Unreal Tournament 3

Unreal Tournament 3, also known as UT3 (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. The game was released in late November 2007 for the PC, December 2007 (NA) and February 2008 (EU) for PS3, and July 2008 for XBox 360. The Mac/Linux versions are currently scheduled for an undetermined date in 2009.



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 fan base.

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 due to the newly increased gravity. Gameplay in UT3 stresses close combat more than its predecessors UT2003 and UT2004. 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 returned in UT3.

Beta Demo
At Midnight on Friday, October 12th, 2007, Fileplanet began preloading the game to its subscribers.

The demo was unlocked and released on FilePlanet at 12:35 PM on Friday, October 12th. The release was apparently several hours earlier than intended, probably in response to a Norwegian site, "IT Avisen", leaking the demo approximately 5 hours earlier than FilePlanet.

The demo, which is Version 3464 according to the startup logs, comes with 3 maps: DM-ShangriLa, DM-HeatRay, and VCTF-Suspense. Of note is that DM-HeatRay was the first taste of the Necris vehicles, specifically, the Darkwalker.

Epic called the release an "Open Beta Demo", and thus it represents just a glimpse of how the game will play. At the release of the demo, Epic promised to fix issues based on user feedback. Many issues that were reported during the beta demo period were fixed or began to be fixed in the first patch.

Final Demo
It is possible that Epic might not release an updated demo, as their current plans do not include one at this time. If it does occur it will likely be after the expansion at the earliest.

Release Details
On November 12th, 2007 (a full seven days prior to the NA release), the German version of the game was released to German retailers. In order to comply with German regulations for public game sales, the game has had blood, gibs and headshots removed from the game. Very little else was changed except for the localization to German.

The US retail release came on November 19th, 2007. This, however, was the "ship" date, and thus many stores did not receive physical product until November 20th, 2007. The Canadian release came on November 20, and stores put it on shelves the very next day. The European release came on November 23, 2007.

Reception
Reception to the beta demo was generally positive, with most people agreeing that Epic has "got it right." There is some notable dissension from the crowd who enjoyed UT2003 and UT2004 though, particularly about the removal of dodge-jumping. Unreal Tournament players, which Epic were targeting, didn't switch to UT3 too as it requires hardware upgrades for older machines which run UT successfully, and also the community being a rather small and addictive one didn't want to leave an already stable game.

Reception to the game on PC has been mostly favorable from the community and reasonably warm from reviewers, with an average score somewhere around 9/10. Warfare in particular has been praised for being a more strategic version of Onslaught. There were, however, several key complaints about the game.


 * Lackluster Single-Player and no Tournament mode
 * While the Single-Player was hyped a lot, it failed to deliver. It was too long and it completely replaced the old Tournament mode. It also had awkward explanations for classic arena gametypes, like FLaGs (Field Lattice Generators) and that scoring points ran out enemy respawners.
 * Awkward and simple UI
 * The UI felt very awkward and was very simple compared to previous UT games. There were very little options available for common settings, and overall the UI felt very unfinished. Many settings can be changed via INI, however often these settings do not save, revert, or appear to have no effect. As of Patch 2.0, the UI has been reworked with a new color scheme and more advanced options, fixing many of the prior complaints.
 * Astoundingly bad Server Admin launch
 * Perhaps the worst problem, UT3 being a multiplayer game primarily, are the problems with the server admin tools. The initial release of the Windows dedicated server package was littered with bugs preventing a significant number of hosts from running servers. The Linux dedicated server was released a month after the retail game, on December 18, 2007 which left many hosts without any UT3 package to offer. Web Admin was also missing from both the original release and the first patch, though it was released alongside Patch 2 and has recieved steady updates since.
 * Modding support simplified
 * Another key complaint with the game is that much of what used to be done in UnrealScript has been moved to native code, supposedly as a way to improve performance on consoles. This, however, has made it increasingly difficult to develop proper mods and mutators for the game in many instances. As of Patch 2.0, modding support has been said to have been improved.

Collectors Edition
On October 26, 2007, a limited collector's edition of the game was announced to be released on PC. This version of the game features an exclusive collector's edition tin and a hardcover art book. A bonus DVD is also included, featuring more than 20 hours of Unreal Engine 3 Toolkit video tutorials, containing anti-WarHawK software (disabling video playback in isolated cases), the history of the Unreal Tournament series, and behind-the-scenes footage of the making of Unreal Tournament 3. The Limited Collector's Edition is being sold in the United States, Europe, South Africa, Australia and most other territories.

Linux
Epic has promised to release a Linux installer for the game in the future that would work with the standard Windows disc.

Expansion
On October 20th, 2008, Mark Rein announced via email that Midway and Epic are working on a "major expansion" for UT3.

On January 26th, 2009, the first part of this expansion was revealed in the form of a major patch. This information was first revealed publically by BeyondUnreal.

