First Impressions: Unreal Tournament 3 demo

I've been a fan of the Unreal Tournament games ever since the first game that came out in '99 or something. Before that one, I hardly never played first-person shooters. A friend introduced the game to me and some friends. I hadn't heard of the game before that, so I was delightfully shocked to notice I liked the weapons and music, and later on even the maps of the game. Soon we started playing it at evenings, later on in clans. The interest faded a bit over time and Unreal Tournament 2003 didn't really revive the old classic. I did keep on playing the games though. But my history with the games aside, I've played the demo of the latest installment, Unreal Tournament 3, and have some opinions to share.

Back to the roots
UT2003 and UT2004 started taking the game away from its original style, and everything became a bit more mainstream. However, UT3 seems to be taking a tiny step backwards with some things.

The weapons seem more precise again, and while they feel slower, they also seem to be more deadly. The Enforcer pistol from the original UT also makes a comeback, though the secondary fire now shoots bursts of three shots, rather than being less accurate but faster firing mode. Rocket Launcher seems to pack a bunch again, though still fires only maximum of three rockets or grenades. Lightning gun seems to also be gone, with sniper rifle replacing it, like it was back in '99. Power-ups on maps are pretty much the same as before.

Movement is also slightly more restricted, although noticeably faster than before. You can no longer do a dodge plus jump for instance, though double jump, dodge and dodge from a wall is still possible. All in all though, it's still much closer to '03 and '04, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Game modes
As usual to the series, there's going to be a new game mode in the retail version, called Warfare, which is a combination of the Assault and Onslaught modes. Unfortunately, the demo doesn't show this mode in action, so I can't comment on it yet.

Assault mode will be gone. It never seemed to be a popular mode, even though it's much fun for a casual gamer. Onslaught will be there, along with Deathmatching and Capture the Flag, which by the way now comes with vehicles too. The same ones as in Onslaught mode. The demo features one map for this Vehicle CTF mode. The map is rather small, a suspension bridge crossing a river, so not all units have much use, such as the Hellfire artillery, which rarely can shoot in the places you'd need it to be able to shoot at. New in this mode is also the hoverboard, which seems to replace the translocator device from previous games. It's basically a floating board that you can move around with, with almost twice the normal speed. It's also the fastest way of carrying a flag alone. You can't shoot while being on the board though, and if you get hit while using it, you fall down, unable to perform actions for about 2-3 seconds. You can use it to grab onto friendly vehicles though, for even faster transportation.

Deathmatch seems pretty standard fare, though the maps also seem more open now. One of the maps in the demo also sports a bonus vehicle from the Warfare mode, a walking tripod, definitely inspired by War of the Worlds. If you get to ride this thing, it's got some neat powerful guns. Takes a good beating to destroy too, but definitely not too much to be overly powerful.

The things you see and hear
Graphics have been updated again. I personally like the change, though it could go to the direction of original UT even more. Aside from maybe a wee bit too much rounded items and general details, I'd say it looks really good, and runs very nicely even on a computer that doesn't have quite the latest hardware. Chances are that if you can play UT2004, you can probably enjoy UT3 as well, though probably with slightly reduced detail levels.

Music seems pretty standard fare, though I have to say, the theme music seems like a remixed version of the original, and I had these nostalgic chills running through my spine on a couple of occasions. The original UT just happened to be that special to me. It was the game that made me enjoy first-person shooters.

Final scoring
I like to score the initial impressions I have on games, and then review the final product later on. Although I'm a bit biased here, being a UT fan. The retail review could be total opposite, who knows.

Visuals: 9/10
I'd so love to give this a 10, but a few things could look better, mostly in the style department, but that's really a matter of taste. It's not perfect, though I like it a lot.

Audio: 8/10
Nothing special. Nice sounds, some nice music, sounds like UT alright.

Gameplay: 8/10
Movement seems good, except for vehicle handling, which ranges from overly free to almost inresponsive. It's not bad... but for maximum enjoyment, it could be much better. Game modes in the demo are nothing spectacular either, really.

Lasting Value: 9/10
I still like playing the demo. So if the retail has enough good maps on it, then we can expect a long life for this game.

Overall: 8/10
The game seems very promising, but that's also how I felt about UT2004. The initial fun rate was 10/10, but in mere couple of weeks, it fell down to about 7/10, and soon became more and more forgettable. I would like to give this one a 9/10 just because it's UT3, but wise from the previous title, I need to be prepared for a slight disappointment. the way I see it though, the game won't be a total failure if it runs stable and without major bugs, and if the game keeps evolving and growing, not just by hardcore gamers' needs, but casual gamers' as well.

The release date is set at the end of November at the moment, and it'll probably hold. Even with some bugs, they most likely want the game available by the time christmas sales begin.