Customer Reviews

Unreal Tournament

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although it might not be as "fun" as Quake 3: Arena in a strict Deathmatch sense, Unreal Tournament is the best game I have ever played. It has stunning graphics and amazing bots, especially in the teamplay "Domination" game. In team play you can order your bots to cover you, hold a position, search and destroy, or freelance with their own tactics. The weapons are well-designed and vary greatly, although they are probably not as well balanced as in Quake 3: Arena. Unreal Tournament is definitely more of a technofreak concept that Q3, which is more organic, if that makes sense. On my Mac G4 400 with ATI 128, UT performs extremely well- over 30fps all the time at 640x480 at maximum detail. I like how UT dynamically reduces graphic detail to meet my minimum desired framerate of 30fps. Q3 does not have as advanced an interface as Unreal Tournament either. If the final game is as good as the demo version, Mac gamers are in for a world-class game that will finally be the Quake 2 killer. Whether it kills Quake 3 is still a topic of intense debate. Currently, my vote goes to UT for requiring some form of strategy and for being more fun than Quake 3, which too often can turn into a mindless frag fest.

If you're into first-person shooters, use Macintosh, and want networked play, there are two big choices for you. Do you go with Quake 3 Arena or with Unreal Tournament?

Which one is most fun to play on the network? Both games will have hundreds of people in open Internet games at any time. (If you want to play with thousands of other people, you have to go with a PC and one of the Half-Life mods like TFC.) Network performance for both is great: low ping times, gracefully degrading performance. UT behaves better when the net connection goes away entirely. UT's interface for finding networked games is just light-years beyond Q3's. Q3's is terrible. UT's is a window with tabs for picking game types and panes that show info about who's playing the game now and other game status. The nod goes to UT here.

How about people without big network pipes? I pick UT as the better game for single-player play, hands down. UT has four different game modes: standard deathmatch, capture the flag, domination, and assault. Q3 has deathmatch and more deathmatch, and has nothing as interesting as assault. UT's bots are also way more interesting than Q3's. UT's bots will follow orders and genuinely help you in teamplay. I pick UT.

How about the graphics? This is a matter of taste. Both games have great graphics. Q3 has more eye-candy, more of the cool-looking GL effects. UT has better modeled levels and more interesting organic textures. Q3 is more science fictiony, UT more gritty-urban.

How good is the UT Macintosh version? Excellent. Westlake Interactive did the Mac port and did a bang-up job. And what's more, they continue to support the game with fast turnaround time applying patches. All the mods, mutators, and models available work on the Macintosh version. Download, run the included mod installer, and you're there. UT also has excellent support for third-party 3D accelerators like the Voodoo3. (Quake3 is an OpenGL game, and until recently OpenGL drivers for the Voodoo were questionable.)

I've played both, and I recommend UT to you.

Have you heard enough about which one is better, Quake III or UT? I know I have. So what do you get, out of the box, when you invest in UT? ItÕs a winner, I tell you that right away. LetÕs see ... 10 cool weapons, each with two attack modes to keep it all a tad more interesting than just point and shoot. You may actually end up developing something resembling a personal style with these. Especially interesting is the Translocator, which in addition to being a nice transportation device allows you to beam yourself right into your opponents carcassesÑeffectively ripping them asunder, of course. Clean me up Scotty!

If you arenÕt all that crazy about online games, UT does live up to its claim of being a killer single-player experience: the bots, boring as they look (except for the very goth Necris, I think), will keep you entertained and on your toes. The AI is purty adroit: true, bots donÕt play like human players, but these digital playpals get close. They use all weapons and gadgets very efficiently, go everywhere you go (no cozy endless sniping here), and I SWEAR that during one Capture-the-Flag game I was ambushed by one waiting right outside my home base as I rushed after the enemy flag bearer, who had cleverly activated his personal shield specifically for this maneuver. DÕoh!

If you do get bored, you can still tweak just about every aspect of the game from individual bot intelligence, behavior and weapons preferences to special ÔmutatorsÕ for the matches (Want sniper rifles only? No problem). UT boasts 50 maps, a lot of which are simply breathtakingÑIÕll never forget the first time I was standing on the dizzying height of a space station tower with Jupiter filling the sky and its moons wheeling around above my head. You may even catch the occasional shooting star (no, reallyÑjust before that nasty sniper feels that youÕve been standing in one place long enough). Imagine fighting on board a spaceship zipping through hyperspace ... or a galleon on moonlit seas ... or in an Egyptian tomb .... whoa dude!