The second part of this expansion is being called the "Titan Pack" by Epic. On February 19th, 2009, the contents of the Titan Pack were revealed to the world. Two new gametypes (Greed and Betrayal), one new Mutator (Titans), 2 new characters (Nova and Kana, from the 360), and 16 new maps, including the five 360 maps. The Titan Pack, along with Patch 2.0, was released March 5th, 2009.

System Requirements

 * Minimum System Requirements: Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista, 2.0+ GHZ Single Core Processor, 512 Mbytes of System RAM, NVIDIA 6200+ or ATI Radeon 9600+ Video Card, 8 GB of Free Hard Drive Space
 * Recommended System Requirements: 2.4+ GHZ Dual Core Processor, 1 GBytes of System RAM, NVIDIA 7800GTX+ or ATIx13000+ Video Card, 8 GB of Free Hard Drive Space

Popularity in the PC Market
Using the data collected from Xfire users, as of June 21st 2008, UT2004 is ranked 50th in the list of most played PC games in the world; with a combined total of over 250,000 minutes played per day by a total of over 2,500 Xfire users. On 21st March 2004, soon after release, UT2004's ranked peaked at 3rd place.

Interestingly, these statistics show that Unreal Tournament 2004 is more popular than its successor UT3; with UT3, as of June 21st 2008, being ranked the 94th most played PC game in the world, with over 1,600 players per day playing for a combined total of over 110,000 minutes. Recently, UT3's rank usually remains between 90th and 100th.

Although, due to the release of the Titan Pack for UT3, in the first weekend it had substantially risen in popularity overtaking UT2004, with UT3 being ranked 72nd most played PC game in the world in comparison with UT2004 being ranked 75th, using Xfire's statistics.

As of 21st June 2008: UT2004: 50th, 4167 hours per day. -- UT3: 94th, 1833 hours per day.

As of 15th April 2009: UT2004: 68th, 3405 hours per day. -- UT3: 105th, 1820 hours per day.

As of 15th May 2009: UT2004: 76th, 2557 hours per day. -- UT3: 107th, 1512 hours per day.

As of 21st July 2009: UT2004: 83rd, 2881 hours per day. -- UT3: 126th, 1475 hours per day.

As of 21st August 2009: UT2004: 75th, 2345 hours per day. -- UT3: 123rd, 1261 hours per day.

As of 21st October 2009: UT2004: 77th, 2044 hours per day. -- UT3: 143rd, 944 hours per day.

Engine
Unreal Tournament 3 uses Unreal Engine 3.

Version History
Currently (May 5th, 2009) the latest official version of UT3 is Version 2.1, AKA Version 3809.

As a new patch was recently released, there is no current beta patch. The last beta patch was Patch 5 Beta 3, AKA Version 3809, which is identical to the latest released patch. Please do not ask Epic about support for these betas; they are given only to specific testers and are not intended for wide-scale usage. Beta patches may have bugs which could cause many unknown side effects. Unless you are very comfortable with your PC and your knowledge of UT3's inner workings, it is strongly advised that you await the full patches.

As of January 29th, 2009, users of the retail copy of UT3 were able to use their CD Keys to convert their copy into a Steam version of UT3. This will allow those copies access to the Steam-only features, like the achievements that will be coming in Patch 2.0.

A bit about Patch 2.0
Patch 2.0 changes the game in many drastic ways. Among the multitude of changes are:
 * The UI has been changed. It has a new look. Offline settings (Instant Action) are now saved. More options, especially graphics-related options, are available for tweaking, reducing the need to edit the INI.
 * Clientside demorecs now work fully.
 * The netcode has been improved.
 * The game now features Mapvoting, Gametype voting, and kickvoting.
 * Ammo pickup amounts have mostly been reduced a bit: Shock, Sniper, and Flak pickups have been reduced from 10 ammo to 8 ammo, Rocket ammo has been reduced from 9 to 6, and the Stinger and Link Gun have been reduced from 50 ammo to 40.
 * This is counterbalanced, however, by the new "Weaponstay" scheme which allows you to re-pickup weapons at a weapon base for more ammo, as opposed to the old one which kept the weapon there at all times and you couldn't pick it back up. Instead, the weapon will disappear (locally) for a player who picks it up, only to respawn 27.5 seconds later for them, similarly to how weapon lockers work.
 * In Warfare and VCTF game modes, players will spawn with weapons from the nearest weapon locker.
 * The Goliath got an armor boost, from 800 to 900 armor.

Music
Rom Di Prisco and Jesper Kyd composed the UT3 soundtrack. Kevin Riepl also had a major hand in music production for the game, scoring the cutscenes as well as a few in-game music tracks.

An official game soundtrack was released November 20, 2007. The 2-CD set contains the ingame music, done by Kyd and DiPrisco, which feature a number of remixes from previous Unreal Tournament games. Not every track are present in the soundtrack. All cutscene music is missing, as are the themes to WAR-Downtown and CTF-Coret are missing, due to those tracks being composed by Kevin Riepl. These tracks are, however, available from his site, along with some songs from E3 videos and other early demonstrations.

