Ever since Unreal Tournament (the original) was released, I’ve had a certain level of defiance and dislike for the path that FPS gaming has taken. Quake 3 was released focused purely as an action-oriented deathmatch styled title, which caused the tactical gamer in me to basically try and avoid it, but Unreal Tournament had a strong focus on strategy, teamwork, and general tactics over random, mindless, insanely fast-paced killing. The Assault gameplay rounded off the experience as near perfection, along with the strong community and integrated map editor. A few years later, Unreal Tournament 2003 was released, causing me to effectively go “what the hell? This is Quake 3!” after seeing how the gameplay had turned out. From that day on, I was convinced that the Unreal / Unreal Tournament series would no longer be part of my favored gaming collection, given the sudden change in speed, gameplay focus, and the fact that they had taken away my precious, precious Assault mode – so when Unreal Tournament 2004 was announced, I immediately adopted a disgustingly apathetic stance and mostly ignored it.

God, was I such a dumbass. Some time ago I sent in my impressions article after playing the demo, but suffice to say, Epic has apparently acknowledged what went wrong with UT2k3 and taken steps to rectify those issues with the new game. Unreal Tournament 2004 at first appears to be an expansion to UT2k3 for all intents and purposes (hell, I recall some discussion on how it’s supposed to even be backwards-compatible with the older game), but a closer look reveals much, much more gameplay under the surface, well warranting the totally new game release. Two releases, actually – prospective buyers can either pick up a 6-disc version of the game, or get a special edition stored on two DVDs – the first containing install data, with the second reportedly coming chock-full with cool instructional movies on using the game’s integrated editing tools (such as the incredibly awesome UnrealEd) that should easily get just about any random moron started on making his own masterpieces (ha-ha) to contribute to the community. Either way, expect an install footprint of a little over 5GB, which may demand a little housekeeping.

After installing and setting everything up, player groups will probably end up taking different paths in getting acquainted with the game, depending on their skill level and familiarity with the series. Experienced Shock-combo whores will probably just jump right into the first multiplayer server they find (after perhaps a little offline orientation with some of the new maps and gameplay modes), but new players will probably want to start off by accessing the game’s singleplayer campaign function. This opens up with an engine-rendered intro movie that basically introduces a few random characters and describes what the tournament is about, then drops the player into a dialogue where he can set up a new profile and access the offline tournament ladder system. Basically, Unreal Tournament 2004 has an entire offline ladder available (much like its predecessors) where players fight their way through several maps and gameplay modes against AI-controlled bot opponents to eventually take the crown of Arena Champion. But to help players get started off, an entire set of tutorials are available to get newbies started in understanding the rules and different aspects of all the major gameplay modes in a friendly and easy-to-understand manner. Then the player is off in the ladder competition to try and build up a team to go dominate the opposition. One cool aspect that UT2k4 brings to the table here is that the player isn’t just randomly saddled up with an assortment of dumbass team mates for team-oriented matches, but instead, after completing a few initial qualifying deathmatch sessions to prove himself, actually has to hire out a team of five members of his choosing. This is only possible after the early qualifying matches, where the player actually has to beat the team members he’s chosen in a deahtmatch arena in order to prove his superiority.

But there’s a hell of a lot more to it than that. Money is another essential part of the offline arena, and playing in certain matches, as well as hiring out new team mates costs dough – which is earned by a nice winning streak, of course. Different bots have specific skill percentages (Accuracy, Aggression, Agility, and Tactics) which affect how well they perform in the field, so having a high-caliber team of aim-botting elite soldiers watching your ass makes playing through the offline tournament all the easier. Unfortunately, the player’s selection of squadmates is initially restricted to an array of bare-bones dumbasses that have decent skills, but quickly find themselves outmatched once the big enemy teams start rolling in. Offsetting this is the ability to actually absorb enemy team mates into your own through specialized grudge matches. Just get raped in that high-stakes Double Domination match, but feel you have the skills to take them on in a more up-front manner? Just open up the “Blood Rites” challenge dialogue, select the guy you want to acquire from a specific enemy team, choose a map (and toggle if the popular “Instagib” mode will be enable or not... oooh, the carnage!), and off you go! Provided you have enough money on hand to set up the challenge and the skills to win in the subsequent deathmatch session, the targeted enemy bot will then become part of your 5-man squad – though you may have to drop an existing trooper if your ranks are filled out. Just be careful, as enemy teams can also do this on you, so expect to regularly be forced to face off against the jerk-faced group you just won against a second time because they got offended and want to take one of your precious squadmates away. It is possible to forfeit these matches and still keep your team mate, of course, but it costs quite a bit of money to do so.

