Game Review: Unreal Tournament 2004
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Epic/Digital Extremes
Platform: PC Only
Genre: First Person Shooting
ESRB Rating: M
Pros:
Insane, addicting Unreal gameplay
Onslaught Mode
Return of Assault, Invasion, etc.
Gigantic game
The addition of vehicles
Cons:
Not enough new material
Minimal graphic improvement
Review:
I love this game.
I could stop right there and let you buy the game for yourselves to experience its greatness firsthand, but then you'd be staring at this blank page feeling like you hadn't gotten your money's worth (as if you paid me...although donations are accepted). However, because I feel I have a duty to the great people of FFR, I'll basically take the next 10 minutes out of your time by ranting and raving about just how much I love this game.
Let's get the easy stuff out of the way first- the technical aspect of it. The graphics- well, they're nice. Yeah, they can't measure up to heavier hitters like Far Cry or Painkiller, and they'll look like crap compared to Half Life 2 or Doom III, but for right now, they're not bad. Especially when you take into consideration the fast paced, insane, 32 player action.
[Screenshot]
Like I said, they're nice. Environments are huge and sprawling, very nicely rendered as well, by the way. Animations are fluid and convincing, weapons and their animations look real, and characters erupt in nice looking pools of gibs and blood when shot with a flak shell. The physics engine (all of this is running off the Unreal 2003 engine) is more or less unchanged since the last iteration, if not slightly improved. Bodies sprawl over poles, blasted gibs bounce realistically, and shrapnel flies in all directions from exploding vehicles.
Wait, what's that? Yes, you heard it from me- vehicles. If by some crazy chance you haven't yet heard, Unreal 2004 features 9 vehicles and 3 turrets, accessable at any point during the game.
[Screenshot]
The vehicles are, and I don't think I'm exaggerating, the best and most drastically noticable addition to any game...ever. The vehicles are deadly, they handle realistically, but best of all- you want to use them. I was skeptical when I heard about the idea of vehicles. "Oh no, they're gonna screw up my favorite shooter...again." Very rarely have I been so happy to be wrong. The vehicles are important- it completely changes the way you play the game. They're essential to use if you want to win- yet a person in a vehicle is not invincible, nor is he a neccessary player, because everybody has vehicles. Besides that, some added weapons help you combat them nicely, balancing out the playing field.
[Screenshot]
Besides the additions, Epic and DE have given us a LOT of game to love, in all meanings of the term. On one hand, it's a literal meaning- the game comes standard on 6 CDs (there is a special 2 DVD limited edition set) and will knock out a whopping 5.5 Gigs of Hard Drive space. And like 2003, you'll need a fairly high end PC to run it well, as well as a broadband connection. You can turn down all of the settings, but it'll look like crap- so just know that it's somewhat of a system hog, especially with a lot of bots.
Figuratively, this is a gigantic game. It comes standard with all play modes and maps from UT2003, and adds a bunch more- you'll have well over 100 maps immediately accessible to you as soon as you pop in the game. That number will rise quickly as soon as you realize the potential of the gigantic modding community- maps are easy (albeit tedious) to install, as long as you know your way around directories, and you'll be looking at a 200+ map list in no time.
Gameplay wise, this is king. Single player mode is similar to last year, but improved in a few aspects. You now get cash to hire and fire players on your 5 person team- the better the player, the more he's gonna ask for. Losing rounds requires you to heal your teammates, taking more money out of your pocket.
[Screenshot]
If you completely dominate an enemy team, they may challenge you, in which you have to face a 1 on 1 match with their best bot- or refuse and pay them some cash. You work your way up the ladder, fighting progressively harder and harder teams, until you become the ultimate champion.
But if you don't like the tedium of building and keeping track of your team and just want to duke it out, Instant Action is for you, my friend. You can pick your map, the bots, the weapons, and configure it how you like. Then you frag everyone and do it again. Invasion and Assault make welcome returns from the original Unreal, and 2004 retains all of the gameplay modes from the previous year.
Assault, for those who are new to it, involves you and a team of players trying to complete a set of objectives that recreate famous battles. It's a more strategic and structured form of fragging, and a nice change from plain 'ol deathmatching.
[Screenshot]
While the objectives tend to consist of "touch this, move here, destroy that," and are none too thought provoking, they do add a nice element of strategy, and the backstory is a welcome change as well- it makes it seem like the rocket you just shot into that guys' face is recreating a historical event.