Gametypes

 * Single Player
 * A five act storyline takes the place of the old tournament ladder system from previous games. The campaign contains in-engine rendered cutscenes along with the ability to gather "cards" that can be used to gain certain advantages in maps by completing side objectives. Online four player co-op is available for the campaign.
 * Deathmatch
 * Free-for-all kill or be killed. The player with the most frags wins.
 * Team Deathmatch
 * Two teams duke it out in a quest for battlefield supremacy. The team with the most total frags wins.
 * Capture the Flag
 * Your team must capture the enemy flag by taking it from the enemy base and returning it to their own. If the flag carrier is killed, the flag drops to the ground for anyone to pick up.  If your team's flag is taken, it must be returned (by touching it after it is dropped) before your team can score a flag capture.
 * Vehicle Capture the Flag
 * Traditional Capture The Flag with vehicles and Hoverboards instead of Translocators. The Flag may not be carried in any vehicle but the Hoverboard.
 * Warfare
 * Create a power chain to the enemy Core by capturing Nodes in a 'connect the dots' fashion. Nodes at the end of a chain may be controlled by either team.  Control Nodes for your team by touching them to start the build process (use the Link Gun alt-fire to speed things up).  Once your team has a link to the enemy Core, attack and destroy it.
 * Duel
 * 1 vs. 1 Dueling Mode.
 * Greed
 * Collect Skulls by defeating opponents, and return them to the opposing team's base.
 * Betrayal
 * Work together to earn bonus points. Betray your team to keep them.

Weapons

 * Deployables
 * Strategy-themed devices. These are the Stasis Field, Energy Shield, Spidermine Trap, EMP, Shaped Charge, X-Ray Field, and the Link Station. These are dropped by the Necris Nightshade, the Axon Stealthbender, or are carried by hand.
 * 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. There are more charges than UT2004 (7 compared to 6) and they refill faster. (About one per second.) Also, the disc has a flatter trajectory than UT2004 and it fires farther than UT, but not quite as far at UT2004.
 * Impact Hammer
 * This favorite from Unreal Tournament makes a comeback with an EMP alt-fire that severely damages vehicles and can remove powerups from other players. One of the newer effects of the Impact Hammer is that if you get several kills with it, blood and gore smear over the hammer - eventually making it more red than orange.
 * Enforcer
 * Your starting weapon, the Enforcer is a pistol with rapid fire. Secondary fire shoots a less accurate triple burst. You spawn with one enforcer, though if a player is killed while holding the weapon it is dropped, and picking up a second enforcer allows you to hold two at a time. As a homage to the original Enforcer's alternate fire, they now turn sideways when you are close to an opponent.
 * 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. Players with a large amount of slime attached to them will get rapidly "chipped" in damage, but they will have a second or two to fight back before dying, giving them a chance to take out the enemy who hit them.
 * Shock Rifle
 * A classic weapon, the Shock Rifle fires an instant-hit beam of energy when primary fire is used, and a floating ball of energy when secondary fire is used. Players can also shoot the ball of energy with the beam to create a shock combo, dealing intense amounts of damage in a small radius (enough to kill a player wearing even medium armor). When compared to past titles, 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. Shock combos will now suck up ragdolls in a small vortex, and gib them if it does so.
 * 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 energy that can skeletize foes, heal vehicles and charge power nodes.
 * Stinger Minigun
 * 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 uses two shards and can also sometimes nail opponents to the wall with the killing blow.
 * Flak Cannon
 * Primary fire for this weapon releases a number of chunks of metal, tearing enemies into shreds. The secondary fire releases an undetonated flak shell that detonates and turns to shrapnel on impact. Compared to past titles, the primary fire bounces more and has a much tighter spread, while the flak shell does not travel as far as it did in UT2004, but it has a much higher upward arc.
 * 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 with a single tap, grenades with two, or back to a spread with three. As in UT2004, rockets can lock onto vehicles. This feature has been visibly improved to help take out vehicles, with much better locking and turning ability.
 * Sniper Rifle
 * The classic sniper rifle has returned to replace the Lightning Gun as the primary long range weapon. It now features a orange-colored tracer, and Bolt Action reloading.
 * Longbow AVRiL
 * The AVRiL is now hand loaded. Its tracking beam can be used to "herd" Spider Mines, much like the alt-fire on the Mine Layer in UT2004, and the tracking beam is also visible to combat problems where a person could get shot with AVRiLs and not know where the enemy is. If a friendly teammate fires an AVRiL and they have not locked onto a target after a few seconds, it is possible to use your own AVRiL to lock onto a target with the targeting beam, which will actually cause the missile to come flying back towards its new target!
 * Redeemer
 * Acting as the sole super weapon in this title, the redeemer fires a small nuclear warhead, capable of killing anybody within range regardless of how they are protected, and destroying all but the most heavily armored vehicles. It takes a few seconds to fully prepare and arm, and it takes up a large portion of your visibility as it is doing so. Primary fire just releases the warhead, while secondary fire gives you the ability to guide it. If you are close to the epicenter, but not directly exposed to damage, you may be knocked off your feet for a moment, as if you had fallen off the hoverboard. As always, a good shot can take the redeemer down, giving both the firing player and the sharpshooter a "Denied!" award.

