unreal-tournament-3 posts (Subscribe to this feed)

Oh, sorry -- do you lack the cryptologic know-how to decipher that headline? Excuse us as we get our Layton on:

• UT3 is not a shorthand way of saying three urinary tract infections -- rather, it's the acronym commonly used to refer to Unreal Tournament 3.
• Though the internet-savvy may assume FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, that doesn't make much sense with the previous piece of the puzzle in place. However, "Free-to-Play" fits quite nicely.
• STW obviously means "Steam this weekend." If you couldn't figure that out, you should probably go jump off a cliff or something.

Every puzzle has an answer -- this time around, the answer is "Unreal Tournament 3 is free-to-play on Steam this weekend," beginning today at 1PM PST. Unfortunately, we've got no Picarats to distribute. As any true gentleman knows, cerebral satisfaction is its own reward.

Epic Games CEO and founder, Tim Sweeney, recently chatted with G4 about the upcoming Dark Corners content for Gears of War 2. Yeah, been there, done that. Sweeney did, however, mention something interesting regarding the future of our favorite fragfest, Unreal Tournament.

"Unreal Tournament is certainly a major long-term priority but we're planning not to release a major retail game in the series for several years," Sweeney said. He commented that this move was to aid the company in focusing on "a few other initiatives." We're placing our bets on some kind of downloadable release (a smart move since the interest in downloadable FPS games is certainly there), especially since Sweeney took care to only mention retail.

[Via Big Download]

Unreal Tournament III will be completely free to download and play on Steam this weekend. This free version, called Unreal Tournament III Black, will include all the new content that was added in the Titan Pack in March, as well as a recent patch, taking the version number up to 2.1. You can pre-load the game right now, in preparation for a weekend of Unreal goodness.

Sure, the game may not be as fresh as it once was, but free is free and Epic has to find some way to draw in interest from the now reinvigorated Team Fortress 2 crowd. At least it will give you something to do while you're waiting for all the E3 news to begin on Monday.

[Via BigDownload]

In the past, we've seen a number of cool Unreal Tournament mods -- including that fascinating LEGO creation from a year ago -- but we've never seen anything quite like the Sonic the Hedgehog mod (posted after the break). The concept takes the gun-slinging action of Unreal Tournament to Sonic's Green Hill Zone. The mod looks just like the original level from the first Sonic game; it even sounds like it (listen to the bumper sound effects), though it's missing the original's catchy background music.

Just don't go showing this off to Sega. We don't want the company getting any bright ideas ... you know, like: "Sonic Shooters." Sonic and the Black Knight was just about all the innovation that we can handle.

Epic Games is patching their PS3 online FPS game, Unreal Tournament III, with Trophies and new features.

We've got some good news and some bad news. We'll start with the negative stuff first. The previously announced PS3 version of the Titan Pack for Unreal Tournament III has been delayed two weeks (the PC version is still out today). According to Epic's Steve Polge, it's been pushed back to March 19 due to a snag in the certification process.

It's not a total loss. The good news is that the PS3 version has been patched today to include Trophies and split-screen multiplayer -- both were originally slated to release alongside the Titan Pack. Hopefully, Trophy hunting and split-screen gameplay will keep you preoccupied for the two-week wait.

[Via CVG]

Midway and Epic Games have decided to Titan up the graphics on Unreal Tournament 3 with the addition of an extensive new map pack, dubbed the "Titan Pack." The free download, aimed exclusively at the PlayStation 3 and PC versions of the first-person fragger, will add 11 new multiplayer maps for several of the game's modes, as well as eight maps culled from the Xbox 360 version and a prior bonus pack.

Our pals at Big Download have a hands-on preview of the content, including its two new modes: Greed mode, a "tug-of-war" style points battle; and Betrayal mode, which prompts you to tactfully turn on teammates if you feel like swiping the score for yourself. More intriguing is the new Titan mutator, which turns a skilled player into a towering Behemoth, excitedly described by the press release as "a 15-foot tall maestro of wholesale carnage that has the effects of every Power Up in the game... ALL AT ONCE!!!"

