Unreal Tournament 3

Unreal Tournament 3 (previously codenamed Envy and also formerly named UT2007) 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.



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, a change which made the whole of the Unreal Tournament fan base dance for joy.

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.

Demo
A demo is due to be released roughly one month before the game is released. Since the game is due in November, several people have 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 overall positive. People are liking what they are seeing at this point.

Music
The following people have been confirmed as working on the UT3 music.
 * Alexander Brandon

Weapons

 * HoverBoard
 * 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.
 * 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
 * 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 UT 2004 to be more closely match the rate of the original UT. The primary rate of fire has also been reduced.
 * Flak Cannon
 * 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 UT99. 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" spidermines, much like the alt-fire on the Mine Layer in UT2004.
 * Redeemer
 * Target Painter
 * Epic plans to allow the Target Painter to control level-specific hazards in UT3.

Teams

 * Nakhti
 * Egyptians from UC2
 * Necris
 * Gothic characters from the original Unreal Tournament. Necris are typically humans reincarnated using the Necris Process
 * Juggernauts
 * These heavily armored, gene-boosted combatants return from UT 2004.
 * The Corrupt
 * A team of robots lead by Xan Kriegor.
 * Iron Guard
 * An old favorite returning from Unreal Tournament.
 * Krall : Slaves to the Skaarj from the original Unreal game.
 * Jacob's Team (?)
 * (Marines?)
 * Twin Souls
 * Not much is known about this race, but they have been pictured in several screenshots.

Gametypes

 * Story Mode
 * 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. The gametype has also been expanded to include levels with vehicles. 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.

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Gameplay
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.

The Unreal Tournament 3 singleplayer portion 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.

Once the Necris infection begins, you will replay maps that will have changed from their presence, with the addition of Necris vehicles and stolen technology. Levels will be visibly altered from the Necris infection tubes. On one map, CTF-Corruption, the base of each team is a feudal Asian inspired multi-level building, but the Necris side has enormous Necris tendrils snaking through the landscape and as far up into the sky as you can see.

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.

Vehicles
All nine 'Axon' vehicles from UT2004 and the ECE Bonus Pack will be back in UT3, with a few changes. All vehicles enjoy a much improved suspension system that allows them to handle much more realistically.


 * Scorpion - The scorpion is a one man buggy with a secondary fire that deploys twin blades to decapitate opponents as you drive along. 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.
 * Hellbender - The new rendition of the hellbender places the driver in control over the skymine turret. The skymine turret behaves much like the shock rifle. However one combo can detonate nearby combos generating a cascade effect. The second turret shoots chargeable twin beams.
 * Manta - Largely unchanged, other than cosmetically, this one-man hovering vehicle is quite fast and shoots rapid-fire energy shots, though its most deadly maneuver continues to be plowing over ground troops and sucking them up into its fan powered wings.
 * Raptor - Not much is currently known, but this vehicle also seems to be changed largely in appearance.
 * Cicada - Sporting a much bulkier and boxier look, not much new is known about this vehicle which returns from UT 2004.
 * Paladin - This one is excels at defense when its large shield is deployed. Visually much improved from its UT 2004 debut.
 * SPMA - A long-range mobile gun that fires a camera high into the air, and follows it with a shot that breaks apart before it falls to the ground as a cluster bomb. A second player can man the Skymine turret that shoots ShockRifle-like combos that can be stringed together.
 * Goliath - The goliath tank features two firing modes. The primary fire fires a powerful tank shell. The secondary fires a wide area shell specialized for anti-infantry use. A second player can man the machine gun turret.
 * 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.

In addition, there will also be an all-new selection of nine 'Necris' vehicles.


 * 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.

Each player will also have use of a Hoverboard, added as a way to keep people in the action at all times. Steve Polge comments (E3 2006) on the Hoverboard:

"It's not something you want to use in combat, because you don't have a weapon when you're on it. And if you get shot while you're on it you're going to tumble and become an easy target. You can also grapple onto the backs of other vehicles and get a ride. Steve also mentioned that they used to it solve the problem of when someone takes off in a hellbender without you, you can quickly grapple onto and tow yourself into the vehicle while it's moving."

Community
Screenshot

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.

Graphics
The most visible technological improvements in UT3 come from the move to Unreal Engine 3. Environments are now alive with rich shaders, and per-pixel lit. As such, a DirectX 9 compatible card is a must. Expect the minimum spec graphics card to be an NVIDIA GeForce FX or ATI Radeon 9700 level card. If you're looking for decent performance however, you'll need to aim a little higher. At E3 2005, Epic's Tim Sweeney suggested an NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra level card for decent frame rates at 1024x768 resolution.

The engine is capable of level streaming eliminating load screens. The scoreboard is shown over a blank screen that is shown for a few seconds as the next level loads. Once it loads you can view the new level as you wait for other players to join. You can view the scoreboard, and talk during this.

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.