Powerups
All Powerups are dropped when the player is killed, or if they are knocked off of the player with the Altfire of the Impact Hammer.
 * Jump Boots
 * The Jump Boots return from UT, and are activated by double jumping. It is possible to dodgejump as you could in UT2004, if and only if you have these boots.
 * Berserk
 * Increases weapon rate of fire speed. Combined with the Damage Amplifier, the game will give you a "Juggernaut" award. Additionally, it will also supply full ammo for all the weapons you currently have. Weapons whose rate of fire is not increased (such as the Stinger's primary fire) will act as if they have a damage amplifier, instead.
 * Damage Amplifier
 * Gives double damage. Combined with the Berserk, the game will give you a "Juggernaut" award.
 * Invulnerability
 * Grants you total invincibility from all things except for falling off the map or otherwise instant kill zones. Watch out for players who use the Impact Hammer's altfire to knock it off you!
 * Invisibility
 * Makes the player very difficult/impossible to see. Note that on Detail Level 1, players literally ARE completely invisible!
 * Slow Field
 * Just like the Stasis Field deployable, except this sucker's portable.

Health

 * Health Vial - Small and Green. Heals 5 Health, up to a maximum of 199.
 * Health Pack - Large, White Health Packs that somewhat resemble UT2004's Kegs, but a bit more rounded and without the blue. Heals 25 Health, up to a maximum of 100.
 * Big Keg O' Health - As always, the Keg of health provides an instant +100 Health boost, up to 199 health.

Armor

 * Shield Belt
 * The Shield Belt returns, although it provides only 100 points of protection. However, unlike the UT200x shields, the shield belt will absorb 100% of damage, until it is destroyed. If you are wearing a shield belt and in a vehicle when it is destroyed, you will not die instantly - instead, you will be ejected from the vehicle like in UT2004 assault maps while in Vehicles, but it will cost the Shield Belt. You will also not fall from your Hoverboard if you have a Shield belt.
 * Armor Vest
 * The Armor Vest provides 50 points of protection, and absorbs 75% of taken damage.
 * Thigh Pads
 * The Thigh Pads provide 30 points of protection, and absorbs 50% of taken damage.
 * Helmet
 * The Helmet provides 20 points of protection, and absorbs 50% of taken damage. One feature this piece of armor has that is unique, is its ability to block headshots. Assuming you have at least 1 point of Helmet Armor on, if your character suffers a headshot, it will not affect him or damage him at all - however, the helmet will be destroyed.

Axon

 * Scorpion
 * The primary fire shoots high steel carbo-fragment balls that explode on contact; these are particularly effective against other vehicles, but especially against the Manta, Viper, and Hoverboard, upon which they home in on. It also now features a speed boost feature. You can eject from the Scorpion when using it in this manner, and it will blow up and detonate upon impact. If it kills someone due to the explosion, the game will reward you with a "Bullseye!" award.
 * Hellbender
 * The new rendition of the hellbender places the driver in control over the skymine turret, while the rear turret functions differently from UT2004, being more like a standard turret instead of the twin-beam configuration. The rear turret can either be rapidly fired for low damage or given a brief moment to recharge for more power.
 * Manta
 * In addition to a visual update, players will no longer be able to ride on top of the side fans. The Manta is also unable to hit players without crouching down anymore unless the player is on a hoverboard or a slope.
 * Raptor
 * Besides the visual update, the Raptor now seems to be a bit more responsive to maneuvering, and both the rate of fire and locking ability for its missiles have dramatically improved.
 * Cicada
 * Sporting a much bulkier and boxier look, the Cicada is mostly unchanged, however, ascending and descending seems even faster than before. Missiles can still be charged and held with the Altfire.
 * Paladin
 * Visually much improved from it's UT 2004 debut. The shield will no longer remain deployed if it goes through buildings or other level geometry, and it will get dimmer with sustained damage to allow visual estimation of how charged the shield is. Furthermore, using the shield combo to knock away nearby infantry is now instantaneous, as well as depleting the shield slightly, taking about six combos before the shield is down. It seems to be slightly faster, as well.
 * Hellfire SPMA
 * The skymine turret is now controlled by the driver when the paladin is undeployed. There is no longer a passanger/gunner seat. The camera can now crush and kill people if it hits them (or even if they simply run into it!) and it also cannot be launched as far upward - however, to compensate, the bombing is considerably more tightly packed. There is now a visual arc that shows what path the shell will roughly take, assuming that the area is strikeable - an area that cannot be bombed will not show this targeting arc.
 * Goliath
 * The Goliath tank works effectively the same to its UT2004 equivalent. It can climb over small obstacles now, such as other vehicles, and has a much higher upward firing range than its UT2004 counterpart. Its shell range has been decreased somewhat, but they also have less randomness in each shot.
 * 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. It has considerably more armor and the Ion Cannon takes nearly twice as long to deploy, compared to the UT2004 version. Each turret can be individually destroyed as well.
 * Stealthbender
 * Axon's Stealth Research Division managed to get some of the early specs for the Necris Nightshade vehicle and have been attempting to retrofit that technology onto their own.

