Unreal Tournament

Platform: PC
Developer: Epic Games
Release: 1999

Fast-paced, over-the-top action is a hallmark of Unreal Tournament

Unreal's graphics were stunning--with colored lights, corona effects, and other eye candy at a time when the dull-colored Quake II was state of the art--but it never threatened Quake's online popularity because, at least in its initial versions, its multiplayer code wasn't anywhere near as smooth, and the demanding graphics could bog down the action at the worst possible moment. Just a year and a half later, Epic came out with Unreal Tournament and completely turned around the series' reputation with technically solid multiplayer support and an outstanding and diverse array of content. That id and Epic both produced multiplayer-focused shooters in 1999 was a testament to the genre's rapidly growing popularity and fans' high expectations--cutting out the linear single-player missions was seen as a way to focus in on the online content gamers really wanted.

With varied maps, six modes, and sharp graphics, UT got a new generation of gamers into shooters.

But while Quake III was tightly focused on deathmatch, with a handful of memorable capture-the-flag maps for good measure, Unreal Tournament packed in a lot more variety, with six game modes in the initial game, each with plenty of maps. Taking the action to a sampler of sci-fi settings such as a spaceship hurtling through space and skyscrapers so tall that there was low gravity at the top, the UT maps gave a startling sense of putting the battles in exotic locales. The premise, after all, was that the brutal action was all being broadcast in a sort of futuristic blood sport. Here and there display screens would flash the leaderboard as a reminder that capture-the-flag battles didn't just arbitrarily break out on a couple of asteroids floating through space but were placed there to make things more interesting for viewers, or rather participants, like you.

As much as it was obviously inspired by Quake, Unreal Tournament did have its own feel, with very fast movement speeds and an arsenal of overwhelmingly lethal weapons. Building on Unreal's distinctive features, location-based headshots made the sniper rifle a force to be reckoned with. The alternate firing mode of the shock rifle made timing-based combo attacks possible, while a supercharged rocket launcher fired up to six explosive rounds at once. Even the lowly pistol could be satisfying when you picked up a second and ran around Chow Yun Fat-style, with two guns throwing out rounds twice as fast. With the right skills, you could use these devastating guns to cut a swathe through an impressive number of opponents, and the announcer was right there to call out your accomplishments.

Unreal Tournament was the game to play if you weren't already a multiplayer veteran because of remarkably good bots, or AI opponents, that were even pretty good in team battles. The offline tournament modes weren't only good for honing skills and learning the ropes in new game types and maps. They were also a way to guarantee lag-free matches if you didn't have access to a fast Internet connection, and they generally opened the multiplayer game up to a much wider audience.

The CS-like Tactical Ops mod still gets lots of play.

As much variety as UT had in its original release, what gave it staying power over the years were the mods and mutators. The mutator format made it easy to package and distribute minor gameplay tweaks, such as instagib game types or low-gravity settings. Since the mutators acted on the game servers, players didn't have to download anything extra themselves; they just had to join a game with a given mutator enabled. UT's mod scene also provided a decent selection of free content, such as the popular Tactical Ops mod, which aped the massively popular Counter-Strike but with UT's much better graphics under the hood. If anyone needs further proof of UT's greatness, there's the simple fact that there are still thousands of people playing the core game every day, not just the most popular mods.