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There is possibly no stranger way to start a review about Unreal Tournament than by talking about FIFA Soccer, John Madden and Championship Manager, but it is relevant. These are all games that receive the traditional (and often dreaded) “annual update”. And as we know, games that are given this treatment are not so much standalone sequels as tweaked and spray painted revisions of their former selves. Until recently, this kind of release strategy has been largely limited to the sports genre, with the obsessive need to have the latest team squads and strips praying heavily on the mind of the sports gamer. Other genres tend to steer clear of this kind of thing, with even runaway success titles such as Civilisation, Black and White, Half Life, Quake or Doom making the fans wait an unenviable length of time for the next full instalment. Sure, there are mission packs and add-ons, but there was no Doom 2001, 2002, 2003. That was until Epic released Unreal Tournament 2003, and now it’s done it again with Unreal Tournament 2004.

Now, there was a lot of scepticism amongst fans and reviewers alike about Unreal Tournament 2003, and rightly so. The game failed to improve significantly on its tremendously popular predecessor and fans were riled at having to shell out for something more expensive than a mission pack, but considerably less than a true sequel. Epic had dared to drag the first person shooter down the FIFA, Madden, CM (etc., etc.) path and got burned. It was an experiment that went wrong, and that, we thought, was that.

So, the announcement of UT2004 made fans’ hearts drop further and the cynicism that greeted it instantly lead to thoughts of greedy accountants and soulless corporate bigwigs. But Epic had a surprise in store, because, to my surprise and delight that I can inform you that UT2004 is very, very good indeed.

There is more than one reason for me reaching this conclusion, but let’s start at the main development which has elevated this game so far beyond my wildest expectations: Vehicles. The addition of vehicles to UT2004 is a masterstroke and a brave gamble which, had it not come off, would have lopsided the entire playing environment for veterans and novices alike. Instead, Epic has carefully crafted a balanced array of single and multi user vehicles for air and land which not only expand the battles to skies, but rejuvenate the playing experience for gamers on foot.

Now boot up, get into the action and it won’t take long to realise that some vehicles are not completely original. In particular, the hellbender heavy truck borrows a great deal from Halo’s superb Warthog jeep but I can’t think of anything better to mimic in this respect than the groundbreaking physics of the Xbox and PC classic. Other modes of transportation however are more inventive, such as the manta hovercraft, a raptor fighter which can fly high above the landscape and the awesome goliath tank which can take up to five players simultaneously but is an instant focal point for all enemy fire.

The game mode which comprises all these vehicles is called Onslaught, and despite featuring nine other game modes including Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Bombing Run and the objective based Assault (which returns after mysteriously being dropped from UT2003), it is this latest addition which will convince you to splash the cash. The objective in Onslaught is to destroy the opponent’s base. To get there you must capture power nodes which, when all under your control, will allow you to attack your opponents’ previously invulnerable power core at the heart the enemy base. It sounds simple and you would think driving around in a huge tank or graceful raptor would be a sure way to victory, but Epic has cleverly levelled the playing field for the trusty running grunt with the introduction of the AVRiL guided missile launcher. Fire the AVRiL a couple of times and keep your aim locked on an opponents vehicle and they are as good as dead. For the sniper in the hills, there has never been such a rich bounty.

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