Necris
The Necris have six vehicles at their disposal:
 * Viper
 * A single passenger speeder. The primary gun fires projectiles that bounce off walls, similar to Ripper projectiles in the original UT. 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, and ram vehicles or targets from the air.
 * 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 and out of some vehicles (Manta, Viper) or force others out of the way (Scavenger). The vehicle also features a secondary gunner position that functions similar to a Plasma Turret.
 * Nemesis
 * The Nemesis is the Necris answer to the Goliath, and it features an instant hit twin laser beam with zoom. The vehicle also supports different modes. When you crouch down the vehicle moves faster, but it will completely lock your aim forward, with no motion at all except for vehicular manipulation. You can also rise up to attack, but this makes you more of a target. You can also rise up even more to increase the beams' rate of fire... but this makes you nearly immobile, roughly on par with the Leviathan, as well as a very large and obvious target.
 * Fury
 * The Fury is a single-seated flying vehicle that specializes in shooting down other air units. This vehicle can dodge, allowing you to barrel roll out of the way. Primary fire is a hitscan beam attack, similar in nature to the Darkwalker but with less range, and with a lock-on ability once struck as well as a very quick recharge time. Altfire allows a quick burst of speed to get out of the way of missiles or shots heading your way. It was planned to hold 2 passengers, who could control small guns like the Dark Walker passenger gun, this was cancelled due to the size.
 * Nightshade
 * Seemingly the Necris answer to the Axon's Hellbender, this stealth-based vehicle primarily has deployables as weapons: Spider Mines, EMP Mines, Shield Generators, and the Stasis Field, commonly called the "Slow Volume." Its only other weapon is a short-range beam similar to the Link Gun's, with very limited range that heals vehicles and nodes at a greatly accelerated speed. It can uncloak to go faster, toggled with Altfire.
 * Scavenger
 * This spherical vehicle can extend its legs and pull itself up terrain or retract them and roll on the ground like a ball. It also has a spinning attack that is effective against infantry. A small ball hovers around the vehicle; it is this orb that attacks directly and not the Scavenger, which acts more like a targeting device for this orb to attack. It can move at great speeds while rolling on the ground, but has little control as a result. Ramming into other vehicles at great speed while rolling as a ball damages them considerably.

Other

 * Hoverboard
 * Pressing the translocator 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 Capture the Flag maps. The flag or orb may be carried on the Hoverboard, but any amount of damage, even one point, will send the player tumbling (this includes falling damage) in addition to dropping the orb or flag, if they carried it, unless the player is currently wearing a Shieldbelt. A player who falls off will be prone for a moment before being able to get up, which could naturally be fatal if there's opposition in the area. This also extends to grappling onto a vehicle, so if the carrier is shot from high up as they're attached to a raptor or other flying vehicle, it is generally lethal unless the player has lots of armor and health.
 * Turrets
 * These formerly stationary one-man laser cannons are now equipped with rails, offering the turret limited mobility in order to help prevent attackers from taking advantage of the terrain by obtaining angles of shot that cannot be avoided. These come in four delicious flavors: Energy Turrets, Shock Turrets, Rocket Turrets, and Stinger Turrets.
 * Eradicator
 * The Eradicator is rather like a SPMA, except completely stationary. That doesn't make it any less deadly, though, since it can hit you regardless of where you are.

Teams
Teams present in UT3 are the following:
 * Ronin
 * The only survivors of the infamous Twin Souls massacre, bound together out of a sense of duty, honor, and revenge.
 * Iron Guard
 * A group of highly skilled and well trained mercenaries, experts in virtually any combat scenario.
 * Krall
 * The Necris use these formidable reptilian beasts for the pacification of newly conquered planets.
 * Necris
 * The secretive Phayder Corporation developed the Necris process to produce this elite group of assassins.
 * Liandri
 * Combat modified versions of the Liandri Mining Corporation's world-class security drones.

These teams have probably been in the game at one point, but appear to have been cut:
 * Thunder Crash
 * Even though Malcolm is present in the game, he and his team of experienced fighters do not participate as opponents in the storyline.
 * Juggernauts
 * These heavily armored, gene-boosted combatants would have returned from UT2004. They mostly consist of disgruntled prisoners and criminals.
 * Nakhti
 * The Nakhti possess far advanced technology and are well skilled in fighting. They are featured in UC2.

