Well, I guess it is time for me to review Unreal Tournament 3. I got the game the day after it came out, and have been playing it quite a bit since. And by quite a bit, I mean I will sit down, and then look at the clock and notice that six to eight hours flew by. So yeah, I guess you can say that I have thoroughly enjoyed the game by now.

Now, it would help to know where I stand before you read any further. My first Unreal Tournament game was UT2004, and I have never played any of the ones before that. So, I’m not one of those UT99 veterans who keep complaining about all of this newfangled nonsense, but I’m also not a hardcore ’04 junkie who thinks that everything in that game was perfect.

Okay, now on to the review… I need to start somewhere, so I’ll just pick vehicles. You can easily say that the biggest change to the vehicles is the addition of the necris set of vehicles. There is a necris version of almost every axon, or traditional, vehicle, but they are all slightly different. While a few minor changes have been made to the axon vehicles, they remain mostly the same as UT2004. In Vehicle Capture the Flag and Warfare modes, the translocator is replaced by the new Hoverboard, which allows you to traverse larger distances quickly. While you can’t fire weapons while riding your hoverboard, you are able to link on to allied vehicles and be towed behind them.

So, how do the vehicles affect the game and balance? The new necris vehicles are very fun to ride around in, especially the spherical Scavenger. While at first it seems like the necris vehicles are way overpowered, their relatively awkward maneuverability and almost complete lack of secondary fire modes make them a decent match for their axon counterparts. Overall, the new vehicles add an interesting bit of variety and strategy to larger battles, often turning the tide of a close match. Hoverboards do add a unique aspect to Capture The Flag games… you can carry the flag on your hoverboard, but if you get knocked off of it, the flag goes flying. There are a few neat tricks you can do with the hoverboard, which make it a more enjoyable way to traverse some of the game’s larger maps. Not to mention, the idea of riding around behind a tank on a hoverboard is just plain cool.

Ah… the maps. From what I have heard from other players, it seems you either love them or hate them in UT3. There are quite a few less maps than there were in UT2004, and some people complain that half of the new maps aren’t decent at all. There are a few remakes of old maps, such as the ever-popular Deck and Torlan, but the majority of maps seem to be split between three distinct stiles: gothic underground necris cathedrals, high-tech rusty urban areas, and glowing elegant oriental palaces and markets. I do agree that there is a slight lack of variety, especially compared to UT2004, but there are some very interesting and unique maps here if you can find them. Personal favorites of mine are Floodgate, Downtown, Sandstorm, Suspense, and Gateway.

Okay, one of the big things that was hyped about this game was the full-fledged single player campaign. Well, I played through this, and have to say that I was mildly disappointed. I mean, it is fun and all, but it is basically a series of Instant Action matches with briefings, a few cut scenes, and random chatter from your teammates, all held together by a mildly interesting but admittedly stretched storyline. While it does provide a good break from the intense multiplayer action, it seems like this was the most rushed aspect of the game. There are a few times where you get to pick between a couple of missions, often of different types, but the most interesting aspect of it is the cards. Every now and then you will receive a card that you can play when picking a mission… the cards have different effects, such as adding temporary members to your team, increasing the armor of all your vehicles, or turning the match into an instagib frag-fest. While the strategic effects of these cards are relatively little, they add a bit of variety to an otherwise-bland campaign.

The absolutely biggest problem with this game is the user-interface. There are hardly any options and settings compared to UT2004, and customization of bots and players is almost nonexistent. You can tell that this game was meant for consoles such as the Xbox 360 (yuck) and the PS3 (mildly yuck). The lack of an ability to add favorite servers, view who is on a server, join in spectator mode, and keep your filter settings make the server browser much worse than the one in UT2004. Apparently there is a patch on the way that will fix some of these issues, so we can hope that PC users will eventually receive the features they deserve.

On a more positive note, the graphics in this game are absolutely amazing. In our test lab, we were able to run it on highest graphics settings, and it looked positively beautiful. We ran a side-by-side test with UT2004, and you can easily see how much better the graphics have become. While some people complain that the graphics look too gray and washed out do to an overuse of bloom and post-processing, I think the game is stunning. While not as vibrantly multi-colored as UT2004, there actually is a decent amount of color in this game, especially on some of the outside maps. However, a certain VG cats comic comes to mind…

Absent in this game are the Onslaught, Assault, Bombing Run, Mutant, and Invasion modes. While this may sound horrifying, the addition of the Warfare mode almost completely makes up for the missing modes. Warfare mode, which is basically Onslaught, Assault, and Bombing Run stuck together, is by far my favorite mode, and tons of fun to play. The orbs add some strategy to node capturing, often turning the tide in battle as one team rushes forward, capturing their enemy’s prime node after a long stalemate. The support nodes, which offer random extras ranging from bridges to turrets to leviathans, keep the gameplay fresh and interesting.

The weapons in this game aren't that much different from UT2004. The only major changes are the removal of the Mine Layer, Grenade Launcher, and Target/Ion Painter. In addition, the Lightning Gun has been fully replaced by the Sniper Rifle, and the Shield Gun and Assault rifle have been replaced by the Impact Hammer and the Enforcer. There have been other minor balancing changes to the other weapons, but there is largely a lack of change in the weapons. I do have to say that the Impact Hammer is quite possibly the best weapon ever, and that it has replaced the Flak Cannon as my all-around favorite weapon.

Overall, the seemingly minuscule array of weapons, while at first frustrating compared to the grab-bag that was UT2004, actually help the game maintain a nice sense of focus and balance. While still remaining unreal, the UT3 is much more realistic than its predecessor with more believable physics and highly detailed graphics. The new Warfare mode provides intense and exciting multiplayer action, and the Necris vehicles add an exciting twist. The main weaknesses of the game are its User Interface, and to a lesser extent, the lack of maps, but these can easily be fixed by patches and the modding community. While I still plan to play UT2004 every now and then, UT3 is my current favorite game, and I expect there to be many more late-night Warfare stand-offs here at the RabidCentipede headquarters.

If you were too lazy to read my ramblings, here is a one-sentence summary: This game is amazing and very fun, aside from some small interface annoyances. Get it.