| kber81 said: GameDaily - 9/10 http://www.gamedaily.com/games/unreal-tournament-iii-/playstation-3/game-reviews/review/5346/1907/ |
'Tis the season for fragging a friend with a Flak Cannon.
Posted by Robert Workman on Monday, December 10, 2007
The holidays just perked up for PlayStation 3 owners. Along with being able to snag quality first-party games, out comes another viable must-have with Midway's Unreal Tournament III. Even though the PC version slightly excels, this port is a fine continuation of the long-running first-person shooting series, with more than enough battle action to go around.
If you've played Unreal Tournament before, then you'll have a good idea of what to expect. The action is mostly the same, as you go through multiple maps and shoot at anything that moves (except your own teammates). The gameplay is tight, functioning properly with the SIXAXIS controller. You'll have no problem winding around corners with a Bio-Rifle, entering a battle while shooting lethal balls of goo at opponents. Don't expect weak competition, though -- the artificial intelligence adjusts accordingly. Very rarely will you encounter a stupid character.
There are notable new additions. Vehicles play a large part in Unreal Tournament this time around. You can climb into a variety of transports with the push of a button (ala Halo), such as a slow-moving tank with immense firepower or a near-weightless hovercraft with quick firing ability. This gives you a significant jump on enemies, whether they're on foot or cruising in their own heavily armored vehicle. Over the course of various levels, you'll also have access to a Back To the Future-like hoverboard. With it, you increase your acceleration and mobility, which is beneficial when returning to your base with an enemy's flag. However, it has disadvantages. While riding it, you're unable to shoot back at enemies. Once hit, you need a few seconds to recover from damage, leaving yourself wide open for a brutal attack. In one scene, we thought we were home free with the enemy's flag until a tank blast knocked us out. Following its attack, it closed in for the kill and ran us over. Ouch.
One thing to note about the vehicular action -- you can control movement of these vehicles using the SIXAXIS tilting function if you wish. It's manageable, but in the heat of combat, you may prefer analog movement instead.
As one might expect, Unreal Tournament III's frame rate on the PlayStation 3 is slightly less than the PC version. However, that doesn't make it any less noteworthy. The attention to detail is quite startling, too. Whether you're roaming around an outside map as waves crash against the rocks or rummaging through an indoor facility with a limited amount of lighting, you'll find yourself mesmerized by the stunning (albeit slightly confusing) map layouts.
You'll hear a lot of player chatter from both sides of the field. When a teammate isn't yelling out a request for support, you'll hear the enemy viciously taunt you -- particularly after they wipe you out. Some of it is rather cornball (one guy sounds like a full-blown religious zealot), but overall it's not bad. The background music that occasionally plays is very good. The sound effects really play a huge part here, though. If you hear the bang of Flak Cannons and Rocket Launchers go off in the distance, you can get an idea of your enemy's location and act accordingly.
One other new addition to Unreal Tournament is the new single-player campaign. You play a gruff hero who joins a group of no-nonsense mercenaries to battle a dominant alien race called the Necris. Each stage has a purpose, as you strike a blow to this empire (such as the shutdown of a power core) -- but they refuse to give up without a fight. Assisting arrows light up on occasion, in case you get lost or have difficulty finding a prime target. Hardcore Unreal Tournament players may express disappointment over the inclusion of this campaign, especially since a few beloved multiplayer modes from previous games didn't make the cut. However, don't be too hasty. It has enough content to hold its own.
If it is multiplayer action you crave, then Unreal Tournament has it in spades. Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch and Capture the Flag are obvious favorites, but the new Duel and Warpath modes are real attention getters. With Duel, you face off against an opponent on a smaller map, resulting in a more intimate battle. Warpath involves some strategy, as you must capture and shut down enemy nodes in order to make their energy core vulnerable. Although the multiplayer support is only half of what the PC version handles (ten to sixteen in comparison to thirty-two), the PS3 edition is still lots of fun.
The real significance with Unreal Tournament III on the PS3, however, is the Community support. For the first time in a console FPS, you're finally able to implement your own user-created mods – maps, modes, player creations – into the game. It's a feature that will no doubt take a lot of time and dedication. To devoted fans, however, it's a stellar inclusion. You're also able to receive messages, set up friend lists, seek out instant action matches and more.
Unreal Tournament continues to live up to its name, and part three on the PS3 is just as thrilling as its PC counterpart. Never mind its shortened multiplayer count and lack of extra modes -- there's enough here to keep you fragging through the holidays.