But the real king here is completely new- that king, my friends, is called ONSLAUGHT. Onslaught is Unreal Tournament 2004- make sure to get it, it's what all the neighborhood kids are playing. The directions are simple. Each team has a Powercore. On every map there are a set of linked Powernodes which either side can capture.
[Screenshot]
The point of Onslaught is to capture as many nodes as neccessary to lead a 'connect the dots' pattern to the enemy powercore, then destroy it. This set of seemingly arbritrary tasks develops into the most insane, crazy and fun fragfest ever seen since Goldeneye 007. Onslaught is the reason you get this game.
The other reason you get this game is for online play. Duking it out solo is fun, but bots are either predictable or too hard, and always tend to do the same things. Nothing can really compare to picking off a headshot from a guy standing on the other side of the map. It just adds that unpredictable, and infinitely more fun, human element into the game. '04 supports full voice chat, which (thankfully) is easy to turn off- 13 year old mic rapers are no longer a bane of online play. The majority of the servers are high quality, and I haven't seen a problem with hacking yet. Online play is the same old awesome online play you remember, only better.
The downsides of this game are few and far between. Probably the most noticable of which would be the lack of new material. Yeah, Onslaught and the new and improved Assault more than make up for it, but UT2003 vets like me kind of feel like we're paying for a glorified expansion pack. Granted, it's an amazing, wonderfully fun expansion pack that doesn't present a single reason for me to ever go back to '03...but still, I have to complain about something, the game isn't perfect. Also, the lack of graphical improvements is a tad annoying- the Unreal 2003 engine is almost identical to the one we saw last year. Fortunately, we have word that Epic and DE are busy working on the next Unreal engine, so we wont have to deal with the somewhat dated graphics next year. Again, I'm just nitpicking- my review can't be all praise, people will think I'm working for Atari.
Geez. You have no idea how hard it was for me to sit here and write about the game while not actually playing it (I did break off a few times to go play a couple quick rounds of Onslaught). Affordably priced at $40, you have absolutely no excuse not to pick this up. I'm serious. It never leaves my CD tray, and I don't expect it to for the next few months. I could continue babbling about the greatness of the game, but you already know about that! So here's what I want you to do. As soon as you read the score below, close down your browser, run out to Best Buy, and pick up this game. I'm absolutely serious. It is a must have for any true computer gamer's collection.
Final Score:
95%
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Epic/Digital Extremes
Platform: PC Only
Genre: First Person Shooting
ESRB Rating: M
Pros:
Insane, addicting Unreal gameplay
Onslaught Mode
Return of Assault, Invasion, etc.
Gigantic game
The addition of vehicles
Cons:
Not enough new material
Minimal graphic improvement
Review:
I love this game.
I could stop right there and let you buy the game for yourselves to experience its greatness firsthand, but then you'd be staring at this blank page feeling like you hadn't gotten your money's worth (as if you paid me...although donations are accepted). However, because I feel I have a duty to the great people of FFR, I'll basically take the next 10 minutes out of your time by ranting and raving about just how much I love this game.
Let's get the easy stuff out of the way first- the technical aspect of it. The graphics- well, they're nice. Yeah, they can't measure up to heavier hitters like Far Cry or Painkiller, and they'll look like crap compared to Half Life 2 or Doom III, but for right now, they're not bad. Especially when you take into consideration the fast paced, insane, 32 player action.
[Screenshot]
Like I said, they're nice. Environments are huge and sprawling, very nicely rendered as well, by the way. Animations are fluid and convincing, weapons and their animations look real, and characters erupt in nice looking pools of gibs and blood when shot with a flak shell. The physics engine (all of this is running off the Unreal 2003 engine) is more or less unchanged since the last iteration, if not slightly improved. Bodies sprawl over poles, blasted gibs bounce realistically, and shrapnel flies in all directions from exploding vehicles.
Wait, what's that? Yes, you heard it from me- vehicles. If by some crazy chance you haven't yet heard, Unreal 2004 features 9 vehicles and 3 turrets, accessable at any point during the game.
[Screenshot]
The vehicles are, and I don't think I'm exaggerating, the best and most drastically noticable addition to any game...ever. The vehicles are deadly, they handle realistically, but best of all- you want to use them. I was skeptical when I heard about the idea of vehicles. "Oh no, they're gonna screw up my favorite shooter...again." Very rarely have I been so happy to be wrong. The vehicles are important- it completely changes the way you play the game. They're essential to use if you want to win- yet a person in a vehicle is not invincible, nor is he a neccessary player, because everybody has vehicles. Besides that, some added weapons help you combat them nicely, balancing out the playing field.
