Quick Jump Daily Digest

Thank you for your interest in the Quick Jump Daily Digest. Get notified of all new content on QJ in our free Daily Digest. To subscribe, enter your email address below and click the subscribe button.

Cancel and Return to page

Unreal Tournament 3 beta demo first impressions

Posted Oct 16, 2007 at 6:14PM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: Featured Articles, Previews, Titles, Genre Tags: Ageia, Epic Games, PhysX, Unreal Engine

0
This article was originally posted on October 16, 2007 in 12:31 p.m.

Epic Games recently released a beta demo of Unreal Tournament 3 (PlayStation 3, Windows PC, Xbox 360) for capable PCs, and our short weekend immersion with it was a UT3-filled excursion like no other. There's plenty of reason to be excited about gaming history's biggest arena shooting franchise, and Unreal Tournament 3 definitely brought out the old UT kid huddled inside.

Sporting a different look and feel, the Unreal Tournament 3 demo touted what was Unreal Engine 3's crowning moment - improved graphics and rendering for a new generation of games. Unreal Tournament 3, for its namesake, was the flagship title for UE3 technology, and the game did have more of its share of visual appeal.

Despite a few exceptions specific to the core community, the beta demo's graphics stood out, almost imposing itself visually beyond former installments UT2004 and UT99.

Gameplay was fluid enough to keep in pace with UT3's predecessors (though they would feel much faster than UT3), and bot skills were heightened to mad levels even on lower settings. We can still survive on Adept skills, but not long enough to run a decent killing spree. That's even saying how talkative the the AI is this time around. Enemy locations, enemy vehicle locations, and the a freelancing bot's destination - they're all confirmed via radio message. UT99 bots Loque, Malakai, Visse, and Kragoth are back, though hints of a sultry, femme-fatale Lauren have also risen from content.

We were also treated with rhythmic beats to Unreal Tournament's original theme, enhanced with deeper, dynamic bass and remixed with a sinister feel. Audio was impressionably dabbed with vengeful malice, because the announcers voices were deeper, more serious and with a hint of bloodlust. There was also only one bot voice-pack included in the game - the husky voice and the angered tone reinforced our beliefs that a serious UT was coming up.

Unreal Tournament 3 posed seriously radical changes to the player's available arsenal, altering both look and mechanics to certain extent. Double Enforcers have finally returned from seven years of dormancy since UT99, and the Tarydium Stinger Minigun was revived from the game that started it all: Unreal.

The scoped Sniper Rifle also got a new facelift and doesn't spew smoke like a NASCAR muffler anymore, while the classic Redeemer arrived with a sophisticated new look. Newer weapons such as the Longbow AVRiL are still in the game from UT2004 but with a more complete name, though the Plasma Rifle of UT99 origin is still called the Link Gun.

The massive, treaded Goliath, the plasma-shielding Paladin, the hover-hopping Wraith, the spine-snapping Scorpion, plasma-firing Hellbender, and the high-flying Raptor returned with new looks and similar weaponry. But with the addition of physics (via AGEIA's PhysX accelerator card or software support), they were handled more realistically. The Wraith for example, handles with better mid-air responsiveness.

But with all things labeled as Beta, this demo had a significant share of issues involved. It was released with the intention of capturing hardware issues prior to the game's release next month, but no one expected the wealth of other feedback that was reeled in from all the beta players. First and foremost, the console-like menu design and server browser page found disapproval in the eyes of many fans.

Also, investigation of demo content lead many to believe that the demo served to the loyal PC community was actually the PlayStation 3 version made executable over the PC. Yikes. Directories which readily identified "PS3" not to mention HDR/SM 3.0-only settings for AA capable cards, gained momentous negative feedback.

Bot AI was questionably failing at the most crucial at times of a CTF match and you may find a bot occasionally standing around doing absolutely nothing. Mouse aiming seemed to have been handled with a view acceleration mechanic (used to make console controllers feel more subtle at aiming) - which couldn't be turned off.