The offline tournament ladder definitely had some very interesting gameplay with the squad and money management aspects, and it definitely presented one hell of a challenge on several of the tiers. Overall bot skill levels can be set up when you create your character profile, but regardless of settings, some of the final challenges will definitely offer a rough time. However, a couple of complaints I had was that there was an insufficient level of documentation on what the specific skill styles for bots indicated (some bots have an insanely high “tactics” rating, but low accuracy, for example), and that finishing the entire tournament left me feeling a little unfulfilled, since all I got was a brief ending cutscene with a little pat on the back, and that was it. UT2k4’s all-new “Onslaught” gameplay mode also never made any kind of appearance in the offline tournament ladder, annoyingly enough.

But Unreal Tournament 2004 is not about singleplayer and offline botmatches – multiplayer, and the huge variety of gameplay modes and maps created for use online are what this game is all about. And god damn, is there a lot of content to go around. I’ve already mentioned that Assault mode was brought back from the original Unreal Tournament (and got quite a nice taste of it in the demo), but the full version of the game has some great scenarios available with a huge variety of interesting objectives. One of my favorites, AS-Junkyard, challenges the attacking team to try and get their vehicle (a multi-turreted “Hellbender” jeep) up and running and escape the junkyard before the time runs out. To do this, they have to rush out of the garage and retrieve a power core, and then bring it back to the jeep. Once it’s up and running, the elected driver has to run a gauntlet of tricky jumps, turns, exploding barrels, and enemy defenders to try and reach the end - but he won’t make it without the help of his buddies on foot, who have to open gates and lower bridges to allow the jeep to progress. The defenders have a huge variety of jump-pads at their disposal to quickly get across the map, as well as several gun turret emplacements to try and destroy the jeep before it gets too far. Definitely a really cool level, with my favorite feature being an optional magnetic crane the jeep driver can park under to try for a shorter route to the exit, with the downside of being helplessly visible (and hence, shootable) to nearly everyone on the map while he’s being carried through the air. A second map also worth mentioning is AS-Mothership, where players actually head off into space in fighters to try and attack a Skaarj mothership, disable its defenses, then actually sneak into the docking bay and land to destroy the core on foot. Definitely a really awesome map, though challenging as hell. One really cool function added to the Assault gameplay mode is a complete, dynamic objectives listing at the top right of the HUD, as well as a tracer that can be called up at any time to visually show the player exactly where he needs to go to reach the relevant objective, which is a really awesome feature to help prevent new players from getting lost. The game only ships with six Assault levels (given how complicated they are to make, this is understandable), but several more have already been released via official bonus packs available through the convenient “Community” link in the game’s main menu.

Invasion is another new gameplay mode, unique in that it can actually be used with most of the game’s standard maps (deathmatch, primarily). In this multiplayer mode, players hop into a match and try to scrounge for ammo and weapons in an attempt to hold off against wave after wave of enemies encountered in the original Unreal, from the rocket-launching brutes and spidery pupae, to the annoyingly fearsome Skaarj warriors and even Krall footsoldiers, who still have the annoying capacity of crawling at you and biting at your heels if you blow their legs off and assume them dead. I never managed to get very far in this mode (I would always get overrun after completing the initial few waves), but the gameplay was definitely intense and I had an incredibly fun time trying it out with some friends.

