X-bit labs

Immortal Combat: Unreal Tournament 3 Performance Preview (page 2)

Category: Video

by Alexey Stepin , Yaroslav Lyssenko

[ 11/13/2007 | 09:30 PM ]

Innovations in Unreal Tournament 3

When talking about Unreal Tournament 3, we should rather be talking about what old things, but not innovations, you can find in it. Developing the new UT, Epic Games decided to return to the beginnings of the series because Unreal Tournament 2003/2004 had been often criticized by the fans of the original game for the small size of the characters, for huge levels, for being too dynamic, and for defensive gameplay.

This return to the roots can be seen even in the demo version. The characters are larger. Their speed of movement and the ability to jump have been reduced. Some tricks such as dodge-jump have been removed, and the physical model resembles Unreal Tournament rather than UT2003/2004. The veterans of the classic UT should appreciate this, but the new generation of gamers who started their gaming career from UT2003/2004 may be somewhat disappointed.

So far, Unreal Tournament 3 is expected to have the following games modes:

• Deathmatch
• Team Deathmatch
• Capture the Flag
• Duel
• Unreal Warfare
• Vehicle Capture the Flag

The latter two are the most interesting. Unreal Warfare is a hybrid of the Onslaught and Assault modes with strategic elements, particularly with resources that affect the speed of construction of combat machines and stationary weapon emplacements. Unfortunately, we cannot describe this mode to you because it is not available in the demo version. We’ll have to wait for the release to check it out.

The point of the Vehicle Capture the Flag mode is clear from its name. It differs from the ordinary Capture the Flag mode with its larger, open maps optimized for combat machines. Unfortunately, such an interesting game mode as Bombing Run has been removed from UT3 but may be restored by gamers themselves thanks to the broad modification opportunities.

The demo version provides four game modes (Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Duel and Vehicle Capture the Flag) and three levels (Heat Ray, Shangri La and Suspense). The first two levels are ordinary maps while Suspense is a special map for the Vehicle Capture the Flag mode. There is one special feature in that mode. It is the so-called hoverboard that may remind you of the Back to the Future movie. The hoverboard allows the player to move faster than on foot, especially if you hitch to some speedy vehicle, which is also possible. But if you get hit with a bullet, you will fall from the hoverboard and remain vulnerable for a few seconds necessary to stand up on your feet.

The weapon arsenal is almost exactly the same as was available in the original Unreal Tournament, except that the classic mini-gun is replaced with a machine-gun that fires Tarydium crystals. Heavy weapons from Unreal Tournament 2004 are also available to fight against machines. New in the game are different types of mines and the generators of protective and slow-down fields.

The weapon models have been redesigned to meet the current graphics standards and can be displayed in two modes, standard and reduced-size. In the latter mode the model takes a smaller place on the screen, providing a better view for the player.