Unreal Tournament 2004 Review (no fat)

Game Description

Unreal took the FPS genre to an all new high with its cutting edge technology, incredible vistas and addictive gameplay. The game gave the legendary Quake franchise a run for its money and set the ultimate feast for fans of mindless frag-fests. Unreal's successors have since branched out and grown to become some of the most memorable PC multi-player, first person shooter experiences of all time.

Grab your weapon, waste your enemies and survive some truly hostile environs to become the champion of Unreal Tournament.

Unreal Tournament 2004 - Gameplay

Where does one start? The game is massive and every bit of it is incredibly addictive. Still, rather than pose a million complexities that tax your brain, Unreal Tournament's underlying theme is simple - kill or be killed.

The game's not just about mindlessly meandering through never-ending mazes and killing everything that moves. This one requires a lot more focus and lightning quick reflexes as there are scores of computer and human opponents lurking around, each smarter than the other. The game also lets you commandeer tanks and other vehicles to unleash some devastation.

Your arsenal includes old favorites like Flak Cannons and Rocket Launchers and some devastating additions like the Mine Layer, Grenade Launcher, Sniper Rifle and the incredible AVRiL - the Anti-Vehicle Rocket Launcher that can take out those behemoth tanks.

There are plenty of options when it comes to playing UT 2004. The game modes include both single player and multi-player action. Gather your troops and pit your wits against rival clans in Team Deathmatch, Domination, Capture the Flag or the brand new Onslaught modes. For fans of the game, the Assault mode that was missing in UT 2003 makes a return with an improved plot.

If you don't trust teams, you can slug it out for yourself in Deathmatch mode. The computer controlled opponents feature great AI, which makes it harder to mow down a horde of enemies.

Being a multi-player game, the game's cast are spread across clans such as The Corrupt, Thunder Crash, Iron Guard, Iron Skull, Sun Blade, Black Legion, Fire Storm, Hellions, Blood Fist and so on. These clans range from humans to hideous abominations that are programmed to destroy and kill.

The game doesn't have a steep learning curve but you need to be sharp as a razor to survive and eradicate your opponents.

Unreal Tournament 2004 - Graphics & Sound

One thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Unreal Tournament is the incredible graphics engine that renders some incredible elements in a flawless manner. The huge maps feature ambient lighting, brilliant textures and surreal surroundings. It's easy to get lost in the beauty of the terrain and forget the lurking warriors who are about to snipe you.

So what does the graphics engine deliver? Everything you can ever think of that can be rendered with a bunch of polygons.

The game's title defines it well - Unreal!

The soundtrack is the perfect foil for the incredible graphics engine. The background score is however shattered by the incessant carnage that takes place.

The flip side is that the cutting edge graphics will tax your systems resources and it helps to have a powerhouse of a machine that can complement this powerhouse game.

Unreal Tournament 2004 - Summing Up

There are scores of multi-player FPS games around and some of them are incredible and offer great value for the money. However, nothing gets so close to perfection as UT2004 does.

10 gaming modes with over 100 maps and up to 32 opponents to face off against, new weapons and vehicles to operate, significant strides in multi-player technology and other innovations ensure that the action never ends. To add to the replay value there are tons of UT maps available online for free …and you can always get creative with the Unreal Editor that comes with the game.

If one needs to truly understand the potential of the technology that personal computer's offer, Unreal Tournament is the perfect demonstration. The game is a futuristic blood-fest that takes PC gaming to an all new high.

And at under 20 dollars, this is an incredible buy.

Unreal Tournament 2004 - Cost

Unreal Tournament 2004 currently retails at $19.99US.