Characters
New to the Unreal Tournament games, UT3 now includes the option to fully customize your character. Players are able to switch out several armor pieces:
 * Facemask
 * Helmet
 * Goggles
 * Shoulderpads
 * Torso
 * Arms
 * Thighs
 * Boots

Included are the following characters: {| class="list" width="100%"

Iron Guard

 * Lauren (Leader)
 * Barktooth
 * Harlin
 * Slain
 * Johnson
 * Ariel
 * BlackJack

Izanagi / Ronin

 * Reaper
 * Bishop
 * Othello
 * Jester
 * Kensai
 * Kai
 * Kana (Patch 2.0)

Krall

 * Scythe (Leader)
 * Cerberus
 * Gnasher
 * Scorn

Necris

 * Akasha (Leader)
 * Loque
 * Damian
 * Kragoth
 * Malakai
 * Alanna

Liandri / The Corrupt

 * Matrix (Leader)
 * Aspect
 * Cathode
 * Enigma
 * Nova (Patch 2.0)
 * }

''Note: You can unlock 'Leaders' by beating them in the Singeplayer Campaign. All of the Necris characters are unlockables. Ariel and Alanna are special characters unlocked by a code.''

Maps
This time around, Epic chose 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. 40 maps shipped with the game and 13 of them are Warfare maps. As of the Titan Pack, the total map count will raise to a staggering 57 maps. {| class="list" width="100%" ! colspan="3" |

Capture the Flag
! colspan="4" |
 * CTF-Coret
 * CTF-FacingWorlds (Bonus pack)
 * CTF-Hydrosis
 * CTF-LostCause (Titan pack)
 * CTF-Morbid (Titan pack & Titans mutator recommended)
 * CTF-Nanoblack (Titan pack)
 * CTF-OmicronDawn
 * CTF-Reflection
 * CTF-Searchlight (Bonus pack)
 * CTF-Shaft (Titan pack)
 * CTF-Strident
 * CTF-Vertebrae
 * CTF-Searchlight (Bonus pack)
 * CTF-Shaft (Titan pack)
 * CTF-Strident
 * CTF-Vertebrae
 * CTF-Vertebrae

Deathmatch
! colspan="4" |
 * DM-Arsenal
 * DM-Biohazard
 * DM-CarbonFire
 * DM-DarkMatch (Titan pack)
 * DM-Deck
 * DM-Defiance
 * DM-Deimos
 * DM-Diesel
 * DM-EdenInc (Titan pack)
 * DM-Fearless
 * DM-Gateway
 * DM-HeatRay
 * DM-KBarge (Titan pack)
 * DM-OceanRelic (Titan pack)
 * DM-Morbias (Bonus pack)
 * DM-RisingSun
 * DM-Sanctuary
 * DM-Sentinel
 * DM-ShangriLa
 * DM-Turbine (Titan pack)
 * DM-RisingSun
 * DM-Sanctuary
 * DM-Sentinel
 * DM-ShangriLa
 * DM-Turbine (Titan pack)
 * DM-Turbine (Titan pack)

Vehicle Capture the Flag
! colspan="4" |
 * VCTF-Containment
 * VCTF-Corruption
 * VCTF-Kargo
 * VCTF-Necropolis
 * VCTF-Sandstorm
 * VCTF-Stranded (Titan pack)
 * VCTF-Suspense
 * VCTF-Suspense_Necris (Titan pack)
 * VCTF-Rails (Titan pack)
 * VCTF-Suspense
 * VCTF-Suspense_Necris (Titan pack)
 * VCTF-Rails (Titan pack)
 * VCTF-Rails (Titan pack)

Warfare
! colspan="3" |
 * WAR-Avalanche
 * WAR-ColdHarbor (Titan pack)
 * WAR-Confrontation (Titan pack)
 * WAR-Downtown
 * WAR-Downtown_Necris (Titan pack)
 * WAR-Dusk
 * WAR-Floodgate
 * WAR-Hostile (Titan pack)
 * WAR-Islander
 * WAR-MarketDistrict
 * WAR-OnyxCoast
 * WAR-PowerSurge
 * WAR-Serenity
 * WAR-Sinkhole
 * WAR-TankCrossing
 * WAR-Torlan
 * WAR-Serenity
 * WAR-Sinkhole
 * WAR-TankCrossing
 * WAR-Torlan
 * WAR-Torlan
 * }

Mutators
The following mutators either come with the game or have been added in later bonus packs.


 * Arena
 * Default weapon pickups in a level can be substituted with a single weapon.
 * Big Head
 * Head size depends on ratio of kills to deaths.
 * No Orbs
 * No Orbs in Warfare.
 * Friendly Fire
 * Friendly fire damages teammates (50 percent of full damage taken).
 * Handicap
 * Provides armor and weapon bonuses to losing players.
 * Instagib
 * Players are equipped with a one shot kill instagib rifle, and all pickups are removed from the game.
 * Low Gravity
 * Gravity is reduced.
 * No Hoverboard
 * Hoverboard is removed.
 * No Super Pickups
 * Removes all super pickups (Shieldbelt, Power Ups, Megahealth, Redeemer) from the game.
 * No Translocator
 * The Translocator device is removed from the player's inventory.
 * Slow Mo
 * Slows the game down.
 * Kills Slow Time
 * Time slows down for a moment every time you kill an enemy (instant action only).
 * Speed Freak
 * Speeds the game up.
 * Super Berserk
 * Players fire at Berserk speed for the entire match.
 * Survival
 * Spectating players spawn into the match after current players are killed (for the Duel gametype only).
 * Weapon Replacement
 * Default weapon pickups in a level can be substituted with different weapons.
 * Weapon Respawn
 * Weapons respawn instead of always being available. (Obsolete as of 2.0?)
 * Titans
 * Allow players to become Titans.

