The Flak Cannon and Rocket Launcher are available, as always, with the mention that the secondary fire from the Flak Cannon will now travel slower and at a higher arc. The Rocket Launcher has the same firing options as it had in the previous part, retaining the option of shooting grenades as well as rockets in a straight line or circular pattern. The number of rockets that you can charge is still three, not five like in the first UT, but the heat seeking option remains if you can keep a target in your sights for long enough. The Link Gun and Shock rifle are pretty much the same, and so are the Sniper Rifle and the Redeemer. The AVRIL Longbow is back again, and is a serious threat to any vehicle, flying or not. The mini-gun has been replaced by the Tarydium stinger, which has a secondary fire capable of throwing people around, or nailing them to walls.

The "pills" that you could collect in the previous parts and be used for activating power-ups such as Berserk or Invisibility have been removed, so you must now look for them on the map. Players still drop them when they die, hehe... Wall jumping and side jumping by pressing a direction key twice will save you from danger time after time, but you will start cursing when activating them by accident. Creating your character will take some time, since you can now choose from the teams appearing in the single player campaign. So you can choose to look like an imposing beast, with skulls everywhere, the heavily armored Ronin, or the cybernetic looking robots. The customization process offers plenty of options to make players look quite different, even if they belong to the same team.

The graphics engine is great and it`s no wonder that it has been used in so many games. The game looks great and, more importantly, does so even on a weaker computer. The weapons look as imposing and massive as ever, the player skins look spectacular, and everything is very detailed. Especially on max details, Unreal 3 is one of the best looking 3d shooters available now. Little details, like when passing through a hologram and having blurry vision afterwards will continue to impress even after you`ve seen them several times. The maps take full advantage of the engine and some have portals that will teleport you to a seemingly different level. You can instantly be transported from a jungle to a snowy base or a high tech facility, one thing I would like to see used more often and in more games.

The sound and music are almost perfect. The announcers voice is present (it`s not Unreal if you can`t hear someone shouting "Multi Kill" as you steam roll over the opposition) and as good as ever. The comments the bots make are quite funny, and the fact that they rarely shut up will make you feel more involved. The sounds are an important part to any shooter, so good headphones or speakers are important. After all, you have to hear when a player picks up the invisibility power up, don`t you? The music is very atmospheric and will seriously contribute to your total immersion into the carnage.

Conclusion:

Unreal 3, while bringing no major changes, is one of the best first person shooters out now. Playing with your friends and ripping their heads off while demonstrating your knowledge of the Flak Gun is a feeling that only the Unreal Tournament series can offer. The combination of new vehicles and new game modes will keep you busy for weeks or months. If you take into consideration the fact that the game also looks damn good, then we have a winner. The large Unreal community will continue to release mods for the game very often, so when you get bored of the game modes that come with it, be sure that you will find one on the net that will make you play a couple more months. What are you waiting for? Are you still reading this? Go and get the game.