UNREAL TOURNAMENT Review II - Part 1

First person shoot-em-ups fastly became one of the most popular genres in videogames, ever since id Software's classic Doom was released on the PC. And now, one of the PC's most popular first person shooters has been converted to the Dreamcast.

Unreal Tournament set the trend for multiplayer deathmatch based shoot-em-ups, whereby there's no single player mode....or at least not one similar to shoot-em-ups such as Doom or Half-Life. No mission objectives, no sneaking around and using stealth tactics...........just all-out, every-man-for-himself deathmatching!

There's not a lot that can be said about Unreal Tournament that you probably haven't heard already...on this (or any other videogames) website, word of mouth, or PC magazines....but I hope that you've only heard good words about this game, because that's exactly what it deserves! It's just as fast and frantic as Quake 3 Arena but unlike Q3A, you aren't always limited to a total of 4 players battling it out.

As well as up to 4 of you playing against each other in a split-screen deathmatch, you'll also be allowerd to chuck up to 4 CPU bots into the arena as well...meaning that at some point you'll have 8 of you frantically shooting each other sensless. It's all great fun, and Unreal Tournament will soon become the ONLY Dreamcast game you'll want to play with your mates.

UNREAL TOURNAMENT Review III

I don't know about you but I certaintly do not want to live in the future if Unreal Tournament is anything to go by. Gone are the days of playing sports like football and rugby, people now have decided to get a hell of a lot more extreme and have the urge to throw you into arenas with huge guns, explosives and madmen. All in the name of entertainment. Set in the year 2341 you play a gladiator in search of becoming the Unreal Tournament champion, which entails you progressing through the various ladders untill you become the best of the best.

No self respecting first person shooter would be complete without its very own butt kicking weaponary, and Unreal Tournament has lots of them, and big ones they are too! From the rather weedy enforcer to the bulky rocket launcher each weapon has its own special use for a certain situation. The Impact hammer is what you need for those up and personal momments but the sniper rifle is the one for taking enimies out from a safe distance. Add to this the fact that each weapon also has two seperate firing meathods, giving the feeling that there is a degree of strategy to the gun fights rather than just mindless shooting.

The graphics in this DC version are worthy of a menton aswell, running slick and smooth in the most hectic battles. Altough the gameplay is pretty satnderd for this type of game, jump, dodge, shoot or be shot. The difference is you will not believe how much fun this is...for a while. During the first few hours no-one will be able to draw you away from the intense, bloody action. Sadly after a while the fights begin to become just that little bit boring and you will be disapointed. And what's more there is no online option like we were promiced. Bad news for some but generally most gamers don't bother with playing online so this isn't as big a downer for the majority of you.

Like the PC and PS2 versions the quality is here. The great levels, the graphics, the thumping music and the frantic fun that goes with it all. Even though there is over sixty levels and four game modes it just isn't enough to hold your attention for long enough. You will return to for the four player option and for a quick blast now and again. For me however, this game only real negative aspect is its length. Instead of it being a very good game, DC Unreal Tournament could easily have been great.