Unreal Tournament 3

Unreal Tournament 3 (previously codenamed Envy and also formerly named Unreal Tournament 2007, UT2007 or UT2k7) is Epic Games' sequel to Unreal Tournament 2004. Published by Midway Games, UT3 is powered by Epic's new Unreal Engine 3, and is due to be released on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.

UT3 Box Art

History

UT3 was revealed to the world in the May 2005 issue of Computer Gaming World magazine. The first news of it began to appear on or around March 27, 2005. The game was originally codenamed UT "Envy", but later, around May 29, 2005, it was revealed that the name had been changed to Unreal Tournament 2007. It was not until January 25, 2007 at the Midway Gamer's Day event in Las Vegas that it was revealed that the game's name had been changed to Unreal Tournament 3. This change was met with great enthusiasm from the Unreal fanbase.

Many changes have been made to the originally announced design of the game. For example, a game mode named Conquest that was originally announced was later complemented by Unreal Warfare and then replaced by it altogether. There was also an Onslaught 2.0 announcement which has also been rolled into the all-encompassing Warfare gametype.

Unreal Tournament 3 promises a return to the "feel" of the original Unreal Tournament. Epic aims to make the game more in-your-face, fast-paced, and less "floaty". To accomplish this gravity has been increased and Dodge jumping has been removed. However, dodging, double jumps, and wall dodging will remain with their effect somewhat diminished to the newly increased gravity. Gameplay in UT3 stresses close combat more than its UT2004 predecessor. Many of the weapons are more effective up close. Epic stresses that the aim of UT3 is to create a whole new - and better - game, rather than merely a prettier UT2004. In addition to this, old favorites from the original UT such as jump boots and the ability to feign death will return in UT3.

Demo

A demo is due to be released roughly one month before the game is released. Since the game is due in November, it has been speculated that the demo should be out sometime in October.

Release Details

The game has not yet been released. It is due in November, 2007.

Reception

Reception to the currently released information has been generally positive.

Game Content

Engine

Unreal Tournament 3 uses Unreal Engine 3. It is unknown how this game will be versioned at this time.

Music

Alexander Brandon and Jesper Kyd are composing the UT3 soundtrack.

Gametypes

• Single Player

  Will expand upon the simple ladder matches present in previous installments. A four act storyline, complete with a cinematic beginning and ending, will tell the story of the player seeking revenge for the slaughter of his clan. Mid-way through, the Necris attack and your allegiance can slip from corporation to corporation. Co-op play will be available in campaign mode.

• Deathmatch

  The grandaddy of first-person-shooter gametypes is alive and well.

• Team Deathmatch

  The grandaddy of first-person-shooter gametypes is alive and well.

• Capture the Flag

  The classic CTF gametype is still included.

• Vehicle Capture the Flag

  The HoverBoard replaces the Translocator in maps with vehicles, and you can carry the flag on the HoverBoard. However, entering into a flying vehicle with the flag will cause you to drop it.

• Warfare

  Warfare is a new combination of Onslaught, Assault and some of the ideas presented in the past about the Conquest gametype.

Weapons

• HoverBoard

  Pressing the associated button will cause the player to hop on a hovering skate-board like device that is used mainly for transportation and is present only in Warfare and vehicle-based Capture the Flag maps. The flag or orb may be carried on the Hoverboard, but one point of damage will send the player tumbling.

• Deployables

  Hand held devices such as a time-warping cube which can be dropped to slow down incoming weapon fire.

• Impact Hammer

  This favorite from Unreal Tournament makes a comeback with an EMP alt-fire that disables vehicles.

• Translocator

  This Unreal series favorite returns to the Capture the Flag gametype, except for maps that contain vehicles, in which the hoverboard becomes the secondary method of transportation. The charges refill faster than in UT2004. Also, the disc has a flatter trajectory than UT2004 and it fires farther than UT, but not quite as far at UT2004.

• Enforcers

  Your starting weapon, the Enforcer is a pistol with rapid fire. Secondary fire shoots a less accurate triple burst. Pick up a second Enforcer and you can take out your foes John Woo style!

