Unreal Tournament 2004: What’s New?

Given rather short timeframe between the UT2003 and UT2004, do not expect a lot of technology innovations in the latter. The Unreal Tournament 2004 does not bring much more shader effects and definitely does not pack a new lighting model – the engine is still the same as in the Unreal Tournament 2003, but with some modest improvements, mainly – special effects, detailed geometry and complexity of buildings. Constructions and levels just got bigger and more imposing. Now you really understand that calm grandeur of the tournament!

Briefly speaking from technology and hardware standpoint, in case your computer played the UT2003 well, it is nearly totally likely to swallow the UT2004 too, if not, you will surely not get satisfied with on the whole more demanding game at all.

The main updates in the Unreal Tournament 2004 concern maps, bots, new game modes as well as availability of vehicles along with aircrafts. General weapons were not changed substantially, but there are some new items available in a new game mode called Onslaught.

In fact, Onslaught is the main new adventure of the whole title! This is where you will get numerous new weapons as well as will be able to ride vehicles and even fly! The idea of the game is to gain control over a number of special points called nodes. Once your team controls all such points, you will be able to destroy your enemy’s base. The levels of the Onslaught are really massive – you just need vehicles and aircraft to move from point to point. While FPS players may not be really accustomed to see such kind of stuff in a combat game, believe me, driving such vehicles is a lot of fun. This is not Carmageddon or Need for Speed, but still very exciting.

Assault game-type is something we all missed in the Unreal Tournament 2003 and that is available in 2004. Yet another environment that strongly requires team-work, as Onslaught, became even more interesting compared to the original Unreal Tournament.

Unreal Tournament 2004: Game-Play

You will not find anything new in the game-play of the UT2004 compared to the previously released Unreal Tournament titles, this is what you have to understand so not to get disappointed. If you liked the UT2003, you are going to love the UT2004, as the things generally got better.

In the death match modes you have to be rather quick, still, not that quick as in the Q3A, but still have to fight your way through, not to hide in the corners.

In Capture the Flag and Bombing Run modes you main ability is to run. Not that you do not need to shoot your opponents at all, but in the majority of the cases it is more crucial to escape rather than to “kill ‘em all”.

In the Assault mode sniping and team-work become two great advantages you need to have; as in the original UT there are both “fight through” and “intelligent” elements in the Assault.

Onslaught, as the name suggests, demands your ability to take the control nodes by storm, to protect them from invasion and to be able to organize another attacks with your teammates involved. Everything should be done in a rather quick manner even with bots, I hardly imagine the skill required to play Onslaught via the Internet.

On the whole, this is just a big fun to play the Unreal Tournament 2004. There is no thrill you will experience in games like the Half-Life 2, there is no so lot of adrenaline you get from the Quake III Arena and there are no dozens of cool-headed decisions you have to make in games like CS of Battlefield 1942.