If you hate Unreal, then stop reading here since probably nothing is going to change your mind. If you`re expecting something new, like planting bombs or headshots with more than the sniper rifle, then go back to playing Counterstrike. If, however, you`re just itching for some fast paced action and hearing "Dominating" or "Double kill" whenever you kill someone, then you`ve come to the right place.

There`s this saying, that I`m sure you`re all familiar with: "If it isn`t broken, then don`t fix it". This fits the Unreal Tournament series like a glove. To be honest, the game doesn`t really bring anything new to the table. But it sure is a lot of fun... After logging on to your online account, one option will quickly draw your attention. At least is certainly drew mine. Clicking on the "Campaign" button will reduce your enthusiasm, though, as this is nothing more than playing the multiplayer maps with bots, in a certain order, and watching some cut scenes from time to time. The storyline goes something like this: You`re Reaper, a big muscled, heavy armored dude (what were you expecting?), whose colony is attacked by The Necris (the space baddies). Of course you won`t be killed during the raid, and so, you gather your team of mercenaries, and start a holy war with the sole purpose of exterminating the Necris off the face of the Universe. Well, actually, you just want to kill the chick that knocked you out (male ego, anyone?), but the holy war sounds better.

The cut scenes which progress the story are nicely made and are quite a novelty for the Unreal Tournament series so I enjoyed watching them. Of course, the story is very predictable and could have just as well been missing. As soon as you start playing you will forget all about the Necris, revenge, and the mission map (which is a new thing, but entirely useless). After completing certain missions you will receive reward cards that that are pretty useful if you find a mission you just can`t complete. They can remove a number of enemies, add allies, improve armor or health, and so on. The only interesting part about the campaign is that you can play it online with friends, and that makes it more interesting, but you can just as well play a deathmatch :)

You can use the campaign as a more advanced tutorial, and you can change the difficulty every time you click resume campaign, so as you learn, you can make the bots smarter. The same problems as in the previous parts remain with the AI. On the first difficulty levels are dumb as a post, and don`t even bother shooting when they see you, and on the final difficulty level (Godlike... sounds very intimidating) they are beatable, but will cause serious frustration. However, the problem is that you can`t rely on them in the more complex game modes. The only thing the difficulty level changes is the reaction time and the aiming, it doesn`t make them smart, remember.

But enough about the so called campaign and the bots and let`s see if the multiplayer battles are as good as we were used to. First, let`s take a look at the different game modes. Most of them should be familiar to you, even if they had a different name in the previous part. We have the classic Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and the more exotic Duel, Vehicle Capture the Flag and Warfare. Warfare is the new name given to the Conquest game mode in the previous part. Assault and Domination modes have been removed from the game, but I`m sure you won`t miss them very much. The "Duel" mode is your standard deathmatch with the mention that only two players are allowed and the winner remains on the map, while the loser returns to the waiting queue.

Capture the Flag is the same as it always has been, with two teams trying to capture each other`s flags and take them back to their respective bases. It now has a twist, and as you can guess by its name, Vehicle Capture the Flag revolves heavily around using the supplied vehicles to quickly reach your opponents base and make a run for it with the flag. The problem is that you can`t carry the flag while inside a vehicle, so what do you do when you jump from your tank, take the flag, and realize that you`re stuck there, with a Dark Walker around? Well, you use the hover board, of course. The hover board is available to all players, and allows you to travel a lot faster than you did on foot, but one shot will make you eat some dirt and then spend some time trying to recover your teeth (AKA stun). Of course you can`t use any weapons while on the hover board, so usually you`ll have a big red sign over you that reads: "Kill me now, please, I`m totally helpless". The advantage is, though, that you can carry the flag while on the hover board and you can grapple onto vehicles and be towed to your base. You will feel the adrenaline when you`ll dangle behind a fast Scorpion while the entire enemy team is shooting at you and one shot means death usually.

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One of the most important changes that Unreal 3 has brought is the fact that you can control Necris vehicles in this part. The spider looking, fast moving vehicles look great and are a pleasure to drive. There is nothing like maneuvering the Dark Walker (the hardest hitting Necris vehicle that looks like the aliens from War of the Worlds) around some deserted streets, waiting for poor victims to come out from hiding. Even though it is hard to aim, because of its bulk, one shot from its twin laser cannons will kill any player and will seriously damage any vehicle. The secondary fire causes a shockwave under it, that will throw players backward and will stun them just enough for them to say "Respawner, here I come again...". I won`t spoil the other vehicles for you, as each one has something special that makes them different from their Axon counter parts. You will find your favorite between the fast Viper, the rolling Scavanger, imposing Dark Walker, stealthy Nightshade or the flying Fury.

