Fast forward to 2007, and Epic Games have taken their Unreal III engine, which is present in a considerable amount of current games, and have created the latest revision of their universe, Unreal Tournament III. Released on the PC in November 2007, a PS3 version has just been released and an Xbox 360 version is due later this year. This is the first time since the original Unreal Tournament was released on the PS2 in 2000, that an Unreal game has come to a Sony system, with the series spin-off Unreal Championship having seen two releases on the Xbox.
Generally speaking, games that are ported from the PC to a console end up lacking in comparison to the original. However, UTIII on the PS3 bucks this trend and does so quite spectacularly. Obviously, there have been some necessary concessions but as far as ports go this happens to be a good one. Interestingly, you could argue that the line between port and development lead is somewhat blurred. Upon it’s original release, PC gamers were a tad disappointed with an interface that seemed to favour a console setup. And so the plot thickens…
Marcus! Oh wait...
One aspect of the port that is very impressive is how well the graphics and presentation have come through. Epic have out done themselves, as the game arguably looks better than their other graphical showcase, Gears of War. That being said, it seems that Epic are rather proud of the art style that they’ve come up with, as the game looks remarkably similar to Gears. UTIII manages to look better because of a greater variety in the levels and the fact that it’s much more vibrant. Character designs are similarly exaggerated but this time round, they’re much more realistically animated.
Now if you were to put the PS3 UTIII directly next to it’s PC counterpart, you’re likely to notice a difference. If you have a PC that is able to run the game at absolute full pace, you’ll notice that there is quite a divide. However, not many people have such a luxury, so at the end of the day, we’re quite pleased with how the game looks on the PS3. It goes a little way to prove just how much power the PS3 can put out. On an unrelated note to what system the game is on, we have to say that a lot of the level designs lack flair and that art style is somewhat uninspired at times. Still, these are only minor gripes.
A lot of the experienced UT players are not only quick with their hands but they also pick up things that newbies don’t. In particular, UTIII continues the series trend of implementing distinctive audio cues for each of the different little actions within the game. As good as it is, a few minor compression issues are noticeable to the heavily trained ear. While playing against bots, their voice-overs can be repetitive and annoying sometimes, but when you’re playing against other people online, the PS3 supports either USB or Bluetooth headsets.
Tom Cruise is not about to pop out, is he?
Just like on the PC, the game allows you to partake in a campaign or set off on some multiplayer exploits. If you’ve never played UT before, the campaign is a good place to start. It’s not much of a campaign, as you’re just playing through the multiplayer maps in a variety of game modes. You’re driven with some dialogue before each map, but we couldn’t really tell you what the story was actually about, as we’re not actually sure that it is about anything. You can tackle it alone, or with up to three other players. It helps if you’ve got other players to help you, because your team’s AI can get frustrating, as they seem to be confused about their purpose. In fact, the AI on the PS3 in general seems a step down the evolution ladder. Basically, it’s meant to be played with other people.
However, UT has always been about the multiplayer and UTIII is no different. The game retains classic modes such as Deathmatch, team Deathmatch, duels (1v1 Deathmatch), Capture the Flag and adds Vehicle Capture the Flag and Warfare to the mix. Vehicle CTF is self-explanatory, but it does add a few twists to the mix. Warfare is an objective based mode that is similar to Onslaught from previous games. Basically, you need capture ‘nodes’, but destroying the enemy’s node and building your own. Once you can link to the enemy’s primary node, destroying it will award you the game. Warfare is particularly frustrating against bots, because your AI doesn’t seem to know how to work together or defend themselves, but it opens up a whole lot of options in competitive multiplayer.
There are some key differences on the PS3 from the PC version. Probably the most noticeable is that the game doesn’t support as many players. Where as the PC version can support up to 32 players, the maximum that can be played on the PS3 is 16. In order to cater for a controller pad, the game seems to have been slowed down a little bit. It’s hardly noticeable as it’s still a very fast paced game and the PS3 controller works quite well once you’re used to it. You do have the option of playing with a keyboard and mouse, as well as the option of filtering out players who do use it. However, just like in Shadowrun, it seems that playing with a keyboard and mouse have a slight concession placed on them, again, probably to try and even things out.
Talk to the hand. It's not as scary as the face.
UTIII also comes with a host of customization options, though as mentioned above, a lot seem to have been implemented with a console interface in minds. Even though the PS3 version will only allow you to play against other PS3 players, you’re still able to play with the mods made for the PC. All you need is access to the net, and a USB drive for the transfer. Given that we’re playing the PAL version, you might also need to take that into account. While some of the larger mods may seem a tad empty with only 16 players, it’s a great addition and brings the two formats together. Hopefully in the future, there’ll be a way to get them directly to the PS3.
While a lot of multiplayer shooters desperately search for that spark that looks to reinvent the wheel. UTIII seems to go the other way by going full circle. If you strip back the extra modes and juiced up visuals, you’re almost left with the original Unreal Tournament. You can argue both ways whether it’s good or bad, but there’s no denying that the game is a heck of a lot of fun when played with other people. It’s a tad disappointing that some of the classic modes haven’t made it through, but the real disappointment comes from the Australian servers. Sometimes, a weird bug wouldn’t let us in or out of the game. It wasn’t debilitating, but it’s something that was never present when we played on US servers.
You can argue that the reversion of Unreal Tournament III to an older style of play is completely out of place in a day and age where everyone else is trying so hard to be new and different. However, on top of the polish, options and seasoned gameplay, you have one of the fastest growing multiplayer titles on the PSN, as players fall back to what works, not just what’s new. In reality, there's very little explicitly wrong with the game, as it's all a matter of perspective. It will depend on how fast you like your shooters, how fresh or how the console caters for it. However, the clincher for the PS3 version is that it's leader in it's small market, as there is very little that can compete with it and style of gameplay stands out as unique on the platform. The game does demand human competition to be of any worth and shouldn't be considered otherwise, but given the quality of play and the quality of the port from the PC, it’s definitely worth checking out for anyone who likes their multiplayer shooters to be fast and furious.
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