| Unreal Tournament 3 | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Epic Games |
| Publisher(s) | Midway Games |
| Distributor(s) | Valve Corporation |
| Designer(s) | Steven Polge |
| Composer(s) | Jesper Kyd Rom Di Prisco |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 3 |
| Version | 2.1 (May 4, 2009) |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 Tegra |
| Release date(s) | Microsoft Windows NA November 19, 2007 EU November 22, 2007 PlayStation 3 NA December 11, 2007 EU February 22, 2008 JP September 18, 2008 Xbox 360 AU July 3, 2008 EU July 4, 2008 NA July 7, 2008 |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | Optical disc, download |
| System requirements
Microsoft Windows
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Unreal Tournament 3 (UT3) is a first-person shooter and online multiplayer video game by Epic Games, and is the latest installment of the Unreal series. It is published by Midway Games, and was released for Microsoft Windows on November 19, 2007, PlayStation 3 on December 11, 2007, and Xbox 360 on July 3, 2008. The Linux and Mac OS X versions of the game were planned to be released as downloadable installers that work with the retail disc. Ryan C. Gordon has uploaded screenshots of the game, dating from September 2008, running on both platforms.[3][4] On May 22, 2009, Ryan stated that the UT3 port for Linux was still in process.[5] On December 16, 2010, Steve Polge announced that the Linux port would never be released, making the first Unreal Tournament game not released on Linux.[6]
Unreal Tournament 3 is the fourth game in the Unreal Tournament series and the eighth Unreal game, but is numbered in terms of the engine it runs on. The original Unreal Tournament uses the first Unreal Engine, while UT2003 and UT2004 use Unreal Engine 2. Since 2004 incorporates all of the content from 2003, they are regarded as part of the same generation. UT3 is the third generation, as it runs on Unreal Engine 3, and does not reuse any content.[7] In March 2008, Midway announced that UT3 had sold over a million copies worldwide.[8]
Contents |
Similar to the prior entries of the series, the game is primarily an online multiplayer title offering several game modes, including large-scale Warfare, Capture-the-Flag, and Death match. It also includes an extensive offline single-player game with an in-depth story, beginning with a simple tournament ladder and including team members with unique personalities. The following game modes are included:
Modes not returning from the prior Unreal Tournament games include Invasion, Mutant (having been later on partially replaced by the Titan mutator in the UT3 Titan Pack), Onslaught (replaced by Warfare), Bombing Run, Last Man Standing, Domination, Double Domination, and Assault; Assault was removed from the game during production.[9]
In this installment of Unreal Tournament, the vehicles are split into two factions, the Axon vehicles and Necris vehicles. The Axon vehicles are the same vehicles from UT2004, but several have significant game play changes. In addition, on vehicle maps every player is equipped with a personal hover board, a skateboard-like device that allows players to quickly traverse large maps and grapple onto other team-mates' vehicles. The hover board is very vulnerable to attack, and any hit will knock the player off the board and disable him or her for several seconds, leaving the player exposed and vulnerable. The player cannot use any weapons while on the board.
Unlike the prior Unreal Tournament games, the single-player campaign does not follow a plot based around the Tournament Grand Championship, and therefore several of the teams within Unreal Tournament 3 are not Tournament competitors.
The five playable factions are: Iron Guard, a team of human mercenaries led by former Tournament champion Malcolm; the Ronin, a band of four survivors of a Skaarj attack on a human colony; Liandri, a series of advanced humanoid robots custom-built or retrofitted for combat; the Krall, a warlike race of aliens formerly under the leadership of the Skaarj, returning from their initial appearance in the original Unreal; and the Necris, warriors who have undergone the process of the same name, making them stronger at the expense of replacing their biological processes with "Nanoblack", effectively turning them into undead soldiers (hence the name, Necris).
In the Campaign, the player is a member of the Ronin, and the Necris serve as the chief antagonists.
On October 26, 2007, a limited collector's edition of the game was announced for release 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 twenty hours of Unreal Engine 3 Tool kit video tutorials, 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, Canada, Latin America, Europe, South Africa, Australia and most other territories.[10]
On March 5, 2009, a free update called Titan Pack was released for the PC; the PS3 version of the pack was released on March 19, 2009.
The pack includes five maps and two characters that were formerly exclusive to the Xbox 360 version, along with eleven brand new maps, two new game modes ("Greed" and "Betrayal"), and the Titan Mutator. The Titan Mutator causes a player to grow in size as they do better, while carrying alternative weapons and power ups. The expansion also includes a new power up, a new vehicle, two new deployables, and the addition of stinger turrets. A new patch was also released in conjunction with the Titan Pack, which allowed for various AI improvements (especially in vehicle modes), networking performance upgrades and added support for Steam Achievements (PC) and Trophies (PS3). It also adds a two player split screen mode (formerly exclusive to the 360 version) and mod browsing for the PS3 version.
Upon release, the Xbox 360 version had five exclusive maps, two exclusive characters, a two-player split screen mode,[11] and all the downloadable content released by Epic already on the disc. With the release of the PS3 and PC "Titan Upgrade" patch on March 5, these versions offered the formerly exclusive Xbox 360 content, as well as other content.[12] The Xbox 360 version does not support user-generated mods, as additional content has to be verified by Microsoft before being released. It is the only version to support controllers only.
The PS3 version supports mods that can be uploaded and downloaded to the PS3's HDD or external media, as well as mouse and keyboard inputs. The 1.1 patch was released on March 21, 2008. It adds the ability for players using the North American and European versions to play together, fixes problems with some USB headsets, and displays the lowest pinging servers at top of the server list. Some updates only applied on the North American version, since the PAL version released in March 2008 was already partially updated.[13] The 2.0 patch was released on March 5, 2009, and adds better PC mod support, split screen, smarter AI, forty eight attainable Trophies, server-side improvements, an improved map vote, local multi-player, and a new user interface.
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| Metacritic | 83/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Official Xbox Magazine | 8.5/10 |
Unreal Tournament 3 received generally positive reviews from critics. The Windows version received an average score of 84% based on 38 reviews on the review aggregator Game Rankings,[14] and an average score of 83 out of 100 based on 40 reviews on Metacritic.[15] The PS3 version received an average score of 86% based on 41 reviews on the review aggregator Game Rankings,[16] and an average score of 86 out of 100 based on 41 reviews on Metacritic.[17] Xbox Magazine rated it 8.5 out of 10.[18] Midway announced in March 2008 that they had shipped over 1 million units worldwide.[19] GameSpot gave it a 8 out of 10 for the Xbox 360 version and 8.5 for PC and PS3.[20] PlayStation: the Official Magazine gave it 5 stars out of 5 in its February '08 issue and stated, "UT3 looks great, but it's every bit the stunner under the surface."
Unreal Tournament 3: The Soundtrack is primarily based on the original Unreal Tournament score, which was composed by Straylight Productions and Michiel van den Bos.[21][22] Jesper Kyd and Rom Di Prisco re-recorded UT99's tracks and composed several other original tracks, which were released on November 20, 2007 by Sumthing Else.[23] Sandhya Sanjana was featured as a guest vocalist.
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