Warfare is a combination of Assault and Onslaught. There are several nodes on the map, linked between one another. To win, you have to capture nodes in a sequence, which will in turn make the enemy core vulnerable to attacks. Once the core is destroyed, you are victorious. What may sound easy in theory, is usually harder in practice, and that`s the case here as well. You can capture nodes by running into them and waiting for the node to be taken over. While you have ownership of a node, you have certain advantages, like certain vehicles and a forward spawn point. There are unlinked notes on the map that, like normal nodes, provide an important spawn point, vehicles, and sometimes there are countdown nodes. These are nodes that provide another major advantage when captured. They usually trigger certain events, like a power overload that will damage the enemy core directly, Leviathan construction, and so on. The fact that you actually have to think to win, with some members trying to capture a certain node, while others infiltrate the main base and wait by the core for it to become vulnerable, makes it easy to see why it is the most popular game mode on the net.

If two teams of equal skill face off, or two skilled clans, then watching the games becomes like watching a good football match. Diversions, stealth attacks, vehicle strikes, everything is available. You must always take into consideration the orb that will allow you to instantly convert an enemy node, without wasting time to destroy it. The orbs are always shown on the map, so when you pick up an orb, be prepared to be targeted by everyone. If you die, the orb will be dropped on the ground, for one of your team mates to pick up. If the orb is too close to a node, and the enemy team decides it is too dangerous, then one of them can commit suicide and the orb will be destroyed. I won`t go into further detail, because there are certain things that can`t be explained and you have to play to understand everything. Be warned that one Warfare match may take anywhere from 20 minutes to several hours.

If this sounds too complicated and you just want to blast your next door neighbor to smithereens, then the classical Deathmatch is available. The weapons should be familiar to anyone who has played the previous parts. The Enforcer and the Impact Hammer have returned, replacing the Assault Rifle and Shield Gun from Unreal 2003 and 2004. I always loved the Enforcer and its dual wield option, so I`m happy to see it come back. The impact hammer, while lacking usefulness in combat, has the major advantage of being able to cause a shock wave that will cause power ups to drop from players. The "Green Blob of Death" (or Bio Rifle, as some call it), is as dangerous as ever, as one powered up shot will instantly kill anyone not wearing a shield belt.

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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.

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Gameplay: 91

The game has some irritating bugs, that I`m hoping will be resolved in a future patch. The vehicle control is excellent, but on some maps you get stuck, especially with the Dark Walker that is also the biggest vehicle available. It is quite funny and sad when you see that your big Death Machine gets stuck on a cloth line, or a trash can. This is minor though, and only happens on certain maps and apart from this the game has no major problems.

Graphics: 91

Many games have used the Unreal 3 engine, and most of them have looked simply stunning. The effects look spectacular, the characters are very detailed, and you will have the opportunity of watching them closer during the video sequences. That is if you play the single player campaign. Don`t judge the graphics until you`ve seen and played it on max details on a good computer. You will never look at 3d shooters the same again.

Sound: 92

The sound, music and voices have been nicely done. The bots comments are as inspired as ever, the music accompanies the action perfectly, and the commenter`s voice couldn`t have been missing. If you have some decent headphones, or a 5.1 speaker setup, everything will come to life around you and you will have a major advantage over other players. Good listening is the key to success.

Multiplayer: 90

With a lot of different game modes, and the fact that the single player campaign is nothing more than a multiplayer game with bots, Unreal 3 has one of best multiplayer modes available. The Warfare and Vehicle Capture the Flag modes are loads of fun, and when you get tired of all that strategy, the relaxing Deathmatch mode is available. Warfare matches are abundant on the net, and, if you`re new, you can play the campaign online together with some friends.

Hardware: 85

Even though the game works well on most computers, 2 Gb of Ram is recommended, and a serious video card. Since frame rate has always been crucial, playing at 20 frames per second will only cause frustration.