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Unreal Tournament 2003. The great game returns, or does it...?
The original UT was perhaps the greatest FPS shoot 'em up of all eternity.
Mods practically coming out of the Internet's digital ears and with so
much playability, so many possibilities and such a large community.
Yet Epic had to go and make another one.
It's difficult from my perspective whether to give it a good review or
a bad one, because it certainly surpasses its predecessor in many respects.
However, it is a known fact that sequels in general are never as good
as the original game in every respect. Sure, there may be some enhancements
here or there, but the actual substance of the game diminishes some. For
example, check out the FIFA or Formula 1 series of games. FIFA '98 and
F1 '97 were the definitive, and next year, they release a rehashed (and
overall worse version), and the series is then unforgivably and irredeemably
tarred. A similar story is the case with UT2k3.
The system specification given on the back of the case is rather a bit
of a porkie. Aim for a system that beats the recommended, and you will
probably be able to play it at High or Higher detail. Get an Alienware
or something equally suck-proof and you might just get away with everything
at Highest (they did cater for all ranges of computer spec).
My base-average comp can cope with Skin detail settings at Normal, a couple
on High, and a couple on Higher, with one or two graphical touches enabled
(foliage, decals, texture detailing and the like are all optional). And
with, say, 10 bots in the fray it will still chug a little bit.
That is 2k3's strong point. It will run on slightly-below-average-spec
PCs at a rather run-of-the-mill detail, and still look bloody good. If
your PC is outstanding in every detail, you can make it look out of this
world.
They've put a stupidly high poly-count on the characters and the environment.
The incredibly detailed levels are something else. Some levels even have
fireflies and glowing lights rising up from the ground, or what appear
to be sleeping dinosaurs hewn into the rock. The maps ooze atmosphere
and Epic put claustrophobia right where it was required.
But an FPS cannot survive on graphics alone. It has to have guns. Lots
of guns.
Being a seasoned UT1 player, I expected a LOT of 2k3's weapons. First
off, I expected the Ripper to exist in this game. I was very saddened
to find out it does not (however, the Chaotic Dreams mod team have released
CUT2, which adds back this fantastic weapon). That really did rile me,
but I thought, never mind, let's see what else is available.
UT1 had the ultimate in weapon balances. Although some weapons were big
and powerful, while others were relatively wimpy-looking, all still stood
a fair chance in a straight fight. An Enforcer user could still defeat
a combatant with a Rocket Launcher or Flak Cannon if he got a few good
locational shots in, or was the appropriate distance from his opponent
to make their weapon less effective against him while firing (Flak Cannons
being harder to use at long-range).
2K3 does not really uphold this. There is a fairly average balancing of
weaponry, but that has mostly come from nerfing the good guns, nerfing
the favourites and ever so slightly improving that which need not be improved.
About the only weapon that retains itself is the Flak Cannon, and that
has been killed back because of its lack of a cool sound effect (the 2K3
one is too quiet). The Assault Rifle plain-as sucks. I want my Enforcer
back!
To add to this, they've removed the age-old fave the Sniper Rifle, and
replaced it with what they call a Lightning gun. It has a scope and can
hit things at range, but it's crap. I. Hate. The. Scope. And. The. Weapon.
I. Want. The. Sniper. Rifle. Luckily, CUT2 comes to my rescue once again
and gives me my rifle back, but it's not good enough that we have to rely
on modders to do such things. The game developers should do it.
If there ever was a controversial weapon on servers, it was the BioRifle.
I have actually been KICKED from servers for killing the server host with
this gun. I was repeatedly called a n00b for using it (even though they
were all packing sniper rifles and miniguns and could have killed me in
a heartbeat had they been good enough). If it was ever possible, Epic
managed to nerf even that. Why? It was fine as it was. Just that n00bish
server hosts seem to moan about it as much as MoH:AA servers moan about
the use of the Shotgun and Bazooka...
Another disappointment was the lack of the wonderfully fun Assault mode,
replaced by Bombing Run (which is identical in almost every way to the
fan-mod for UT1 called Fragball). Psh. Can I not have anything the way
it was?
The single-player Tournament has been given the suck-treatment too. The
major good thing is that your team-mates each have individual skills.
The not-so-good thing is that the ladders are only about 7 maps long,
whereas before the DM, DOM and CTF ladders were nearer 14 each.
I suppose all this means that my favourite mode is Zoom InstaGib. I don't
really rate the standard weapons, so I use the Enhanced Shock Rifles to
better effect (more fun, more balanced and more challenging).
If it's graphics, mod-ability (there's a lot I would love to mod if I
had the skills) or a fun InstaGib blast you're after, definitely get this.
Otherwise, get UT1. I approve of getting it, but not for single-player
value. Unreal 2: The Awakening is the Single-Player game that should have
been included in this.
Graphics: 10 (Am I really there?)
Sound Effects: 9 (Except the Flak Cannon they're almost perfect!)
Music: 9 (Major atmosphere, but a bit high on the 'lectric Guitar.)
Atmosphere: 10 (Moody in all the right places. Lighting effects second
to none)
Weaponry: 7 (Nerfed to the rafters, but still playable)
PC Kindness: 7 (would have been 9, but 3gig of HD space is a bit high...)
Originality: 5 (it's all been done. Even Q3A has a Lightning Gun...)
Mod-Ability: 10 (UnrealEd 3.0 adds a lot of things that UT's UnrealED
2.0 didn't have. Although it is a bit RAM-intensive).
Overall: 7/10
There are so many things I like about 2K3. Yet, there are so many things
I HATE about it as well. Make up your own mind, I suppose is the easiest
answer. Make no mistake, it does in some respects kick ass, but I would
have done many things differently. Keep a look-out for Chaos UT2, Path
to Victory, SAS: Enter the Lion's Den and Strike Force 2k3 :)
Rating: 10/10
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