Unreal Tournament
System:
Dreamcast
Publisher: Infogrames
Developer: Secret Level
Released: 2001
Genre: 1st Person Shooter
Capabilities: VGA Box, Modem, Mouse, Keyboard, Modular Cable,
VMU, & Jump Pak Compatible, Online Multiplayer over Sega.net
Review Written: April 17, 2001
THIS REVIEW WON GameFAQs' REVIEW OF THE WEEK FOR APRIL 22, 2001
The Game
Unreal Tournament is the award winning 1st Person Shooter PC game, that finally made its way to home console. It first appeared on the PS2 in November 2000, and after a few delays, it finally made its way to the Dreamcast, and the this version had a certain feature the PS2 was unable to have, and that was online play, and to make things even better, it is compatible with the broadband adapter, so people with DSL modems, can play as well.
Graphics
Compared to the PS2 version, everything seems to be the same during in game action. All the guns and arenas have the same amounts of detail and look the exact same as they do in the PS2 version. Heck, I’d even have to say the frame rate has approved drastically in the Dreamcast version as well, in the PS2, it got choppy in some major areas now that I think of it, and the Dreamcast version is basically choppy-free. One thing that is different from the PS2 version is the opening game menus. For some damn reason the PS2 version had a sky blue background with clouds, and it had a character select screen that made you think you were playing Tekken. The Dreamcast version has a more “Mature” Black background, plus it has one of the coolest character select screens that I’ve ever seen, which is in the shape of a rotating pyramid. Plus the stuff they manage to fit on all the players screen at once is unbelievable, like gun ammo, life bar, and even chat messages.
Sound
There is no background music at all during game play, which is actually a good thing, which adds on to the suspense of foes sneaking up behind you. The sound effects are right on the button here, with each gun having its own distinctive tone. The gun shots, explosions, and death groans are the only thing you hear during game play, but you can also hear players yell out, “You Suck” and other threats at you as they frag you. And reminiscent of playing a PC, you can hotkey your controller, or Dreamcast Keyboard, and press a certain button to deliver certain threats or commands like “Cover Me” and so on.
Game play
Gosh, the controls are way easier to understand in this version. Unlike the PS2 version, there is true 100% customizable controls here. Besides from picking from certain control schemes like in the PS2 version, you can assign your controller button any command you want. You can also assign controls for a mouse or keyboard, if you have one plugged into the Dreamcast. The best part of using the mouse and keyboard combo, is that it can deliver the ultimate PC experience, without the $1500 cost of a decent video card equipped PC. Plus, the PC + Mouse combo users can easily outfrag the controller users in online play.
For game modes, your main single player mode here is the missions, where you must beat a certain amount of computer opponents with certain objectives like killing them a certain amount of times within a time limit, or just outlast them all together. The more missions you beat, the more characters and arenas you unlock. Up to 4 players can join the fun on one console in Deathmatch, Tag, Capture the Flag, and Team Deathmatch play. There are about 10 different guns to find in the levels, plus health and body armor power ups are here to add on to extra health. Certain arenas can have up to 2 players, where others can have up to 6, this is based mainly on the size of the arenas, and in some, action can get quite crowded at times. And the online play mode is last, where only one player from each Dreamcast can play, but in levels that allow it, up to 8 players can play at once, quite a feat, considering its other Dreamcast online rival, Quake 3: Arena, only can have 4.
Replay Value
You’ll be having a blast in single player trying to beat all the missions to unlock all the levels and characters. Plus, when you already got that all unlocked, and if you have the Internet at home(which I assume you do since you’re reading this) you can go and play online for hours on end. The DSL experience is great with no lag at all in most of your games. Heck even using the DC’s 56k modem you experience mostly low lag times. I used it twice with my own paid, Internet connection, and another time with a free ISP, Net Zero, and experienced low lag times on both games, plus ping bars on game selection screens let you know who’s lagging. Its just too bad the game doesn’t store total kills and win/loss records, that would be great.
In Brief
+: Improved Frame Rate and controls, Up to 8 players online, Compatible with nearly all DC accessories
-: Can get crowded at times, no win-loss records online, Some people might not like there’s no background music
The Final Ratings Rundown
Graphics: 9.0
Sound: 7.2
Game play: 9.2
Replay Value: 8.5
Overall: 8.4
Rounded to fit GameFAQs Score: 8
Comments
Way better than the PS2 version, you’ll be having the ultimate PC experience playing this version. I’d recommend to buy the mouse and keyboard to have the best experience, and better controls than online gamers using just a controller. So if you happen to see this game for sale in your area, and unless you own the PC version, make sure to pick up this version if you run across it.