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This game was hyped up and it promised to be as good as the original Unreal Tournament and even have a good singleplayer, but it seems that Epic was more focused on the graphics (not even the art-direction, just the graphics) and as a result we got an incomplete game that looks like a straight rip off of Mortal Kombat and Gears of War. To add more to the list of problems UT3 weapons do NOT aim perfectly at the crosshair and there is NO center weapon option which means unless you hide your weapon your stuck compensating your shots left or right. The overall feel of the game actually isn't bad, in some areas it even feels better than the almost decade old classic it was supposed to surpass, the weapons are perfectly balanced (well except for the over-powered enforcer you start with) and the game is fun for a little bit, but you'll quickly start to notice things lacking. There are hardly ANY maps for CTF and Warfare gametypes and the rest of the gametypes are basically just different types of deathmatch. There are also more annoyances as well like: dodging can't be disabled unless you tweak a file, double jumping (we've been complaining since 2K3/Championship), THERE IS LESS ONLINE TRAFFIC IN THIS GAME THAN THERE IS IN THE ORIGINAL, the players weigh like a gazillion pounds and can't jump high, and various other things. Overall this game was a total letdown and your better off finding a copy of the original UT or downloading Nexuiz.
If you want to get into mapping your own levels or are new to game modding, this Collector's Edition of UT3 is a must have since the bonus disc has hours (maybe days). worth of excellent video tutorials by the guys at 3DBuzz.com. They walk you through the basics of the Unreal Editor, then go into the details of each area (which I skipped and came back to as needed) and finish up with a guide to creating an entire deathmatch map.The tutorials are simple to follow and presented in an entertaining and informative manner. From my point of view, the bonus disc alone makes this a very worthwhile purchase.
Dumbed down interface, no ping shown under player name unless there's at most 6 people playing in the server, full of back-next with several screens that could be better if filled with more info. You promised this one would work out of the box under linux, and for some obscure political/financial reason (I'm watching you AGEIA) you didn't deliver. First and foremost: Shame on you Epic Games. Only reason to exist like that: console players that have lo-def TV screens. Heck, You guys even promised UnrealED would work under linux. Now i have to boot to that stinking Windows XP just to play UT3.That's one gripe, now the next one: Why oh why did You release that horrible interface in the first place. Why didn't You make a PC/HD "Skin" for your interface. Shame.Having said that, the game itself is as fun as ever, with gorgeous gfx, new vehicles, loved the new Warfare mode that replaced both Onslaught and Assault, players move a little bit more realisticly now, weapons feel less nerfgun-like now.Bottom line is, I really would have rated this game as a 5 star, but the flaws are such that I don't feel like doing so, specially the first one, as one expects the Tournaments to work on linux pretty much as a given.
If you get into warfare or capture the flag maps, the game offers some very different game experiences and seems to be to be a vast improvement over UT2004 in almost every conceivable way. Just update the game, and v1.2 works slick as heck.2) The second issue is controlling vehicles. It's either that I am just no good at keyboard controls, or the vehicles were designed to work with a controller. The levels are all interesting, quite different, and very fun to play and that's just the deathmatch part of the game. To me, this is one of those games where the more you play it, the more you feel like you got a great bargain at $50. This DVD includes some 20 hours of instructional videos detailing EXACTLY how to use UnrealEd 3 (the actual Epic map / level editor) to create your very own custom UT3 maps / levels using anything and everything that ships with UT3, including every texture, every model, and every feature that you see in UT3. I actually like the gameplay of this version of UT more than any previous version of the game.The Good:This is definitely, far and away, the best looking and feeling UT ever. I didn't expect that reaction when I bought this game, but after playing hour after hour, I can really feel how much love and dedication went into making this game.
When I first played it, I expected to just play a map or two for about an hour. After owning and playing every version of UT so far, UT3 takes me back to how fun and engaging the original UT99 was when it came out - but this is oh so much better at the same time. Buy this game and feel good about having it in your game collection.If you have never played UT, this version is arguably the best version of UT so far and you'll totally get your frag-fest money's worth by buying it. I haven't bothered to do either, mainly because the war maps are just as fun on foot or on hoverboards as they are in vehicles.
Load "DM-Ferarless" for just one example. I found these maps just as fun no matter how you decide to play them.3) Another issue - if you could even call this an "issue" - is that the Deathmatch game mode has a very familiar feel to the previous UTs, namely UT99 and UT2004, however, I think this iteration of UT has some of the best look and feel to the game, even better than UT2004 which I enjoyed quite a bit. This patch is available for download, for free, so no worries. If you are a UT fan, you'll more than get your money's worth. First, the bad (and NOT much about this game is bad).: 1) There were some bugs that I found with the initial install of the game on my PC, namely some menu item issues and some video features issues, but as far as I can tell ALL of these issues were resolved with the 1.2 patch. I ended up playing the game for about 6 hours the first night - just to see more. The artwork and graphics are jaw-dropping on a decent machine (I have a core 2.4 duo and an Nvidia 8600m GT with 256mb RAM and 2GB system RAM).
I was fairly happy with UT2004, but got bored of it rather quickly - mainly because of the game play and some maps that got boring rather quickly. If you take the time to learn it (I've been learning for about 3 weeks, about 2 hours a night, so far), you will find out that UnrealEd 3 is one of the easiest and best level editors ever made (and yes, I have been a professional Mission Designer for PC games), so there you go. At the time of this writing, May 8, 2008, UT3 ROCKS. Epic has taken all the best aspects of previous versions of UT and elevated the "frag fest" high-paced action of traditional FPS games to a new level. The audio is stellar, the game effects are awesome (such as hot gases physically warping your view of in game objects), the weapons are all great, and this game definitely has the nebulous "fun factor" nailed.But that's just the game itself.The very BEST part about this collector's edition package is the additional bonus content DVD. For the additional $10 bucks you get hundreds of hours of fun not just playing the game, but creating content for the game itself.You will need to go to Epic's forums to find out how to actually publish and distribute your custom maps or mods, but if you are serious about doing your own maps or levels, all of the resources are available either in this game itself or online.
Not so with UT3. If you are a UT fan already, I think this game will speak for itself once you play it for a few hours and see much of what the game has to offer. If this an issue, I would suggest trying to remap keys or maybe adding a joystick controller. (A rather nice touch if you think about it).The bottom line. Everything is done top notch. In this version, the more I play it, the more I love it.
Also, Epic changed a couple of features of the editor itself after the instructional videos were made, but these issues are very minor, and I know why Epic changed the editor slightly: To make sure that every map created with UnrealEd 3 will work on every installation of UT3. This game is definitely not sitting on a shelf - like some other PC games I bought recently.
Been looking forward to this game for a long time. The graphics are gorgeous. a loyal gamer to the UT series.The modding tools are one of the best there is.The gameplay mechanics are solid. However the single player campaign and the new orb feature for warfare are extremely lacking and annoying. too many of the wanted game types from older UT games are missing,leaving an extreme workload for modders. The engine is still hands down the best yet.
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