UT adds two new game concepts to the traditional menu: in ÔDominationÕ you and your team (the bots, by the way, are very responsive during team play, too) need to hold a number of designated control points as long as possible in order to win, and in ÔAssaultÕ you actually have a number ofÑnaturally destructiveÑmission objectives to fulfil (e.g. storm the facility, take out gizmo A to get to gizmo B and blow that up too), after which the tables turn and your team takes the defending side.

Oh, and one thing (and my only Quake III - UT comparison): the bots in UT talk their acknowledgements, comments, and taunts, and theyÕre pretty nastyÑquite unlike the witty and urbane remarks of the Quake bots you see printed on the screen. You might get provoked into anger and violence, burning to shove their smart quips back down their throats. You donÕt mind that, do you?

But you may want to put on the headphones while your kids are around ... or your parents.

I loved Doom and Doom 2 when they came out, but eventually grew tired of the 3D first-person shooter games. On a whim, I picked up Unreal Tournament, and I must say it is one of the best games I've played in years. The graphics are stunning. The single-player game is a lot of fun, with fairly-intelligent computer opponents and interesting variety of game types. Online play is a blast. Plus Mac users are able to go on the web and download all the custom made maps out there. As far as 3D shooters go, it's hard to top this. Gameplay-wise, it's a vast improvement over the original Unreal.

Don't let the multiplayer aspects of this game fool you. There is some very serious single player fun to be had here! The bots are the best AI I have ever fought against. The fact that you can adjust the AI adds a whole new area of gameplay. For fun try fighting about 12 bots but make them complete novices, or the other extreme try it against one or two at the "godlike" setting. Multiplayer is smooth and problem free, We are running on a two machine 10 MBPS ethernet network and have had nothing but fun.

This is an absolute masterpiece. I don't think that I've ever come across a piece of software more polished than this. The ammount of content that ships with this game is absoultely astounding! It may not be very well suited for younger audiences, but for 15+, this is excellent.

Okay, granted, I haven't played the full version yet, since it hasn't come out for the Mac yet, but I've played the demo, and it's pretty cool! I don't usually get into this type of game, but playing the demo, I've spent hours at it. My husband and I both love it, and give it two thumbs up!

this has got to be the greatest game ever developed to arrive on the mac platform (PS2 soon). I have spent entire days playing capture the flag and domination. The graphics are unbelievable, players lifelike, beautiful landscapes, the weapons are creative, fun and destrucive etc. The multiplayer mode is the best part of the game, as you will come across all kinds of different players with different skill levels, all on your favorite courses. unfortunately for me, the copy of my game on my hard drive just got corrupted and i lost my disc so now i have to buy it again....(as soon as i get the cash)

ps--i also have quake3, and while the deathmatch does rock, it does not even come close to equaling tournament's unreal gameplay

I tried demo versions of both Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament when they first came out. I had to make a choice, couldn't justify buying both. I chose UT. I am planning on buying the GOTY edition soon also. This GAME steals more time from me than anything I have ever done. It is smoother than Quake III Arena, better looking, and easier to control. I can only say that I will never doubt GT Interactive titles (I guess it is Infogrames now). If you are looking for the BEST FPS you can get for Classic Mac OS, this is it.

Unreal Tournament is one great game! As far as first person shooters are concerned on the Mac, UT is the champion! Great graphics, great gameplay... this game has it all. I originally used this on my iMac 233mhz with a Gamewizard Voodoo2 card installed and it ran fantastic. Now I'm on the same iMac, but with a 466mhz processor and averaging 40+ frames per second on the game! There is no real storyline here, but this isn't the type of game that requires one. This is all about pure action! The levels that come bundled in with Unreal Tournament are great, but once you start to add on 3rd party levels from the Internet, the game really takes flight. I have found some incredibly detailed levels that will keep you engrossed for hours on end! If you want a fun game that can even be played across the Internet then Unreal Tournament is the game for you!