Unreal Tournament for PC: Intense FPS with Excellent Deathmatch Games

Undisputed Winner (4 out of 5)

Unreal Tournament is a typical arena FPS game similar to the Quake 3 Arena. It was released in 1999 by GT Interactive with the initial focus of engaging players in head-to-head multiplayer Deathmatches. However its single player campaign also had a huge following, especially for its tournament and team Deathmatch games.

Gameplay (4 out of 5)

Unreal Tournament has an innovative approach as it tends to refine the classic FPS genre in a more polished manner. The game always stood unique among other games like Team Fortress and Starseige Tribes. There are six different modes of gameplay: Tournament Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Assault, Last Man Standing, Domination, and Capture the Flag. Tournament Deathmatch is similar to Deathmatch games in Quake 3 Arena. Players have to complete the game by eliminating opponents, either other human players or clever computer controlled ‘bots’. Team Deathmatch is more intense and tactical as it depends on perfect teamwork to outwit the opponent’s team. Single player Team Deathmatch involves friendly AI ‘bots’ joining hands with a player and obeying commands or using their own brains to frag down the opponents team.

There is no need to explain anything about the classic Capture the Flag as players are well-versed with rules of the game. However, Assault is an excellent game comprising two teams. One team has the task of attacking a ‘base’ controlled by the other team. There is a time limit for the attacking team to complete some ‘tasks’ in sequence. There are various tasks including invading, detonating or destroying a particular target, but all these tasks have to be accomplished within the given time frame.

Computer Controlled ‘Bots’ (5 out of 5)

One of the key aspects of Unreal Tournament is the intelligent AI. The way AI ‘bots’ behaved and exhibited the skills of human players was highly appreciated by critics and fans. Even today, the computer controlled bots remind us of Steve Polge, the key programmer and creator of these brainy AI. He is also credited for the Reaper Bot in Quake. The best display of their human-like skills can be experienced in Team Deathmatch. Moreover, they can be configured as players can tweak their characteristics, weapons and aim. So, there is a great combination of online and offline gameplay.

Graphics (4 out of 5)

Unreal Tournament uses the Unreal graphic engine with finely rendered backgrounds. The player models are a bit similar and are not quite appealing as compared to the original Unreal. However, the gameplay maps are varied and stretch from sky scrapers to futuristic spacecrafts to dangerous asteroids.

Multiplayer (5 out of 5)

The game’s expansive multiplayer modes transport players into an endless realm of gameplay. It is incorporated with Gamespy which makes it easy for players to find a good server and play with their online opponents. There are various modes including Chainsaw Melee, sniper arena and “Fatboy”. There’s a bit of stealth involved in the sniper arena mode as players get armed with ‘futuristic’ snipers to each other. The Fatboy mode lets gamers to “grow” in size with every frag or kills. In fact there are lots of variations and an array of multiplayer maps in online Deathmatch games.

Unreal Tournament was one of the best multiplayer action games in 2000. Epic Megagames gave some serious competition to id software’s Quake III Arena. It still adorns every action lover’s library and is an undisputed winner in the multiplayer arena.

Screenshot and boxshots: Wikipedia

System Requirements:

Windows 98/2000/ME/XP

Processor 1Ghz (Recommended Pentium 200MHz Processor)

Hard Disk Space: 5.5 GB

Video Card: 32MB

Ram: 128 MB

32MB Video Card