X-bit labs

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

Category: Video

by Alexey Stepin , Yaroslav Lyssenko

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

It’s yet too early to speak about combat machines before the final release although the demo offers almost all the transportation and fighting machinery you could see in Unreal Tournament 2004: Hellbender, Manta, Scorpion, Raptor, and Goliath. There are also new machines such as the artillery mount Hellfire SPMA. This arsenal will be complemented with new items in the full version, particularly with machines of the Necris fraction that have unique design and capabilities.

The game will also provide a solo mode with a plot and an option of playing for one of unique teams.

The demo contains only three levels, but Epic Games stays true to its name: the levels are indeed epic and colossal, especially the Shangri La map that shows a Tibetan monastery somewhere high in mountains.

The architecture of the levels is very expressive with lots of smaller details such as waterfalls, mountains, etc, which help you immerse deep into the game. Our only gripe is about the not-very-detailed textures and about the water surface that cannot match the water from BioShock that runs on Unreal Engine 3, too. We know, however, that the graphics quality is reduced in the demo to keep it small. It’s only in the full version of the game that we’ll see all the beauties of the new Unreal Tournament.

The years Epic Games has spent on developing Unreal Tournament 3 have not been wasted for nothing. The new game has taken in all the best from the original as well as from Unreal Tournament 2003 and 2004. Even with reduced graphics quality the demo looks better than Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, and the final version is going to be a gorgeous gift for every lover of the UT series.