Unreal Tournament 2003

Details: Category: Computer; By CCGR; 01.Jun; Hits: 8584

System Requirements

OS: Windows 98/Me/2000/XP, Linux CPU: 733Mhz RAM: 128MB HDD: 300MB VIDEO: 16MB TNT2 or better (GeForce or better for Linux) SOUND: 16 bit Direct X 8.1 Compatible AGE: Mature

Unreal Tournament 2003 is the sequel to 1999\'s multiple \'Game of the Year\' award winner. It uses the very latest Unreal Engine technology - where graphics, sound and gameplay are taken beyond the bleeding edge. Unreal Tournament 2003 is a lightning-fast, no-holds-barred sport of the future, where warriors face off like the Gladiators of ancient Rome to determine the ultimate combatant. Super human reflexes, awesome weapons and the skill to use them effectively are what separate the good from the bad, the living from the dead, the victor from vanquished.*

Gameplay

UT2003 is a tournament style game. There is no story other than staying alive. You can play against people via internet or LAN. If you have no one to play against you can do instant action or play a campaign. The bots are quite smart and can be challenging. They have multiple difficulty settings. (Novice, Average, Experienced, Skilled, Adept, Masterful, Inhuman, Godlike) You can also have the bots auto adjust their skill to yours. The single player campaign mode is quite fun. You must first qualify in some one on one deathmatches. After that you must win first place against a few bots. When you complete that, you get to draft your team. Once drafted, you must now compete against them and win first place to begin the tournament ladder! Each team member has different attributes you must consider. (Accuracy, Aggression, Agility, Team Tactics, etc.) You can choose which team members you want in each match. You will have to complete many maps for all the different game modes to unlock the final match. Just like most sport games, you will be offered player trades.

Game Modes

Just like UT (Unreal Tournament) you have your typical Capture the Flag and Deathmatch game styles. There is Team Deathmatch too. UT2003 offers a new game mode called Bombing Run. This is like deathmatch football. You basically take this bomb and put it through your enemies hoop for points. If you just shoot it into the hoop you get 3 points. To jump into the hoop you get 7 points. In capture the flag you can still attack while your holding the flag but in Bombing Run you are defenseless while carrying the bomb. So teamwork/backup is important! UT2003 also introduces Domination 2.0. In this game mode, you have two rally points which you must have under your control for 8 seconds. After that time, you score. When that is accomplished the goals are reset 5 seconds later and the process begins again. Games usually have a scoring limit, often 3-5 points. Many believe that the players should be reset to starting points like Bombing Run, but I still find this game style fun.

Weapons

Most of the weapon types remain the same. Some have been weakened and others have been made more powerful. There are some new weapons, and some eliminated. * BioRifle-Shoots more powerful goo than UT * Enforcer-Now called Assault Rifle. Comes with grenades, is an automatic weapon, and you can no longer arm two at the same time. * Flak Cannon-The same/possibly weaker? * Impact Hammer-replaced with Shield Gun which can reflect ammo * Ion Cannon-Very powerful and has a large radius, don\'t radiate yourself! * Mini Gun-Has some warm up time before it shoots, harder to keep steady *Pulse Gun-Now called Link Gun, you can combine energy streams (Cool!) * Redeemer-Still exists * Rocket Launcher-Powerful but you can only queue 3 rockets now. No grenades. * Shock Rifle-The same * Sniper Rifle- Replaced with lightning gun (with scope), quite powerful! * The Ripper-removed * Translocator-Now has a camera

So what\'s new?

UT2003 offers many of the same features that we loved in it\'s predecessor. It does offer some new weapons and removed some of the old. I like the new game mode Bombing Run. There is a new feature called Adrenaline. You collect these adrenaline tablets and when you get one hundred points you can do special combo moves. You can turn invisible, go berserk (more damage), get speed (faster) or booster (regenerate health). The look and feel seems a little different. Either more cartoony or quake-like, I can\'t decide. There are also many nice utilities that they bundle in with the game. There are map and character creators/editors. I personally had a blast with the Upaint program and customized my UT character. They are pretty easy to use too! Like the previous Unreal Tournament, there will be many MODS available for this game.

Appropriate?

From a Christian perspective this game has violence. You are killing for a sport, nothing more. Fortunately you can turn the gore (and gibs) off. There is some mature language but again this can be disabled. Even with the mature taunts disabled, there is still a taunt that slips through that I don\'t like. \'Sit still d***it!\' There is no way to remove that taunt, so if you don\'t want others to hear that, your only option is to disable the taunts all together. :( As usual, some of the females can use more armor. Finally, one of the teams you play against \'Cold Steel\' has a team logo of a grim reaper wearing a pentagram necklace.

Overall experienceEase of use

This game is easy to install and play. The interface is easy to use and maneuver. There is a nice installer for Linux, my only complaint with Linux is that if you enter your CD key in wrong you have to install it all over again. So make sure you enter it in correctly! For controls you use your mouse and WASD keys by default. The sound effects and music are very fitting. The music is in OGG format instead of UMX. The music is technoesque and very fitting to the UT genre. There are a wide variety of voices in the game. You have male, female tough voices, as well as monster and robot taunts. There is an announcer who you\'ll love or hate. I don\'t mind his comments. As usual there are witty taunts said when you kill a person. There are a couple recycled from the original UT but some new ones as well. One new one is \'You bleed better than you shoot!\' The graphics are beautiful like I expected. The maps are highly detailed as well as the characters. On the outdoor maps you can see individual blades of grass and the water reflections are gorgeous. The characters are realistic looking and there are many unique species as well. Some are easier on the eyes than others. You need a good video card to run this game with the highest details, but if you can it\'s so worth it!! This game raises the bar a couple of levels. It sets a new standard for FPS games. The minimum system requirements are laughable, you need 1GHz or beyond realistically. Make sure you have a good video card, if not, you may have to lower all your details to be able to play at all. Finally, this game pushes the appropriateness level. Yes you can turn off swearing and blood, but what they do let slip through disappoints me. You may not want young ones within earshot if you play this game with the taunts enabled. * taken from unrealtournament2003.com