Bonus Content
Before any official bonus content was released, Epic "cooked" a few user created maps and mutators for use with the PS3 version to give those users something to play with. (All custom content must be created on a PC.)

On the 27th of March 2008, Epic released their first bonus pack, which contains three maps: DM-Morbias, CTF-FacingWorlds and CTF-Searchlight.

The Xbox 360 version of the game has 2 new characters (Kana of the Twin Souls and Nova of the Liandri) as well as the Bonus Pack maps and 5 exclusive maps, which are: WAR-ColdHarbor, DM-KBarge, VCTF-Rails, WAR-DownTown_Necris and VCTF-Suspense_Necris.

The Titan Pack is the second bonus pack. The pack includes two new game modes, one new mutator, Kana and Nova from the XBox 360, two new deployables, a new powerup, a new vehicle, two new weapons, and 16 new maps, five of which are the former XBox 360 exclusive maps. It was released March 5th, 2009.

Sprees
Awarded for making a certain number of kills without dying. Sprees are reset upon death.
 * Killing Spree: 5 kills.
 * Dominating: 10 kills.
 * Rampage: 15 kills.
 * Unstoppable: 20 kills.
 * Godlike: 25 kills.
 * Massacre: 30 kills or more.

Multikills
Awarded for making the amount of kills within 3-4 seconds of the previous kill.
 * Double Kill: 2 kills.
 * Multi Kill: 3 kills.
 * Mega Kill: 4 kills.
 * Ultra Kill: 5 kills.
 * Monster Kill: 6 kills or more.

Weapon Awards
Awarded for getting the amount of kills with the said weapon.
 * Jack Hammer: 15 kills with Impact Hammer.
 * Gun Slinger: 15 kills with Enforcer.
 * Bio hazard: 15 kills with Bio-Rifle.
 * Combo king: 15 kills with the Shock Rifle's combo.
 * Shaft Master: 15 kills with Link Gun's alt fire.
 * Blue Streak: 15 kills with Stinger Minigun.
 * Flak Master: 15 kills with Flak Cannon.
 * Rocket Scientist: 15 kills with Rocket Launcher.
 * Head Hunter: 15 Headshots with the Sniper Rifle.
 * Big Game Hunter: 15 kills with the Longbow AVRiL.

Other Awards

 * Eagle Eye: Destroying a flying vehicle (Raptor, Cicada, Fury), a speeding Scorpion, or a Viper ready to self-destruct with the Goliath or Paladin.
 * Bullseye: Killing an enemy with the kamikaze feature of the Scorpion or Viper. This does NOT have to be an enemy in a vehicle - killing an enemy on foot will still give you the Bullseye.
 * Top Gun: Destroying a flying vehicle with a Raptor's missiles.
 * Pancake: Using a vehicle to crush an enemy player, either onto the ground or against a wall. (Easiest to do with a Manta.)
 * Road Rampage: Running over 15 people with a vehicle.
 * Hijacked and Carjacked: Stealing an abandoned enemy vehicle. (Stealing a Scorpion or Hellbender results in a "Carjacked!" announcement, but they are technically the same award)
 * Juggernaut: Having two or more of the following powerups at the same time: Berserk, Double Damage, and Invulnerability. Also conferred upon you when you become a Titan or a Behemoth.
 * First Blood: Be the first to make a kill in a match.
 * Hat Trick: 3 successful flag captures in a match. They do not need to be consecutive.
 * Denied: Destroying an enemy redeemer before it blows up, killing an enemy orb runner within close range of a powernode before they can capture it, or killing an enemy flag carrier within close range of their flag before they can capture it.
 * Assassin: Betray one of your teammates in Betrayal or kill a Titan.
 * Payback: Kill a rogue who betrayed your team in Betrayal.
 * Rejected: Kill an enemy skull carrier just before he captures skulls in Greed.

Achievements
Achievements (called trophies in the PS3 version and awards in the game log) have been added to the game as of Patch 2.0. Even if you have already met the criteria for the achievement prior to this patch, you will not unlock the achievement. You must meet the criteria after Patch 2.0 to earn it.


