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.

UNREAL TOURNAMENT Review I - Part 2

And don’t forget your personal translocator – this fires a disc that you can leave somewhere in the level and then teleport to at any time. However, if you fire it at an enemy and beam to it when they are stood right over it, you will teleport onto them, fragging them instantly - hard to pull off, but highly satisfying when it works.

Yes, the killing never lets up! Where the weapons really come into their own is that each weapon has a primary and secondary function. For example, the rocket launcher can fire rockets or timed grenades and the flak cannon can fire either a shower of molten metal shards or a medium range grenade that explodes on impact. This effectively doubles the number of weapons available and gives you an incredible arsenal of destruction. All of the 50+ levels look stunning and the layouts are varied and imaginative, with clever placement of weapons, ammo and power-ups, such as health and armour boosters, invisibility and the damage amplifier.

There are a couple of things that stop this being the classic it was on the PC – the Assault mode is missing, an excellent set of team missions, such as capturing or defending a fortress. There is slowdown on the multi-player mode and it can be tricky to see what is happening when the screen is split into four parts. In the PC version you can have up to 32 bots in any level, in this version you are limited to 1-5 dependent on the level you select.

Worst of all, the controls are not user-definable and none of the preset configurations gives you easy access to both fire buttons and the jump button together, making it hard to play as well as you did on the PC version (unless you have that handy keyboard and mouse). This game is brilliantly conceived, well designed, looks awesome and plays wonderfully – whether you are an FPS veteran or yet to discover the joy of killing, Unreal Tournament deserves a place in your collection.