Unreal Tournament 2004 Game Review

Product: Unreal Tournament 2004
Author: Weiye Zhou
Date Published: 03/24/04
Price: $33.99
Purchased at: Frey Meyers

Introduction

The release of Unreal Tournament 2003 was disappointing to say the least. There was of course the new features, weapons, maps, etc... But it was only really a graphically enhanced version of the origional Unreal Tournament. The new playing modes That they added added weren't that fun either, especially bombing run; they also decided to get rid of Assault mode and the sniper rifle! Again, very disappointing. That's all about to change with Unreal Tournament 2004, this is what 2003 should have been, but wasn't. 2004 has everything 2003 had plus more on a whopping SIX CD's/5.5GB Install! Included in the box is a $10 certificate for people who bought 2003, just mail in the first page of your 2003 manual and your 2004 receipt; BAM! Ten bucks is coming your way! Also included is three Ataris logo stickers for your sticking pleasure.

New Features (from UT2004 Website)

New Modes
- Assault Mode
Assault mode returns! Redesigned for UT2004, this fan-favorite mode sees teams face-off to defend and attack fortified bases, from fast-moving trains, barreling across an arid alien desert to a Skaarj mother ship, poised to attack the human home world.

- Onslaught Mode
Onslaught mode takes team combat to the next level! Opposing teams are pitted against each other to capture and hold strategic points in order to attack and destroy the enemy power core. Taking place in massive outdoor environments, here is where vehicular combat comes into its own. Flying and driving machines take combatants to the frontline and gigantic mobile battle stations serve as a platform from which to launch devastating attacks.

Vehicles
Rev-up and ride out in an array of land-, air-, and space-based vehicles that play critical roles in a successful combat strategy in Assault and Onslaught. With vehicles ranging from single man fighters to five man behemoths, Unreal Tournament 2004 provides players with plenty of choices when shopping for a mechanized implement of destruction.

Levels
More than 95 maps will be available immediately, including more than 45 brand new maps for all existing game play modes as well as new modes of play. Vast outdoor environments, deep space combat areas and tightly packed indoor techno-arenas are all waiting for the latest entrants to the Tournament.

Weapons
The entire smorgasbord of frag-dealing weaponry from Unreal Tournament 2003 returns for the experienced player to wield masterfully against new contestants. Those armaments are joined by three new implements of doom: the Mine layer, which disperses spider-like bombs that chase and harass any enemy that comes within range; the anti vehicle rocket launcher, or AVRiL, which deals out a payload of massive rockets tuned to seek and destroy enemy mechanized units; the Grenade Launcher, which launches timed explosives that will bounce on the ground and stick to enemies and enemy vehicles, only to be triggered by the weapons altfire command; and, the return of the notorious Sniper Rifle from the original Unreal tournament, completely redesigned and upgraded to make heads roll.

New Characters
Unreal Tournament 2004 introduces 32 new characters on four new teams: The human Thunder Crash, lead by Tournament hero, Malcolm; the Robotic Corrupt, lead by an upgraded Xan Kriegor; the Iron Skull, a team of merciless Skaarj warriors; and the Hellions -- wreckless human mercenaries and pirates who delight in the thrill of the kill.

New Technology
Unreal Tournament not only brings new content for hardcore fans to relish, it also delivers a tremendous technology update over its predecessor, delivering a faster, slicker, deeper experience than ever before. New technological features include:

Voice-over IP support - command and coordinate. Give orders, rally your troops or talk smack with the enemy.

Voice recognition - give orders to bots; no more typing when you should be fighting!

Completely redesigned menus, including a new server browser with right-click menus and many brand-new configurable features.

Improved AI: vehicle control, advanced dodging and wall-dodging, improved aim, better team coordination.

Deeper single player mode with comprehensive team management options, challenge matches, multiple endings and more.

Integrated map vote and match set-up for Internet play.

UnrealTV - a proxy broadcast system allowing a huge number of spectators to watch a match live over the Internet.

Pixomatic software renderer allowing incredible performance with no 3D card required. Play UT2004 on your laptop!

A re-designed HUD, improved weapon effects (bullet decals, incredible explosions), improved first person weapon rendering and innumerable improvements for mod authors, new announcer voices, rendering optimizations...the list goes on!

Minimal/Recommended System Requirements (from UT2004 Website)

Operating System: Windows 98/Me/2000/XP

Processor: Pentium III or AMD Athlon 1.0 GHz processor or faster (1.5 GHz or faster processor recommended)

Memory: 128 MB RAM minimum (256 MB recommended)

Hard Disk Space: 5.5 GB free

Video: Any Windows-compatible video card(NVIDIA GeForce 2 or ATI Radeon with at least 64 megs of video memory recommended)

Sound: Windows-compatible sound card. NVIDIA nForce(tm) or other motherboards/soundcards containing the Dolby Digital Interactive Content Encoder required for Dolby Digital audio

DirectX: DirectX version 8.1(included)or higher

Multiplayer: Internet (TCP/IP) and LAN (TCP/IP)play supported | 33.6K baud modem or broadband Internet connection recommended

I'd also like to make note the system I used to play UT2004,

P4 2.6C @ 3.25Ghz / Abit IS7
Swiftech MCX478-V Heatsink / Vantec 92mm Tornado
Radeon 9500Pro
1GB Corsair XMS-3200C2 RAM
Western Digital 36GB Rator
Aspire 500W PS
Windows XP SP1

I'm running a pretty decent system as you can see, but I still have to turn down most of the eye candy and special effects for it to run the way I'd like it to. Here's a pic of the settings I use,

I turned off all the little "decorations" UT2004 comes with; runs good in all modes with fps usually averaging around 60-70 and only goes below 30 in really heavy scenes or big battles.

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