Finally, the Titan Pack expands Unreal Tournament 3's array of deployed equipment, Trophies (Steam Achievements for the PC version) and turrets. ALL AT ONCE!!! Look for it on Thursday, March 5th.

[Update: When asked about a 360 version, Midway explained that this update will bring many of the enhancements already included in the Xbox release to the PS3 and PC. "Given the file size requirements for updates on the Xbox 360 platform, we have no plans to release the Titan Pack for Xbox 360."]

While nowhere as successful as Gears of War, Epic Games is working on an expansion to their multiplayer shooter, Unreal Tournament III. "We're working together on a major expansion that we expect will excite and grow our UT3 customer base," Epic Games' VP Mark Reins told Gamespot.

No other specifics were provided, such as release date or format (DLC? Expansion pack disc?). Considering the game debuted on the PS3, we're going to keep our eyes peeled for any more info.

[Via Joystiq]

We can't help but wonder why Epic has decided to patch up Unreal Tournament 3 so late in the day, but they've done just that. The patch fixes a long list of problems, including AI issues, stability problems and other tweaks and improvements. It should be live by now -- simply place your UT3 disc in the PS3 drive and it will ask you to update. Of course, that's assuming you're still playing the game. Are you? If so, you probably won't be for long, what with WipEout HD (among plenty of other stuff) arriving tomorrow and Blu-ray releases ramping up from here til Christmas. Still, a free patch is a free patch.

[Thanks silverwolf761]

Looking to pick up a copy of Unreal Tournament III for the Xbox 360 but want to save a few dollars in the process? Amazon is offering the recently released shooter for the low price of $45, shipping included.

Offered as today's deal of the day, Unreal Tournament III is the latest action packed title from Epic Games -- you might also know them as the guys behind Gears of War 2. Speaking of Gears 2, Unreal Tournament III includes an extra incentive as it features footage of the upcoming Xbox 360-exclusive shooter. We say the footage was the new hawtness, but we already featured it a while back.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

In a move we never thought we'd see coming from the studio who birthed our Gears of War, Epic Games has confirmed that they'll support the 360 version of Unreal Tournament 3 with dedicated servers.

According to UT3 forum admin WarTourist, Epic will be setting up a "similar number of official 360 dedicated servers to what we provided for the PC and PS3." And our inner skeptic says that Epic is only doing this to add a bullet point to UT3's multiplayer so it can differentiate itself among the 360's already hotly contended FPS genre. That said, who really cares the reason they're doing it, we fully support and embrace the dedicated server move. You hear that Epic? We fully support dedicated servers and wouldn't mind you doing the same thing for Gears of War 2. Sound good?

[Via Gearheads of War, Thanks dongcopter]

Well folks, the Gears 2 content that was promised to be on the final release disc of Unreal Tournament 3 for 360 has hit our inbox (despite the fact that game itself hasn't yet hit stores). Consisting of a mash-up of interview segments with the dev team and clips of gameplay, the behind the scenes video touches on everything from new game modes to player count to weapons. Heck, why are still reading this? Just watch the video already! Still reading? Well all that's left to really say is just how much of a bomb UT3 is likely to be, especially if the only thing enticing about it is this vid.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Epic recently leaked some screenshots to generate buzz for the 360 version, but the truth is, no one cares because no one is playing the versions that are already out. With almost 1000 servers, 12,000 player spaces, the game's player rate is about 500 a day. Patches were released to remedy various online problems, coupled with price drops, yet there is no improvement. Fiori lists possible culprits; has Call of Duty 4 replaced UT as the new poster child for FPS? Did Epic abandon the UT franchise for the more lucrative Gears of War? Is PC competitive gaming simply on a decline? Was it bad timing similar to what happened to UT2003?

Though he doesn't arrive at one specific conclusion, Fiori asserts the failure of UT3 comes from the existence of the console versions in his concluding paragraph: "The solution is not the same as it was in the past. PC-centric development meant that patches or even complete rebuilds could be done within a year as in the 2003/2004 situation. The modern multiplatform development cycle makes it virtually impossible." What do you guys think? Is the PS3 and upcoming 360 version to blame for UT3's inability to repeat the success of its predecessors?