Game: Unreal Tournament 3
Year (s): 2007
Company: dev. Epic Games
pub. Midway Games
Engine: Unreal Engine 3
Type: First Person Shooter
What I Paid: NA, bundled Unreal franchise sale
Game Time: Ad Infinitum
Plot
Striking out from other titles, there is no tournament. The single player campaign starts with a cutscene showing a force of Krall (formerly established as Skaarj pets) and Necris forces attacking a human colony. The main character is wounded. He's patched up by a corporation, and along with his buddies, helps the company battle other corporations over resources, intermittently re-taking Krall-occupied territories.
The Necris eventually retaliate by invading all fronts of the planet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBqhX3v7sD4 (you don't have to have played to enjoy a sci-fi action sequence). From then on, your team battles the Necris, eventually going to the their homeworld to hunt down the one that instigated the attack on your colony. It's actually very satisfying.
Campaign Difficulty
While instant-action and multiplayer have a range of bot difficulty, single-player has only four. I've played through the game on the second (default) setting. I murdered bots at that setting pretty easily, but on some maps, your team of four is outnumbered by 2-4 bots. On a map with vehicles, that's a HUGE handicap. Some maps are difficult, the last deathmatch is a pain, and don't be surprised if your score is more than the rest of your team combined.
The Engine
Unreal Engine 3 delivers, and is pretty stable. Depending on the game, an occasional crash, but not buggy. As with previous games, multiplayer has a simple, effective, seamless setup. This is currently my favorite game engine, as it is not *just* visually competitive, but incredibly versatile (continuing a tradtion of engine licensing). Here's some of the games that make use of Unreal Engine 3 : BioShock 2, Alice: Madness Returns, Borderlands, Legendary, the Gears of War games, and the Mass Effect series. Also licensed by CG animation groups and for educational purposes.
Combat and Game Types
If you've played any Unreal games, a lot of weapons and vehicles return. UT3 does not have as many instant-action game types as UT 2K4, most notably are the disappearance of Assault, Bombing Run, and Double Domination. I wasn't interested much in this title after I learned about the decrease in game types, but it's not as big a deal as I thought.
Vehicle Capture the Flag is now a standard game type, in response to all of the fan-made maps. Vehicles cannot carry flags. Players can ride a weaponless, portable hoverboard to move around faster, that can carry the flag. If hit while on the hoverboard, you, the flag, and anything else you're carrying goes flying. Hoverboards have a grappling hook that will allow a vehicle to tow you; this can be a great way to capture flags if a teammate has a manta.
All previous vehicles return. In addition, the Necris have completely different, but equally powerful, vehicles. My favorite new vehicle is the Necris Fury, or as I call it, "the flying jellyfish of death."
Cards and Campaign Playback
On the single-player campaign, you sometimes can choose between missions. These choices may give you cards, or may alter later fights. As far as altering, there is a Team Deathmatch map that drops a badass vehicle halfway through. Which team can access this vehicle depends on order of missions. That's one example.
Cards are earned after some missions, and can be used on one mission to either give your team an advantage, or disadvantage the opponent. They come in helpful if you're having trouble beating a map. Depending on your mission order, you might not have the same cards each time you play through.
Audio
Cutscenes have music to heighten the mood. Campaign bot team chat is fun, unique, and realistic to real people. Recently, I saw Hellraiser for the first time. Turns out the Necris/Black Legion goad, "(No tears please), it's a waste of good suffering," was one of the few lines by Pinhead!
Throwbacks
From characters, corporations, weapons, teams, re-textured maps from both the original Unreal Tournament and UT 2K4, and the fictional element tarydium, this game has throw backs to every game that ever had Unreal in the title, even the one that was developed by a different group. One of your teammates has a scar the shape of a Skaarj Razik claw. This inclusiveness isn't purely Easter egg content, it ties the entire franchise together.
Final Thoughts
This game goes beyond the previous Unreal titles, and is unexpectedly fantastic, instead of just awesome. Fan-made maps abound, if you want to play more. The new game elements and vehicles make up for the decrease in game types, the graphics look great, and the campaign is sweet. Game time is limited only by how much you might do instant action/multiplayer.
I'd recommend getting Unreal Tournament 3. The next one isn't planned to be released until the next generation of consoles arrives.
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