Unreal Tournament 2003

It's bigger, better, faster and even more addictive than before. It doesn't try to emulate games like Counter Strike or Medal of Honour in terms of recreating the gritty realism of real life war. This is a futuristic frag fest where individual skill and reflexes win over guile and precision.

The graphics as you would expect are eye poppingly good with the levels I've seen so far a class above anything out there in terms of style and atmosphere. The addition of large highly detailed outdoor arenas is a notable improvement on UT.

The game types of old are back with Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Domination (slightly modified) all present. A new addition however is Bombing Run which I had my doubts about before playing it. Having tried it out on a number of online servers I'm hooked. It's american football meets rollerball with guns! The objective is to get the ball through the oppositions goal to score points. If you're lucky enough to find a closely matched game online, you're in for a treat because it is incredibly fast paced and end to end with twists and turns in the scores all the way. And yes team work does pay off, you're even able to pass the ball between team-mates to cut open a tightly packed opposition defence - just like in real sport.

I might go so far as to say Bombing Run is more enjoyable than Capture the Flag which is saying something! Anyway, whoever thought up this addition to the game deserves a very big clap on the back because it is an instant winner.

To enjoy UT2003 you don't have to play online (but it helps!). The game comes with a single player option where you can work your way up a ladder system to become the ultimate champion or you can just hop into action straight away in a stand alone match against some frigtheningly skilled computer controlled Bots. The AI of the original UT was impressive if a little lacking in places but UT 2003 takes it to another level. At times you could almost be playing against real people, they can be that convincing!

In finishing, I would recommend this game to all first person shooter fans. It's high octane fun that will get your pulse racing like no other first person shooter game I've played. The only thing you've got to worry about is not getting addicted.....

Improvements:
- The addition of the "instant action" option on the main menu makes it easy to form a new game with bots on any of the available maps.
- The graphics rival those of Halo on the XBox. Some of the new levels are simply astounding, especially the outdoor arenas which show water and grass etc in great detail.
- The bone crunching sounds when your character falls down a ravine and hits beams on the way down. These sounds are also present when you continue shooting a dead opponent and he/she slides around on the floor.

Downsides:
- Loss of certain game types. Assault has been replaced with Bombing Run which, sadly isn't as good.
- The AI enemy seems to be unable to use the chain gun properly. You will come across someone and wonder why they aren't firing at you. Once you've wasted them you realise that they had the chaingun. It's just a small bug and it'll probably be sorted soon.
- The sniper rifle has gone and been replaced with an inferior Electric gun. This gun takes time to reload after shots and leaves you open to attacks.
- The grav boots have gone too although there is now a double jump ability which is useful.

All in all, this game is good. I wouldn't say it is a massive improvement on its predecessor with regards to gameplay but it is still a very good FPS.

By the way, you will need a very high spec machine to run this game.