Unreal Tournament III was originally released in the fall of last year
for the PC and PS3. Now, UT3 graces the Xbox 360 with its fast and
furious gameplay, but is it worth shelling out $60 dollars for? UT3 for
Xbox 360 comes with all the downloadable content available for the PS3
and PC versions of the game along with 2 new characters, 5 exclusive
maps, split-screen multiplayer and Online Co-Op via Xbox Live.
UT3 offers multiple modes and options to choose from when you first
boot up the game. You can go through UT3’s rather mediocre single
player mode, own or be owned in the Instant Action mode where you make
the rules and take on some bots or take the fight online in the
fantastic multiplayer mode. The single player mode is mediocre at best
and has a laughable story that is really there just to give you an
incentive to keep pushing forward. The single player is split up into
five main chapters and a tutorial. To be honest though, the entire
single player experience feels more like tutorial then an actual
campaign. Each chapter starts out with a cutscene and you choosing one
of multiple “missions” which are really just multiplayer matches
against bots. The single player is rather easy on the standard
difficulty settings, but if you are up to the challenge you can try to
complete the game on the harder difficulties. The enemy AI isn’t bad,
but it isn’t great either. Enemies will take cover, but always seem to
know exactly where you are. Your partner AI seems to be rather dumb at
times. In Capture the Flag for example: your partners will rarely get
the flag and even when they do you’ll often see them trying to kill the
other team instead of making a run for your own base. Even when they
aren’t they will rarely score a point. The single player altogether
felt like it was put there just for the sake of having a single player
mode, it’s nice, but was it really needed?
Unreal Tournament is a series known for its excellent multiplayer and
fast and furious gameplay. UT3 on the 360 is no different. The Xbox 360
version of UT3 includes a split-screen multiplayer mode that is a
fantastic addition to the game that works flawlessly and is great when
you have a couple of friends over and just want to maim and destroy
each other with Rocket Launchers in Morbias Arena. Getting into an
online match is simple. Select the multiplayer option in the menu and
either choose the “Quick Match” option or “find server”. You can change
your search settings to match what you are looking for. You can also
host your own matches with your own rules and settings. Once online,
depending on the match type, you basically just frag the other team as
much as many times as you can till you win. Boasting a ton of maps and
multiple game modes ranging from your traditional deathmatch to the new
Warfare mode, multiplayer is what really makes UT3 shine.
Unreal Tournament III, like its predecessors, has some very fun and
excellent gameplay. Not a whole lot has changed since the last game,
it’s still the same fast frag fest that you come to know and love.
Classic Unreal Tournament weapons make a return in UT3, from the Bio
Rifle to the Rocket Launcher. UT3 also has multiple vehicles that you
can utilize on the battlefield. Turning in vehicles is very similar to
that of Halo 3; you move your aiming reticule in the direction that you
want to go and use the left stick to move in the desired direction.
This can be a bit of a pain at times, but after some time you will get
used to it. Unlike many FPS’s on the market you do not need to reload,
you can carry more than 2 weapons and there are no grenades. Pick up a
gun, some ammo and unload. As you pick up ammo it is automatically
added to your gun so that it doesn’t slow down the overall pace of the
game. Controls are you what you would expect. Shooting is mapped to the
right trigger with the alternate fire on the left trigger, jumping to
A, and switching weapons is done by either pressing the right bumper to
move to the next weapon in your inventory or by holding the left bumper
which brings up a weapon wheel which you then select the weapon you
want to use via the left stick. UT3’s gameplay is fun for many reasons.
One: it’s fast, two: it’s got many weapons and maps, and most important
of all it’s fun as hell.
Unreal Tournament III runs on Epic’s excellent Unreal 3 engine. This
engine powers many games that boast amazing visuals such as Epic’s own
Gears of War and Unreal franchises, but also the masterpiece that is
BioShock. UT3 looks absolutely gorgeous...most of the time. There are
times where slowdown rears its ugly head, but this doesn’t really
affect the gameplay as it only appears for a very brief moment or two.
A lot of the texture work isn’t as great as it could be, but it’s
hardly noticeable unless you decide to stop and look at something for a
moment which will then be followed up by you getting blown up by a Flak
Cannon, not recommended. There isn’t a whole lot to say on the audio
side of things. The voice work is good, but cheesy and the music that
plays during matches is a bit repetitive, but hardly noticeable as
you’ll most likely only be focusing on not getting your head blown off
by some guy (or girl) running around with a sniper rifle. One thing
that the Xbox 360 version of UT3 doesn’t have that the PS3 and PC
versions do is user created mods. This is something that the UT series
is also known for and it is extremely disheartening that it didn’t make
it into the game.
Bottom Line: Unreal Tournament III is a great first-person shooter with
a fairly mediocre single player mode, but truly shines when you dive
into the robust multiplayer mode that the series is known for. The lack
of user mods is really disappointing (we can blame Microsoft for that
one), but despite that, Unreal Tournament III is a great game boasting
top notch visuals and gameplay and is something any FPS fan should look
into getting.