• Bio Rifle

  This weapon fires a big slow arcing gob of sludge that can instantly take out a heavily armed opponent or stick to floors and walls, then break apart into smaller pieces creating an instant minefield.

• Stinger

  The stinger from the original Unreal replaces the Minigun as a fast firing semi-projectile weapon. The gun has two modes, a fast but inaccurate spread of Tarydium crystal shards that hits instantly, and a slower firing more powerful projectile shot that can also nail opponents to the wall.

• Link Gun

  The link gun shoots small fast moving plasma balls similar to those in the original UT. The secondary shoots a straight beam of death that has a limited range.

• Shock Rifle

  The shock balls have been sped up from UT2004 to be more closely match the rate of the original UT. The primary rate of fire has also been reduced.

• Flak Cannon

  The primary fire bounces more. The flak ball does not travel as far as it did in UT2004.

• Rocket Launcher

  The new rocket launcher combines the instant rockets ability from UT2004, and the grenades from UT. As in UT2004 primary fire shoots instant rockets, secondary fire loads rockets, and hitting primary while holding secondary will switch to spiral fire mode. The addition UT3 makes is hitting primary fire a second time while loading rockets will switch to grenade mode. As in previous titles, rockets can lock onto things. This feature has been visibly improved to help take out vehicles.

• Sniper Rifle

  The classic sniper rifle has returned to replace the Lightning Gun as the primary long range weapon. It now features a colored tracer.

• AVRiL

  The AVRiL is now hand loaded. It's tracking beam can be used to "herd" Spider Mines, much like the alt-fire on the Mine Layer in UT2004. It also has a secret function.

• Redeemer
• Target Painter

  Epic plans to allow the Target Painter to control level-specific hazards in UT3.

Vehicles

Axon

• Scorpion

  The primary fire shoots electrified bouncing balls that explode on contact. These are particularly effective against other vehicles. The vehicle can also be turned into a bomb, and sent on a kamikaze mission. You can eject from the Scorpion when using it in this manner.

• Hellbender

  The new rendition of the hellbender places the driver in control over the Skymine Turret.

• Manta

  In addition to a visual update, players will no longer be able to ride on top of the side fans, but will be sucked down and gibbed.

• Raptor

  Not much is currently known, but this vehicle has had a massive visual overhaul.

• Cicada

  Sporting a much bulkier and boxier look, not much new is known about this vehicle which returns from UT 2004.

• Paladin

  Visually much improved from its UT 2004 debut.

• SPMA

  A second player can man the Skymine Turret.

• Goliath

  The Goliath tank now features two firing modes. The primary fire fires a powerful tank shell. The secondary fires a wide area shell specialized for anti-infantry use.

• Leviathan

  This mobile fortress still features its devastating main cannon and has added distinct weapon fire to each of its four turrets rather than UT2004's link-like projectile. Each turret also has an alternate shield function.

Necris

• Viper

  A single passenger speeder. The primary gun fires projectiles that bounce off walls. The vehicle can also spread out like a real life viper to hover high in the sky. Like the Scorpion, it can be used on kamikaze missions.

• Darkwalker

  This lumbering tripod has tendril-like legs that allow them to climb a wider variety of terrain compared to other vehicles. The primary weapon is an extremely powerful twin laser beam that shoots out a line of plasma. The secondary fire "screams" knocking players off their feet. The vehicle also features a secondary gunner position.

• Nemesis

  The nemesis features an instant hit twin laser beam with zoom. The vehicle also supports different modes. When you crouch down the vehicle moves faster at a cost to your weapon effectiveness. You can also rise up to attack, but this makes you more of a target.

• Fury

  The fury is a flying vehicle that specializes in shooting down other air units. This vehicle can dodge, allowing you to barrel roll out of the way.

• Stealthbender

  Seemingly the Necris answer to the Axon's Hellbender, this stealth-based vehicle reportedly has deployables such as teleporters. It is unknown if this vehicle will appear in any multiplayer maps.

• Scavenger

  Not much is known about this vehicle except that it can extend its legs and pull itself up terrain or retract them and roll on the ground like a ball.

