Unreal Tournament III

"According to Capps, the studio is "trying to make sure that UT 2007 is a mix of UT 2004 and [the original Unreal Tournament from 1999]," while maintaining the series' focus on multiplayer competition."

Unreal Tournament 3 doesn't make huge changes to the formula, but still ends up feeling fresh, fast, and very fun.

We suspect Unreal Tournament III will find a healthy following over the next few months, especially as mod makers start churning out new levels and other content (the game ships with a full suite of editing tools). The core gameplay is faithful to the franchise, and the game offers a nice facelift to the familiar deathmatch and CTF modes. The "new" Warfare isn't that much different from UT 2004's Onslaught mode, but does improve on it in a few ways, particularly with the new vehicles that add some freshness to the proceedings. If you're a longtime Unreal Tournament fan, you'll find plenty to like in UT3 -- just keep in mind it's not the instant classic its predecessor was. With any luck, that will be remedied with the next UT release -- hopefully we won't have to wait another three years for it.

If you've been playing the series all along, expect the same sort of thing only with a sparkling graphical luster. If you've never played this game before, do so immediately. It's still one of the best shooters on the market, even if it seems to be bumping against the boundaries of its potential. Keep in mind if you've never particularly liked UT, this version will do absolutely nothing to sway you.