Unreal Tournament 3 (Page 2 of 3)

Gears of Bore

Unreal Tournament III's graphics excel on a technical level. But due to an ill-conceived shift in art direction, the game now looks unappealingly drab and dingy: it's all corroded metal and retrofitted steampunk chic. As I noted in my review of the PC version, the once-vibrant and imaginative world of Unreal has been drained of its color here in an apparent attempt to adopt a Gears of War-style, grit-and-grime aesthetic. This art shift is a real shame given that the Unreal series has always dazzled players with its psychedelic visuals: florescent skies, day-glo color schemes, and otherworldly locales made the Unreal series stand out from the crowd (and even inspired the title, "Unreal"). By sucking out all the color and whimsy, Unreal Tournament III looks just like any other run-of-the-mill shooter -- call it the "Gears of Bore" look. The hyper-detailed combatants and distracting special effects just add more noise to an already over-busy presentation. The tech is there; the art direction isn't.

Taken as an Xbox 360 game, it's hard to recommend Unreal Tournament III. Speaking as a huge fan of the previous games (read my reviews of UT 2003 and 2004), Unreal Tournament III's game style is still too tied to the PC's mouse-and-keyboard interface to be easily playable on a console controller (and believe me, I tried). Had Epic dialed down the speed, simplified the interface, and re-tuned the weapons to leverage the strengths of the Xbox 360's input device, Unreal Tournament III might've found a niche on Xbox Live. As it stands, only shooter diehards will have any interest in this awkward, ultimately disappointing console port.

PROS:
-Still the fastest shooter...for better or for worse.
-Graphics are excellent in a technical sense.
-Warfare mode showcases vehicular combat nicely.

CONS:
-Way too fast and twitchy for the Xbox 360 controller.
-Art direction is confused and ultimately forgettable.
-Warfare is no replacement for UT2004's Assault.

Comments [111]

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gmayronne

huh.......wow, didn't see that coming. i played this on the ps3 controller and it didn't seem too bad but i DO see where a mouse and keyboard for games like this come off as "superior". back in the day i played Quake 1 with a mouse and keyboard and it was crazy fast and controlling the game with anything less was really robbing the game of its intended gameplay with lighting-quick reflexes to rely on. oh well, im sure this version "feels" no different than the ps3 version......but its nice that the ps3 version can support a keyboard and mouse......so do they not have any peripheral like that for the Xbox 360???.....i thought they DID.

slm90031

Wow! I love that Gamepro isn't afraid to show its true colors. Didn't this game come out for both the 360 and the PS3? So doesn't that mean it sucks equally on both systems? If this is true then why the wack headline? I guess there's a reason Gamepro is nobody's FIRST resource for gaming news.

AdamantiumRAGE

slm90031 Posted at: 07/07/08 at 3:09 PM PST Wow! I love that Gamepro isn't afraid to show its true colors. Didn't this game come out for both the 360 and the PS3? So doesn't that mean it sucks equally on both systems? If this is true then why the wack headline? I guess there's a reason Gamepro is nobody's FIRST resource for gaming news.
DId you even read the review?

PaganFest

@ slm90031 ps3 has mouse and keyboard support Only blind fanboys will argue at this review.

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