A very worthwhile game

I have often loved to play FPS (First-Person-Shooter) games in my spare time, and have generally steered away from sci-fi games, such as Unreal Tournament.
However, to my surprise I found that this game not only provides excellent gameplay, it also offers excellent graphics (if you have a computer that can support it).

I run the game on a 1333Mhz Amd Athlon Thunderbird Processor, with 512MB of DDR Ram (266) and a Sparkle Geforce 4 Ultra TI 4600. My computer is lacking in Processing power for today's games, however it still handles games fairly well, and UT2004 is NO exception. I have encountered NO problems whatsoever on my system whilst playing UT2004 and can honestly say that there are very few things that could be improved on the handling front (maybe one or two slight graphical glitches here and there, but I don't like to nit-pick ;)).

The game itself is new to me. Whilst there are previous games in the series, I have never purchased, or even played, one of the earlier versions of Unreal Tournament in my life (except for the UT 2004 Demo), which is probably why I am surprised as to how I let this series slip my attention all these years, after experiencing the thrills this title has to offer.

It's nice to see a large variety of modes available to you in the game, which can range from a simple 'Deathmatch' mode (where competitors fight for top spot) to a huge 'Onslaught' arena where two teams are pitted against each other to secure 'power nodes' in order to ensure their success in the destruction of the enemy's main core. I am particularly impressed also by the amount of effort the designers have put into the gun designs as everything seems fairly balanced and the controls are easy to use.

The graphics, as I previously stated, are amazing on the highest texture resolution, and I strongly recommend that people try and play the game with this level of detail to fully appreciate the complex environments that UT2004 has to offer.
Whilst the engine itself may not be new to the series, I am sure certain enhancements have been made over previous titles and I am very impressed with how clear and beautiful some of the scenery appears.

The sound is also very good, with some excellent music suiting each type of landscape you are fighting on (this ranges from soft slow rhythms to loud and fast rock-beats).
I am also impressed by how well the environment sound is managed in the game; I play UT2004 on a 5.1 surround sound system and all the sound is perfectly structured to make you feel as though you are fighting the battle in real life. There are sound occlusions too which is also a nice feature, so for example if there is gunfire coming from behind a building or an object, the sound is dimmed down and actually sounds authentic; which just adds to the realism of the environments(even though this is a sci-fi game).

A last notable piece of information is that this game is really designed for users with the intentions to play on-line, as the single player mode is basically just fighting against bots in the arenas (where as multiplayer is far more challenging). Single player is basically a tournament structure, where teams of people (with you as the leader of your team) compete against each other in different game modes to fight for the top trophy.

My final thoughts: - Whilst not one of the most demanding games out at the moment (which is good for people in my position with low-end computers), the game does have a lot to offer and very little to be desired. I am sure that the series will continue to expand and more enhancements will be made over the forth-coming years. Many single player enthusiasts may be disappointed with this, however, and it should be noted that an internet connection to play online in this game is a MUST, as single player decreases the life-span of this game a great deal.

One final piece of valuable information I have to offer is that if you have a retail copy of UT2003, you may offer to send off for a redeemable £7.50 rebate order through the mail, so long as you part with disk 1 of UT2003 and show proof of purchase (such as a receipt).

Final Score:

Graphics - 9/10
Gameplay - 8/10
Lifespan - 8/10
Sound - 10/10
Multiplayer - 10/10
Single Player - 5/10 (a debateable issue)