Unreal Tournament III

Review by IRaptor IKraine

UT is the daddy of FPS so can this game top what the series is renowned for?

Beginning

Unreal Tournament finally comes to the Xbox 360. I previously owned the game for PS3 and it was superb however PSN hates me and thus made the online unbearable. So I sold up and waited for the 360 version. The differences between the two are hardly noticeable. The game seems a lot quicker on the PS3 compared to 360 but that is about it, luckily the lag was fixed for me though so thumbs up on that part.

Story

The game offers a single player campaign and obviously multiplayer. The campaign can be done on your own with 3 other friends, or randoms. For a campaign it doesn't offer a lot in terms of story but there are elements there. The missions are against bots and are simply the same games you'll play in instant action or multiplayer. Tokens are awarded throughout the campaign and are very useful on the more tricky stages, and insane difficulty level.

Multiplayer

So the core of UT is multiplayer, I have ventured into this little as I love to muller bots. The game, as I said above, is lag free and spans across many different gametypes. The classics are there like CTF, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Vehicle CTF. Dual gametype also makes an appearance alongside Warfare(Conquest). These gametypes offer different types of play which keep the majority interested. I would've liked to have seen an Assault gameplay type, similar to that in UT2K4. With the Xbox 360 comes 5 new exclusive maps, 2 game models and split-screen mode. The game also comes with all previously released DLC.

The Bad

Unreal Tournament is also know for its extensive modifications however, due to some dispute, mods have not made it into the 360 version. This is a huge let down to the game however highly appreciated mods on other platforms have been said to be included for 360 as DLC.

Controls

The game mechanics are similar to the previous titles; there are 9 weapons and an array of different vehicles ranging from tanks, to planes to War of the World like tripods. Each vehicle handles differently but they all handle well with hardly any niggles. The on foot controls work well too. There are two different methods of switching through weapons; a circle system, similar to Mass Effect's weapon / biotics selection. Alongside this there is a standard scroll system however the player can only scroll through one direction, not a huge problem as clicking in LS will select the most powerful weapon which is what is mainly used anyway.

Graphics

The graphics in this game are simply superb offering one of the best visual treats on the Xbox 360 to date. The game uses the Unreal 3 engine, you'd never have thought, and it has improved a lot from Gears of War. The lighting, models and environments look superb and this may sound strange but the muzzle fire in this game is top notch.

Conclusion

All in all the game offers a solid shooter, the campaign can last a good while but players won't really wont to play through again, unless they wish to clean up some of the achievements. The multiplayer is strong and will consume a good few hours of peoples time, Its one of these games that you can pick up and play for 10 -20 minutes and lay it down for a while. The huge let down was the removal of modifications, these would've extended the life a little longer than it currently is. A worth purchase at maybe £30, you'll have fun for a while but it starts to get stale.