In addition, the demo would not allow fully customized match settings, and one notable deathmatch map sported an almost unstoppable Necris Darkwalker that could easily turn the tide of the match toward the side of the owners. UT3 (or at least the PC, PS3 versions) has but a few weeks to address all these problems before release, and it appears that some players wouldn't mind another delay to set the records straight with the community.

These impressions overlooked, however, the game does stand well on its own. There's a lot of promise with the new mood of the game and there's a bit of anticipation on how Warfare would play out, so we're looking forward to this game's release. If anything, UT3 plays a lot closer to its real home: the original Unreal Tournament of 1999.

This story sucks? This story rocks!

Vote Now!

(0)

(0)

Newest Downloads

05/21/2012 - 05/26/2012

WiiMC v1.2.7	05/25/2012
True Blue Firmeware v2.7	05/24/2012
3DS Video Converter v2.3	05/24/2012
Mobile Assault 1.8.2	05/24/2012
PSP Tools Alpha 0.1	05/22/2012
Newton War	05/22/2012
DaedalusX64 r766	05/22/2012
PSPMarble	05/22/2012
The Undead 4 - Nazi Zombies	05/21/2012
3DSExplorer v1.2.1	05/21/2012
J-Runner v0.2 Beta 275	05/19/2012
Priiloader 0.8 Beta 3	05/19/2012
Quake Rev PAK release 4	05/19/2012
ModMii v6.1.3	05/18/2012
Glitch360Key Updater 1.0.4.37	05/18/2012

Most Comments this Month
Stop Your Whining, Start C..	(13)
Diablo III Getting Mauled..	(11)
Max Payne 3 Will Eat Your..	(11)
Blizzard is Really Sorry a..	(10)
Blizzard Wants To Take You..	(9)
Black Ops 2: Same Engine,..	(9)
Activision Are Spiteful	(8)
Diablo III About to Sell a..	(8)
The Inevitable Kickstarter..	(6)
Blizzard Adds One Last Del..	(6)
Celebrate Wolfenstein’s..	(5)
Foam Sword? Check. Public..	(5)
Rejoice, Nerds: Elder Scro..	(4)
EA Wants Help. Your Help	(4)
Rumor: Left 4 Dead 3 comin..	(4)
The Seven Wonders of the R..	(4)
Diablo III Accounts Gettin..	(4)
Star Trek Your Way To The..	(3)
Steam’s New Remote Acces..	(3)
More Free Stuff from That..	(3)
The Avengers Set To Invade..	(3)
Cross Platform Fun Inbound..	(2)
Metal Gear Solid Rising de..	(2)
Happy Mother's Day, Gamers	(2)
XCOM: A Little Then and a..	(2)

Top Jumps this Month
Latest Left 4 Dead 2..	(28)
GTA IV patch 1.0.6.0..	(26)
Download full Sid Me..	(23)
EA Shuts Down More S..	(19)
Total War: Shogun 2..	(15)
Brian Lara Internati..	(14)
Super Street Fighter..	(13)
Diablo III Getting M..	(13)
Latest Black Ops pat..	(12)
Max Payne 3 Will Eat..	(12)
New Bulletstorm patc..	(11)
Black Ops 2: Same En..	(10)
Civilization V patch..	(10)
FF7 Gets Another Dos..	(9)
Blizzard Adds One La..	(9)
Starcraft II Getting..	(8)
DiRT 3 patch 1.1 is..	(8)
Operation Flashpoint..	(8)
Surprise! Diablo III..	(7)
Blizzard is Really S..	(7)
QWOP 2	(7)
XCOM: A Little Then..	(6)
Just What Every Fant..	(6)
You Got Your Steam i..	(6)
The Payne Of The Wai..	(6)

HOT GAMING NEWS TOPICS

Quick Jump Daily Digest

Unreal Tournament 3 beta demo first impressions

Related Stories:

Add comment

Newest Downloads