Teams

In an interview CVG [1] had with character artist Chris Wells, it was confirmed that the line-up of characters in UT3 consists of six teams. This contradicts with earlier known information saying the game would have eight teams to choose from, being the following:

• Iron Guard

  Returning from Unreal Tournament, this team consists of hardened mercenaries and is under lead by old Tournament favorites Brock and his girlfriend Lauren.

• Juggernauts

  These heavily armored, gene-boosted combatants return from UT2004. They mostly consist of disgruntled prisoners and criminals.

• Krall

  These reptilian entities first served as slaves to the Skaarj from the original Unreal game, but they are now apparently working as mercenaries for the Necris.

• Nakhti

  Not much is known about the background of these Egyptian species. They possess far advanced technology and are well skilled in fighting. The Nakhti are also featured in UC2.

• Necris

  Gothic-looking characters from the original Unreal Tournament. Necris are typically humans reincarnated using the Necris Process.

• The Corrupt

  A team of cybernetic robots with significantly advanced programming. Lead by former Tournament champion Xan Kriegor, this team has been created and is financed by the Liandri Corporation itself.

• Thundercrash (?)

  Nothing is really officially known about the return of this popular team from Unreal Tournament. It has long been flagged as "Jacob's Team", but due to confirmation of the return of Thundercrash leader Malcolm and no further word on Jacob or his possible team, it can so far be safely assumed that the Thundercrash is in fact returning.

• Twin Souls

  Not much is known about this race, but they have been pictured in several screenshots. They have been confirmed to be the race you play as in the Singleplayer campaign, the actual player's character is featured on the boxart of the game.

Because of this new information, it is now presumed that the Juggernauts and Nakhti teams have been cut. Juggernauts not being very popular and Nakhti being new to the Tournament, both have never been shown in UT3 media. While neither have The Corrupt and Thundercrash teams, these are much more likely possibilities to be in the game. The Corrupt leader Xan Kriegor is now assumed to be again a definite addition to the Tournament since its return in UT2004, it would also fit into the storyline of UT3 concerning The Corrupt creator and financer the Liandri Corporation. Thundercrash leader Malcolm has been featured on a wide array of UT3 media and is confirmed to be in the game, thus making the return of his team much more likely.

Characters

New to the Unreal Tournament games, UT3 will now include the option to fully customize your character. For example, players will be able to change shoulder pad, boots, torso and leg armor pieces as well as aditional parts like helmets.

The following are the only basic characters currently known to be completely confirmed:

In an interview CVG had with character artist Chris Wells, it has been confirmed that the line-up will consist of 18-24 total characters. Seeing there are six teams included in the game, you can say each team will have 3-4 characters.

Maps

This time around, Epic wants to step away from the wildly different maps seen in previous tournaments, and instead create a few cohesive worlds and tie them together with their level design. You may see a building in the distance on one level and play in it on the next. There are currently only a few known map names, however it has been confirmed that 40 maps will ship with the game and that 13 of them are Warfare maps.

Bonus Content

User Created Content

Additional Information

Community

Epic plans to use UT3 to bring more and more people into the Unreal community, with strong community integration out of the box. In-game lobbies are planned for the Unreal Warfare mode, and game stats integration will allow you to find similarly-skilled opponents via the UT3 server browser.

Also planned are a global rankings system to allow clans to compare scores, as well as a system for viewing community and clan pages in-game.

UT3 mod teams will, of course, be able to take advantage of the improvements in Unreal Engine 3's UnrealEd content creation tool, including the new UnrealKismet scripting environment, visual material editor and UnrealCascade particle engine. More details of UE3 UEd features can be found here.

AI & Voice

UT3 will bring major advances in the artificial intelligence that controls UT bots, as well as the way in which players communicate with them. UT3 players will be able to give bots specific orders using their own voices. Whereas in UT or UT2004 you'd use the voice menu to tell your bots to "attack", you can now give orders like "there's a sniper on the tower, go get him". Bots will also respond to particular questions. For example, if you asked "is there anyone in the cave?", they might reply "no, the cave is clear".

UT3 bots' personalities will also make them better suited to different in-game tasks.

Previews and Reviews

References

See Also

• Unreal Tournament 3 Media Page
• Unreal Tournament 2004
• Unreal Tournament