Unreal Tournament

"The reason my last relationship ended is right here"

First off, I just have to say this game is amazing. While Unreal Tournament didn't end my last relationship, it would have been cooler if it had.

Now I know that there are plenty of exhaustive reviews on here (see the featured review for a very well written one), so I'll keep mine rather brief.

Let us now venture off to the land of graphics. . .Now that we're here, how do you like it? It's beautiful here, no? Don't lie now. Unreal Tournament has some of the best graphics to grace a PC game as of its release. Each and every character model is rendered in surprising detail, as is every weapon. Coming back today and playing this game, it's still on par with some of the work of our more lazy developers. And hey, if you have even a slightly new machine, this game will play like greased lightning.

Two steps, a hop, and a skip later and you're in gameplay. This is where Unreal Tournament gets the "unreal" part of its name. UT hits the nail on the head with its gameplay. Everything feels tight and polished. The weapon switching is efficient using either the mouse wheel or the number row and doesn't feel weighted down. The movement feels to be just as fluid, which is good because when you see some of the AI's moves, you'll understand why it should feel that way. I also know from experience that you will sometimes find games where the aiming doesn't feel very fluid and precise. That's not the case with Unreal Tournament. And hey, if you have even a slightly new machine, this game will play like greased lightning.

Tagging along with Gameplay and Graphics would be Sound. Unreal Tournament doesn't skip a beat here, either. The sound is great. All of the guns have a unique sound that you can pick out even when it's someone across the level firing. This is also one of the rare games where it is hard NOT to notice the background music, and in this case, that's not a bad thing at all. The music that has been selected/composed for this game fits like a glove. (Which doesn't make sense since gloves can just not fit if they're the wrong size.)I think I'll rephrase and say that the sound fists like your own skin. And hey, if you have even a slightly new machine, this game will play...er, sound like greased lightning. (I'm noticing a trend here...)

Those three main points aside, what about the story? Well I'm glad I asked...wait, no I'm not, because now I have to explain that there really isn't one. Oh, sure, there is, but it'll make you laugh. . . and not because it's funny. If you've ever read a book in your life, even a textbook, you'll realize the story could be better played. Given, this is Unreal Tournament, but the story is still rather sad. It's essentially the same no matter who you're playing with variation in the "lacking zone". But who really cares when all you're here for is GREAT gameplay and maybe a few giblets along the way. (Turn that gore setting ALL the way up! [which really isn't that bad])

As for the replay value of this game, I've had this game for years, and I'm still playing it. Even if you decide to quit playing tournaments in this game (which may take a while, for they're rather fun), you still have the practice matches which allow for a lot of fun. You can change settings all over the place. Mods can be set which add all sorts of different effects from team beacons to power ups. The translocator (teleporter) can be turned on or off, and you can even mess with the team settings. You can put a max of four teams up into team deathmatch, then tell the game not to balance them and set the bot count to 15 or so. Then you can see how things pan out. There's a ton of variety here.

And before I let you go get this game if you don't already have it (it is definately worth it, especially since it would be something near $20 now), I have to say that the AI is amazing. You'll stand and wonder how it can be so stupid on the lower difficulties, but your thoughts on the AI stupidity will quickly fade when you decide to play the AI on godlike. Remember what I said about how they move? It's like they're dodging your bullets Matrix-style and with acrobatic genius, both at once, even. It's just sick!

Graphics: 10
Gameplay: 10
Sound: 9
Replay: 10.97 (just because I can)
Story: 7 (But who bought this game for it's moving story?)
Challenge: 10
Cool Factor: x10

There is also a large support (or at least, was, but it's still just sitting here on the 'net) for extra content. You'll find player-made maps all over the place. Some are good, some aren't. But all-in-all, find the giant hamster cage map, because it's the most amusing. (Hamster Dance is the name if I'm not mistaken)

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/10/07