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Unreal Tournament III has finally arrived on PlayStation 3. Can Epic go two for two on next-gen consoles?
Published: January 20, 2008
There have been a number of crazy shake-ups to the previous generation of consoles' status quo; Nintendo is now unequivocally at the top of the sales charts, Sony hardware is actually rock-solid PS3-wise, and the old guard of middleware technology, RenderWare, went the way of the dodo when EA bought its creators, Criterion Software, a few years back.
In their place has emerged an unlikely replacement, borne not from the console space, but from the early days of modern computer games. Epic Games and their Unreal Engine 3 have managed to become nigh ubiquitous in this console generation -- at least in terms of PS3 and Xbox 360 development -- with an engine that has shown itself to be surprisingly adept at coaxing truly detailed hi-def graphics that few saw coming.
Of course, one could debate how good developers that have licensed the Unreal Engine have been at duplicating Epic's success with their own in-house efforts, but then the creators of an engine probably should be the ones to really make it sing (again, look at Criterion and the Burnout series for an example of just how far RenderWare was pushed). Regardless, Unreal tech is being used in what seems like every other game out there, and after the success of Gears of War on the 360, many were wondering just what Epic would do on PS3 hardware.
The short answer is amp up everything that was amazing about Unreal Tournament, a game that spun Epic's original Unreal Engine used in the single-player-only Unreal into a multiplayer-only competitor that, for the first time in years, gave hardcore frag addicts something beyond Quake to chew on. The resulting tug-of-war between Unreal Tournament and Quake has resulted in two very different -- but equally great -- experiences, with UT arguably moving more in the direction of augmented deathmatch than anything else.
This time around, it's Warfare, a mode that wraps the usual kill-anyone-on-the-other-team Team Deathmatch gameplay around a King of the Hill variant that has two teams trying to capture and hold various nodes on a map until they can connect enough to create a direct link to the other team's home base, which then opens up their core to damage. Warfare isn't terribly new, but the constant see-sawing of the capture points does indeed make for some insanely intense matches.
Joining Warfare are the usual Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture The Flag and Vehicle Capture The Flag. The latter, as the name implies, ditches the translocator (read: teleporter) that let players zip around maps in favor of hoverboards that, while looking slightly retarded, actually end up providing some interesting gameplay bits when you factor in the ability to have someone on a board grapple onto a vehicle and then slingshot them forward into bases and such. They also provide a quick means of escape from an enemy base while holding a flag, since entering a vehicle while carrying is strictly verboten. Of course, if you get hit while on the board, you're knocked down for a few seconds and completely vulnerable, so there's a definite balance trade-off.
And really, that's always been the heart of the series. Weapon balance, weapon placement, level layouts, memorizing routes through a level -- all of it is here, and pulled off with Epic's signature level of polish, but what really makes UTIII work is that no matter how many players are thrown into a level, no matter what the mode, chances are you're going to have a blast. Hell, the game even supports one-on-one Duels for those brave enough to square off online (or, uh, finish the single-player game).
In their place has emerged an unlikely replacement, borne not from the console space, but from the early days of modern computer games. Epic Games and their Unreal Engine 3 have managed to become nigh ubiquitous in this console generation -- at least in terms of PS3 and Xbox 360 development -- with an engine that has shown itself to be surprisingly adept at coaxing truly detailed hi-def graphics that few saw coming.
Of course, one could debate how good developers that have licensed the Unreal Engine have been at duplicating Epic's success with their own in-house efforts, but then the creators of an engine probably should be the ones to really make it sing (again, look at Criterion and the Burnout series for an example of just how far RenderWare was pushed). Regardless, Unreal tech is being used in what seems like every other game out there, and after the success of Gears of War on the 360, many were wondering just what Epic would do on PS3 hardware.
The short answer is amp up everything that was amazing about Unreal Tournament, a game that spun Epic's original Unreal Engine used in the single-player-only Unreal into a multiplayer-only competitor that, for the first time in years, gave hardcore frag addicts something beyond Quake to chew on. The resulting tug-of-war between Unreal Tournament and Quake has resulted in two very different -- but equally great -- experiences, with UT arguably moving more in the direction of augmented deathmatch than anything else.
This time around, it's Warfare, a mode that wraps the usual kill-anyone-on-the-other-team Team Deathmatch gameplay around a King of the Hill variant that has two teams trying to capture and hold various nodes on a map until they can connect enough to create a direct link to the other team's home base, which then opens up their core to damage. Warfare isn't terribly new, but the constant see-sawing of the capture points does indeed make for some insanely intense matches.
Joining Warfare are the usual Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture The Flag and Vehicle Capture The Flag. The latter, as the name implies, ditches the translocator (read: teleporter) that let players zip around maps in favor of hoverboards that, while looking slightly retarded, actually end up providing some interesting gameplay bits when you factor in the ability to have someone on a board grapple onto a vehicle and then slingshot them forward into bases and such. They also provide a quick means of escape from an enemy base while holding a flag, since entering a vehicle while carrying is strictly verboten. Of course, if you get hit while on the board, you're knocked down for a few seconds and completely vulnerable, so there's a definite balance trade-off.
And really, that's always been the heart of the series. Weapon balance, weapon placement, level layouts, memorizing routes through a level -- all of it is here, and pulled off with Epic's signature level of polish, but what really makes UTIII work is that no matter how many players are thrown into a level, no matter what the mode, chances are you're going to have a blast. Hell, the game even supports one-on-one Duels for those brave enough to square off online (or, uh, finish the single-player game).