One of the most innovative and enjoyable FPS-s ever was born largely by accident. Unreal Tournament was initially supposed to be a multiplayer add-on to the high-graphic single player adventure Unreal, but during the course of the development it ended up as a stand-alone game. The little plot explaining battles of individual soldiers in distinct environments regards it as a popular future sport. UT's numerous innovative features were the result of each of the designers being able to concentrate on their particular areas of speciality - AI, levels, weapons, combat moves - as the game's engine was already in place and no single player adventure was to be developed. The biggest achievement of the Unreal Tournament must be its AI: bots (players controlled by computer) fight just like humans and can be configured to challenge players of any caliber. In addition to the usual Deathmatch and Capture The Flag modes, UT developers invented the Assault and Domination modes which have been almost compulsory for any multiplayer shooters released afterwards. The sequel Unreal Tournament 2003 improves on audio, level design and visuals, but is not revolutionary in other aspects except that the Assault mode has been replaced with the US-football style Bombing Run. Bombing Run outlines the direction of a sports franchise Unreal 2003 is heading to: similarly to EA Sports titles, a new version will be released annually and it will probably make it first to XBOX. 18/20 - Based on : 10 HOURS 4/4 PRODUCTION VALUES - As good as they come. Thanks for the level editor, too. 4/4 ACCESSIBILITY - Point and shoot. 3/4 PACING - No problems with this. Enough difficulty levels to satisfy any player, and the unsatisfiables are being waited for online. 4/4 INNOVATION - While the 2003 game was not, the Unreal Tournament series has been terribly innovating. 3/4 IMMERSION - You can get carried away but it's nothing to think about when you're doing something else.
The original Unreal Tournament was a stunner. A ballsy, explosive, no-nonsense shooter with the focus of running around corridors with over-sized weapons blowing everybody else up. But for a concept as one-minded, Unreal... Read Full Review
Unreal Tournament was one of the games of 1999, and ever since the news of a sequel was announced from makers Epic, fans have been wondering 'how can you make the best online shooter better?' Thankfully none of the 'doub... Read Full Review
