Unreal Tournament 2004

THE BAD:
same game engine, seems more like an expansion pack than a new game

SUMMARY:
The grahpics are not much better than ut2k3, almost identical besides the new water effects (there is almost no water on any of the maps so you hardly see it). How can they take the same engine, add new vehicles, and new game modes and call it a whole new game? Every other game that does that calls it an expansion pack and doesnt charge as much money for it.
The grahpics are not much better than ut2k3, almost identical besides the new water effects (there is almost no water on any of the maps so you hardly see it). How can they take the same engine, add new vehicles, and new game modes and call it a whole new game? Every other game that does that calls it an expansion pack and doesnt charge as much money for it.

THE BAD:
Hard to get into if you do not know the maps. The multiplayer is not playable with a 56k modem, meaning broadband is needed. Shit hard to create a map or a mod.

SUMMARY:
Most of UT2004 is essentialy the same as UT2003 with better graphics and more weapons. Those of you who bought UT2003 wil be disappointed at the similarity but then again, you do get a £7.50/$10 rebate if you owned UT2003, so dont moan.

The real differences start to come in with the new modes: Last man standing, Mutant, Invasion, Assault and finally Onslaught. Last man standing is essentialy deathmatch with limited lives. Mutant is a deathmatch where one person is the mutant, who is invisible and is much stronger/faster. The other players have to kill the mutant in order to get points and to become the mutant. The loser is the bottom feeder who is also allowed to kill other players.

Invasion is where players have to survive rounds where lots of ai-controlled monsters are trying to kill you and your chums. Assault is exactly the same as the original assault in ut, with players taking the roles of attackers and defenders. The attackers have got objectives to complete while the defenders are well, defending the objectives. The addition of some vehicles is welcome, if limited.

I have saved the best for last, ONSLAUGHT. Onslaught is a very complicated yet fun new game mode where two teams have to destroy each others power cores. The only way that you can destroy these cores is if you have a chain of power nodes leading to the opposing base. to capture these nodes, you have to stand near an available node ( i.e one that is linked to your base or by another node) and wait until it has been constructed. You can speed up the construction by shooting it with the alt-fire of your linkgun ( providing that you have one). You can only attack linked power nodes and cores. An extra bonus for every one is the vehicles. Vehicles spawn at the nodes that your team owns and the power cores themselves. Back to the vehicles. There are 13 controllable vehicles including turrets.

Everyone of the vehicles is unique and balance play.(i.e tanks cannot shoot flying vehicles unless the are in the limited line of sight) The vehicles are: Hellbender (truck with 3 seats: driver, side turret, main turret.), Scorpian (one seated buggy with laser rope gun that ties people up then slices them apart.), Manta (one seated hover bike with plasma cannons and the ability to "stomp" on somes head, instantly killing them and the ability to jump), Goliath (2 seated tank : driver/maingunner and minigunner), Raptor ( one seated plane with helicopter-style manouvering and two guns : plasma turrets and rockets that lock on to mantas and other raptors), Leviathan (ultra-tank with 5 seats : driver/main gunner and 5 link turrets, driver alt-fire deploys the leviathan and turns it into a nuclear device), human and skaarj space ships ( planes with plasma and missiles) and 5 turrets ( link, mothership, ion cannon, minigun and shock). The weapons are almost the same as last years, with the addition of the avril( anti vehicle rocket launcher) spider mines (mines that lock onto vehicles) and the grenade launcher ( remote mines. These are welcome additions in the onslaught mode and are very fun to use.

Now the bad points. Firstly, this game is hardly playable with a modem. I live in the uk and in an area that hasnt got broadband, so the multiplayer is very hard for me. Secondly, the maps, although beatiful, are confusing unless you know them through and through. Lastly, the editor is an absolute bitch when it comes to making large-scale maps and total conversions. The back of the case says easily create maps, mods, movies and full games. Epic could have least made a tutorial or 2 because most of us dont speak codie language. All in all, this is a fine game that has been denied a top spot just because of a few minor errors. buy this game as it is essential and a must-have.<br>