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unreal-tournamentUnreal Tournament is possibly the coolest online game series ever createdUnreal Tournament is a first-person shooter video game co-developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. It was published in 1999 by GT Interactive. Retrospectively, the game has also been referred to as UT99 or UT Classic to differentiate it from its numbered sequels. The game is based on the same technology that powered Unreal, but the design of UT shifted the series' focus to competitive multiplayer action, a trend at the time: id Software's Quake III Arena was released only ten days later. Gameplay Unreal (series) UT was designed as an arena FPS, with head-to-head multiplayer deathmatches being the primary focus of the game. The game's single-player campaign is essentially a series of arena matches played with bots. For team matches, bots are again used to fill the roles of the player's teammates. Even on dedicated multiplayer servers, bots are sometimes used to pad out teams that are short on players. Game types Reception Unreal Tournament received wide critical acclaim from the press.[10][7][11] Mainstream press reviews praised the graphics, gameplay, maps and multiplayer capabilities of the game. Computer Shopper concluded "Quake may have spawned the online deathmatch, but Unreal Tournament has taken it to the next level with its amazing graphics and fast-paced action. Online or off, this game rules!"[16] In March 2000, Unreal Tournament was second on a list of best-selling games in Computer Dealer News trade magazine, behind Quake III Arena.[17] At Game Rankings, the Windows version of Unreal Tournament holds an average review score of 94%, making it the eighth highest rated Windows game released to date.[11] Gamespot praised Unreal Tournament's graphics, noting "As good as the original Unreal looked, Unreal Tournament looks even better. The character models and skins look excellent, and there are quite a few choices to make when designing your character."[4] Gamespot also praised the multiplayer gameplay, weapons and level design: "The first-person shooter genre is fiercely competitive. But Unreal Tournament rises above the rest with its solid multiplayer performance, from its good weapon balance to its great level design."[4] The game was similarly reviewed by GameSpy, who concluded: "Unreal Tournament raises the bar for first person teamplay games. This game is stuffed with content and polished until it gleams."[5] The Macintosh version of Unreal Tournament' was equally praised. Macworld dubbed it the "Best network shooter for the Mac", and gave it the Game Hall of Fame award in 1999.[15] In its review, Macworld editor Christopher Breen stated: "If the violence and hardware requirements don't unsettle you, you'll find Unreal Tournament nothing but unwholesome, bloody fun."[15] The Playstation 2 and Dreamcast releases did not fare as well as the PC versions. The PS2 version has an average review score of 77% at Game Ratings.[13] GameSpy criticized the graphics of the PS2 version, saying "Graphically, the PS2 version of Unreal Tournament seems uninspired.".[18] Its conclusion stated "Sluggish gameplay, somewhat washed out colors and textures". [18] The Dreamcast version has an average review score of 88%.[12] GameSpy's review said: "Well, believe it or not, there are lots of annoying features that drag the game down".[19] GameSpy cited both slow framerate speeds and low sound quality as problems with the Dreamcast version.[19] [edit] Competition Unreal Tournament was played at the World Cyber Games in the years of 2001[20] and 2002[21] where the title was contended for in a deathmatch 1 vs 1 environment. This is where UT was played on an international scale, where players from all around the world went head to head to see who would be crowned world champion.[22] [edit] Modifications As Unreal Tournament is a popular game, many fans have taken the liberty of creating mods for the game. These range from slight changes on some aspects of gameplay (such as map voting) or to total conversions. One modification ChaosUT became popular enough that it was included with the 'Game of the Year' edition of the game, while Tactical Ops was released as a standalone retail product. As with the original Unreal, the ease with which players can create and release mods to the core game is a key factor contributing to UT's longevity. UT improved upon the mod-friendly nature of its predecessor with support for mutators such as Sniper Arena, Instagib, JumpMatch, Low Gravity and more. Further, UT clans, or gaming teams, and a score of UT dedicated clan and fan community sites continue to sustain Unreal Tournament's popularity years after its initial release. [edit] Music Unreal Tournament theme The soundtrack for the game was primarily written by Alexander "Siren" Brandon, Michiel "M.C.A." van den Bos, Andrew "necros" Sega, and Dan "Basehead" Gardopée, the same music artists who wrote the Unreal soundtrack, although only Brandon and Van Den Bos remained credited for it. The game (in contrast to Quake, which used CD audio) employed tracker music, which resulted in a considerably good sound quality with very little size trade-off. Two additional tracks were contributed: one ("firebr.umx") by Tero "Teque" Kostermaa and Kai-Eerik "Nitro" Komppa, and one ("razor-ub.umx") by Peter "Skaven" Hajba. These, however, remained uncredited for reasons unknown—Hajba's credits are in fact still intact in the instrument data in the file itself, and the original version of Kostermaa's song is available from his website [1], although there are various differences.
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