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| Preview - UT3 Demo Hands On |
| Written by Marco Fiori | ||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, 11 October 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||
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It seems like today is the day of ‘Return of the King.’ Earlier today, I praised Infinity Ward for successfully taking the Call of Duty series in a new direction while keeping the core mechanics that made the original such a great game. While Call of Duty 4 seems to be fighting for the crown of ‘Best Single Player FPS,’ our old friend Unreal Tournament seems to assaulting for the Multiplayer Side. The last UT game we had was UT2004 and what a game it was. It took everything from UT and UT2003 and blended it into a face paced, frantic multiplayer orgy. It played near perfect, looked amazing (for its time) and was one of the best Online Shooters out there. It’s been almost 4 years, but Midway and Epic are on the edge of releasing Unreal Tournament 3. Harnessing the power of the Unreal Engine 3, the game is hoping to bring next generation visuals tied in with the gameplay experience that previous editions have taught us to love. The whole world waited for announcement of a demo and the wait was concluded at 3pm Eastern Time today. I downloaded it instantly, installed and booted it up. The experience that greeted me to was comparable to releasing a typhoon in a matchbox.  I try not to make a big deal about graphics, but UT3 has set a new standard. The game just looks fantastic. We’d seen the Unreal engine in action before in Gears of War, but this tops that easily. The demo allows Single Player against bots, up to 14, on a choice of two maps (more on them in a bit) and despite all this frantic action, it runs solid as a rock. Granted, the game’s options only allow a ‘medium’ setting on most things, so therefore it’s not running at full strain, it still looks easily one of the best games ever seen. Just think of what is too come in the full game. Like the Call of Duty 4 demo, everything ran like liquid with no slowdown, stutters or lag. The weapons are marvellously detailed; glowing supernaturally and character models are startlingly refined. The textures are gobsmackingly sharp and the Unreal engine really shows off its ability to render beautiful backdrops and scenery. With the eye candy side out of the way, I can concentrate on gameplay. The UT series has never been for the faint-hearted and UT3 stays true to its name. From the moment you load the level, (either a Chinese pagoda in the mountains or a futuristic gritty cityscape) the game’s pace hits overload. There are four game types available, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Duel and Capture the Flag (with capture the flag getting a different map). The guns are all instantly familiar to a veteran of UT and all shoot and sound exactly how they should. My reflexes were constantly tested and I never stopped moving for a second. It’s blindingly fast and will not disappoint fans of the series. Anyone who has ever delved into the UT universe will instantly feel right at home. The levels are compact enough to quickly find a flight, while large enough not to feel crowded. The weapons are in the right places, providing balance to the level and the AI of the bots is unforgiving. If the finished product turns out what’s on offer in the demo then the developers / publishers are laughing. It’s exactly how UT3 should look, sound and play and it’ll set the standard for Online FPS. The only game that’ll look like it will beat it will be UT4, but that’s four years away. 
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