have to see the final product is simply not right for a grown man rounding 30 (I still have two years so shut the frell up). Other mentionables include, well portrayed lighting effects, dynamic backfire/ammo discharge and sometimes hilarious frags. Entertaining is an understatement.
As far as the gameplay is concerned, the overall physics are still the best in the industry. If you have grown up with FPS, you already have your set "keyboard" set and it fits the mold flawlessly. On a side note, in the Beta you have to edit the config file to change keyboard mappings for the GUI doesn't work properly... I do admit, however, that the overall feel of the control is a bit heavier than in the original, but it's not a total negative. Physics play a huge role in the game, and effect performance equally. You have to give kudos to any developer when they know when the have a good thing going. Little as far as gameplay is concerned has changed. Sure there are like 30 maps and 10 world, and sure there are scores of new characters to choose from and who cares if they added a handful of new weapons. The bottom line is that "if it ain't broken don't fix it.". Success for the new game is imminent, simply because of that theory alone.
Rugby on crack
If you have been playing UT for any amount of time (the original), then you know that the most important aspect of the game is not centered around the weapons, but the gameplay and fun-factor. Actually, many new "mods" still being played use only one weapon. Anyway, the new weapons in the game are well developed, except for the quirky "shield gun" that is self explanatory as it's a shield... and a gun..
When UT was released in '99 it took the successful online modes of play from Quake (deathmatch and CTF), and added a few novel ideas that made UT a huge success. My personal favorite was Assault, where one team had to defend a post while the other attacked. Another favorite was the Domination mode, and you had to occupy certain areas and then acquire points for how long they stay under control by your team. Now I rarely play a demo or Beta and claim grandeur and miracles, but what is really going to make this a cult-like addiction is the addition of the "Bombing Run". The Bombing Run is like a high powered game of rugby. A bomb is placed in the middle of a level and the two teams try to place the bomb in the opponents’ base. Simply concept, yet incredibly addictive. I'm sure this is going to be a fan favorite.
Playing UT2K3, you will also notice a higher sense of "teamwork" than other FPS. In single player, you choose a captain and your teammates. And taking the FPS genre a step higher, Infogrames incorporated slight influences from other genres. For example, each race of character has different traits as well as "combos". Also, individual characters have special moves they can pull off which makes for a nice touch... kind of like the "finishing move" off of Mortal Kombat. But, I would assume that these moves will be more of a strategic move rather than a flashy dance as it is for me.
Other small changes include the teleport, which is much more user friendly for getting you out of a jam fast. The same goes for huge melee weapons like the flak gun and the rocket launcher; which have been dumbed down to avoid clumsy noob's that run around like a toddler sucking down Coke and Pop Rocks. On a side note, player deaths are super groovy. After literally hundreds of frags the animations were rarely duplicated. Baddies would die in just about any manner you can imagine, and exploding guts just never looked so good... or felt so satisfying...
In the Beta version I played, audio was probably the weakest link in this strong chain. Again, I realize it's a Beta and sound is the last thing they are concerned with and justly so. Most of the sound effects were UT makeovers with new clothes. The most noticeable difference is the weapon sound, which is remarkably better.
66 Says:
If Infogrames can iron out the HUGE problems as far as performance, this will easily win the "Game of the Year" award without even anyone blinking. But, as of now the performance plays a crucial role in the success of the game. Most people aren't willing to spend 50 clams on a game, and then have to buy a $200 video card just to play the game (hey, I've done it before...).
Let's just assume that the performance will be corrected, expect servers to be literally flooded with online gamers and the network to feel like Battle.net on a 14.4 modem. Here's hoping to a heavily piped network on their end. Other than getting the game to run smoothly, Infogrames has already established the game as a success and before it even hits the shelves they will be rewarded with a Game of the Year in Unreal Tournament 2003... well, at least in my frag filled eyes.