[Screenshot]
Besides the additions, Epic and DE have given us a LOT of game to love, in all meanings of the term. On one hand, it's a literal meaning- the game comes standard on 6 CDs (there is a special 2 DVD limited edition set) and will knock out a whopping 5.5 Gigs of Hard Drive space. And like 2003, you'll need a fairly high end PC to run it well, as well as a broadband connection. You can turn down all of the settings, but it'll look like crap- so just know that it's somewhat of a system hog, especially with a lot of bots.
Figuratively, this is a gigantic game. It comes standard with all play modes and maps from UT2003, and adds a bunch more- you'll have well over 100 maps immediately accessible to you as soon as you pop in the game. That number will rise quickly as soon as you realize the potential of the gigantic modding community- maps are easy (albeit tedious) to install, as long as you know your way around directories, and you'll be looking at a 200+ map list in no time.
Gameplay wise, this is king. Single player mode is similar to last year, but improved in a few aspects. You now get cash to hire and fire players on your 5 person team- the better the player, the more he's gonna ask for. Losing rounds requires you to heal your teammates, taking more money out of your pocket.
[Screenshot]
If you completely dominate an enemy team, they may challenge you, in which you have to face a 1 on 1 match with their best bot- or refuse and pay them some cash. You work your way up the ladder, fighting progressively harder and harder teams, until you become the ultimate champion.
But if you don't like the tedium of building and keeping track of your team and just want to duke it out, Instant Action is for you, my friend. You can pick your map, the bots, the weapons, and configure it how you like. Then you frag everyone and do it again. Invasion and Assault make welcome returns from the original Unreal, and 2004 retains all of the gameplay modes from the previous year.
Assault, for those who are new to it, involves you and a team of players trying to complete a set of objectives that recreate famous battles. It's a more strategic and structured form of fragging, and a nice change from plain 'ol deathmatching.
[Screenshot]
While the objectives tend to consist of "touch this, move here, destroy that," and are none too thought provoking, they do add a nice element of strategy, and the backstory is a welcome change as well- it makes it seem like the rocket you just shot into that guys' face is recreating a historical event.
But the real king here is completely new- that king, my friends, is called ONSLAUGHT. Onslaught is Unreal Tournament 2004- make sure to get it, it's what all the neighborhood kids are playing. The directions are simple. Each team has a Powercore. On every map there are a set of linked Powernodes which either side can capture.
[Screenshot]
The point of Onslaught is to capture as many nodes as neccessary to lead a 'connect the dots' pattern to the enemy powercore, then destroy it. This set of seemingly arbritrary tasks develops into the most insane, crazy and fun fragfest ever seen since Goldeneye 007. Onslaught is the reason you get this game.
The other reason you get this game is for online play. Duking it out solo is fun, but bots are either predictable or too hard, and always tend to do the same things. Nothing can really compare to picking off a headshot from a guy standing on the other side of the map. It just adds that unpredictable, and infinitely more fun, human element into the game. '04 supports full voice chat, which (thankfully) is easy to turn off- 13 year old mic rapers are no longer a bane of online play. The majority of the servers are high quality, and I haven't seen a problem with hacking yet. Online play is the same old awesome online play you remember, only better.
The downsides of this game are few and far between. Probably the most noticable of which would be the lack of new material. Yeah, Onslaught and the new and improved Assault more than make up for it, but UT2003 vets like me kind of feel like we're paying for a glorified expansion pack. Granted, it's an amazing, wonderfully fun expansion pack that doesn't present a single reason for me to ever go back to '03...but still, I have to complain about something, the game isn't perfect. Also, the lack of graphical improvements is a tad annoying- the Unreal 2003 engine is almost identical to the one we saw last year. Fortunately, we have word that Epic and DE are busy working on the next Unreal engine, so we wont have to deal with the somewhat dated graphics next year. Again, I'm just nitpicking- my review can't be all praise, people will think I'm working for Atari.
Geez. You have no idea how hard it was for me to sit here and write about the game while not actually playing it (I did break off a few times to go play a couple quick rounds of Onslaught). Affordably priced at $40, you have absolutely no excuse not to pick this up. I'm serious. It never leaves my CD tray, and I don't expect it to for the next few months. I could continue babbling about the greatness of the game, but you already know about that! So here's what I want you to do. As soon as you read the score below, close down your browser, run out to Best Buy, and pick up this game. I'm absolutely serious. It is a must have for any true computer gamer's collection.
Final Score:
95%
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