 * Lock and Load: Complete Chapter 1.
 * Soldier's Blood: Complete Chapter 2.
 * Does Not Compute: Complete Chapter 3.
 * Not in Kansas Anymore: Complete Chapter 4.
 * I'm Not on a Holy War: Defeat Akasha and complete the campaign.
 * Just Business: Complete Chapter 2 in Insane.
 * Bag of Bolts: Complete Chapter 3 in Insane.
 * Open War: Complete Chapter 4 in Insane.
 * Fear the Reaper: Defeat Akasha and complete the campaign in Insane.
 * I Need Some Backup: Complete 1 mission in co-op.
 * Got Your Back: Complete 10 missions in co-op.
 * Thanks To All the Little People: Complete a campaign in co-op.
 * I See How It Is: Complete an Instant Action match in every game mode.
 * Untouchable: Reach 20 kills against a god-like bot in instant action without dying.
 * Like the Back of My Hand: Collect every power up on every map.
 * Spice of Life: Play a match with every mutator, using only 1 per match.
 * Brain Surgeon: Get the "Head Hunter" award in 10 matches.
 * Don't Taze Me Bro!: Get the "Combo King" award in 10 matches.
 * Goo God: Get the "Biohazard" award in 10 matches.
 * Pistolero: Get the "Gun Slinger" award in 10 matches.
 * Shard-o-matic: Get the "Blue Streak" award in 10 matches.
 * Hammerhead: Get the "JackHammer" award in 10 matches.
 * Strongest Link: Get the "Shaft Master" award in 10 matches.
 * Have a Nice Day: Get the "Rocket Scientist" award in 10 matches and "Flak Master" award in 10 matches.
 * Big Game Hunter: Get the "Big Game Hunter" award in 10 matches.
 * Armadillo: Get the "Roadkill" award in 10 matches.
 * Jack of All Trades: Kill an enemy with every vehicle (except hoverboard).
 * Ace: Get the "Top Gun" award in 20 matches.
 * Deathwish: Get "Bullseye" (self-destruct to destroy an enemy) award in 20 matches.
 * Seeing Red: Have over 20 minutes of "Berserk Time".
 * Never Saw It Coming: Have over 20 minutes of "Invisibility Time".
 * Survival of the Fittest: Have over 10 minutes of "Invulnerable Time".
 * Delivering the Hurt: Have over 20 minutes of "UDamage Time".
 * Hat Trick: Achieve a Hat Trick in 10 CTF or VCTF matches.
 * Being a Hero: Return 100 Orbs in Warfare matches.
 * Flag Waver: Completed 100 CTF matches played to at least 3 captures.
 * Thirty Minutes or Less: Complete 100 VCTF matches played to at least 3 captures.
 * Paint the Town Red: Complete 100 Deathmatch or Duel matches played to at least 20 kills.
 * Connect the Dots: Complete 100 Warfare matches played to at least 3 points.
 * Serial Killer: Get the "Killing Spree" award in 20 matches.
 * Sir Slays-a-Lot: Get the "Monster Kill" award in 20 matches.
 * Killjoy: End sprees in 20 matches.
 * Off To a Good Start: Get the "First Blood" award in 40 matches.
 * Let's Get It On: Complete a multiplayer match in every game type.
 * Around the World: Win a multiplayer match on every map.
 * Get a Life: Get 200 kills in multiplayer on 50 different days.
 * Online Champion: Win 500 online matches.
 * Can't Be Trusted: Grab 200 points worth of betrayal pots.
 * Avenger: 20 successful retributions against a betrayer.
 * Bag of Bones: Deliver 50 skulls in one score in Greed against adept or higher skilled bots.
 * Skull Collector: Score 500 skulls in Greed.
 * Titanic: Become a titan 20 times.
 * Behemoth: Become a Behemoth 10 times.
 * Unholy: 10 kills with every Titan weapon in one Titan transformation.
 * The Slow Lane: Use the Slow Field power-up for over 10 minutes total.
 * Eradication: Get 100 kills with the Eradicator.
 * Arachnophobia: Kill 10 people with spidermines in deathmatch.
 * Unreal! (PS3 version): Collect all above trophies.

Community
Epic planned to use UT3 to bring more and more people into the Unreal community, with strong community integration out of the box. In-game lobbies were planned for Warfare, and game stats integration would have allowed you to find similarly-skilled opponents via the UT3 server browser. However, none of these elements shipped with the final game.

A global rankings system does exist to allow clans and other players to compare scores.

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.

PS3 users can now download specially cooked versions of various maps and mutators, provided the author supplies them. However, there are some limitations, and custom sounds or music cannot be supported in PS3 versions of the maps due to a proprietary sound codec being used.

The XBox 360 version does not appear to support custom content, but Epic might try to provide certain user-created content in the future. It does, however, currently have exclusive maps and characters not on the PC or PS3 versions, as well as a split-screen mode. As of Patch 2.0 and the Titan Pack, these features are no longer exclusive to the 360.

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".

Apparently, this feature is quite buggy however. It is reported to work best for users who have a clear North American accent.

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

Previews and Reviews

 * BeyondUnreal Reviews: Unreal Tournament 3