And of course, Onslaught. Sweet, sweet Onslaught. The rules are simple: two teams, two power cores, and an array of nodes connecting the two. Onslaught missions typically take place on wide open maps, where the two teams compete to control energy node zones and set up a connecting pattern to eventually link their node grid to the enemy’s power core. When this is done, the impenetrable shield around the enemy’s core will drop, leaving it vulnerable to be destroyed so victory can be claimed. This is by far one of the best and most popular modes in the game, and is commonly supplemented by impressive level design and another new feature of UT2k4, vehicles. I already made vague mention of vehicular support above with my description of the Junkyard map (as well as went into some detail on how the vehicles in UT2k4 were shaping up in my demo impressions article), but the drivable buggies, jeeps, tanks, and even aircraft in this game are really well done. The Scorpion buggy (one of my favorite vehicles) for example has a charge-up energy net gun that launches an increasingly larger (depending on how long the fire button is held before releasing) web of sticky plasma that will attach itself to any entities it encounters and eventually detonate, doing a large amount of damage. The alternative fire button also deploys a pair of blades to either side of the buggy, useful for decapitating anyone stupid enough to get in your way, but just be careful not to bounce against something with the blades out, as they can be snapped off fairly easily. The rest of the vehicles I’ve pretty much gone over in the past, but one new menacing contraption introduced in the final build of the game is the Leviathan. Effectively a mobile juggernaut with a self-guided rapid-fire missile launcher mounted on top and four plasma turret mounts for team mates to occupy, the Leviathan has the ability to enter a deployed, immobile state (with an incredibly cool animation, no less) that causes the missile launcher to be replaced with an insanely overpowered ion cannon, that effectively annihilates anything within a medium-sized radius of the blast zone. The cannon can be fired over and over again with no ill-effect, but is almost totally useless against airborne targets. Since the transformation process takes several precious seconds to complete, the best counter against a deployed enemy Leviathan is to either overwhelm it with aircraft.

Vehicle control is very fluid and easy to manage – the mouse is used for aiming the vehicle’s weapon and firing it, while simple keyboard directional controls are used to accelerate and turn. A handy-dandy emergency brake is also available via the jump button for making some sweet hairpin turns. Vehicles can be driven from either the first or third person perspective, but players will probably want to stick to third person view with the lighter vehicles on account of their weak armor. Drivers of the Hellbender will also probably want to stay in third person simply because the windshield in the vehicle’s cockpit is so obscured, making it impossible to drive effectively. The physics system for the vehicles is also quite well done, with the wheels and suspension adapting perfectly to the terrain in a detailed manner, though I have to admit that I’ve run into some freak collision bugs occasionally that send my jeep flying and spinning aimlessly into the air. This doesn’t happen very often, but it’s both hilarious and confusing when it does.

As for the implements of mass destruction, all the old favorites that any Unreal Tournament fan will immediately recognize are still there (well, most of them – R.I.P. Razorjack). Most of the weapons are actually the same as they were in Unreal Tournament 2003, but there are been a few new additions. A laser target designator is available in some Onslaught maps, allowing players to actually call in a high-altitude bomber (that can be shot down) to drop high explosive ordinance over an area in a straight line. Another creative toy is a dropper that launchers spider mines, which will either automatically home in on nearby enemy units / vehicles, or mindlessly charge towards a laser beacon the player can switch on with the altfire button and explode. Some modifications have also been done to existing weapons, like the popular Link Gun. While it still has the ability to enhance the firepower of other players with its altfire function (provided the targets are also using a Link Gun of their own), the weapon’s alternate fire mode can now also be used to repair friendly vehicles and Onslaught power nodes (not a team’s power core, unfortunately, for balance reasons) at the cost of ammo – and other team mates can also apply their Link Guns to you to enhance the repair beam effect. The weapons in UT2k4 are very well-balanced, as is the series tradition, and I have to say that I’m quite happy with how my implements of death have held up over the years. Oh, and don’t worry kids, your precious Redeemer is still in the game.