Unreal Tournament 2004 includes everything in UT2K3 and a ton more. Improved interface, twice as many maps, several new games mods, new weapons, and vehicles! It even has all of 2003's bonus packs that were released online. To each the review short, I will only discuss what is new. The new weapons are the grenade launcher that fires grenades that are detonated with the alt-fire, a parasite mine launcher that fires automated spider mines that can led using the alt-fire, the AVRiL a special rocket launcher that locks on target with vehicles, and the target painter that works like the ion painter except it calls in an airstrike. Also, the old favorite, the sniper rifle returns. Only now it leaves an annoying puff of smoke. Assault also makes its triumphant return and is better than ever. All the maps recreate events from the Unreal universe, from the end of the Human/Skarrj war to the robot uprising and the corporate wars. But the biggest addition is the new Onslaught mode. Onslaught is Unreal's answer to Battlefield 1942. Each team has a core and tries to control nodes that are scattered around the map. When a link is established from your core to the enemy's core using linked nodes, you can attack. This system allows for a front warfare system that works well. What makes Onslaught so fun is the vehicles. First the is the Hellbender, a jeep, its similar to Halo's Warthog in that it has a driver an two other positions. The side passenger has EMP and the rear gunner has a plasma cannon. The Scorpion is a small one man buggy that has an energy weapon that encircles enemy and deployable razor blades. The Manta is almost exactly the same thing as Halo's Ghost fighter except it can jump. The Goliath Tank has heavy armor and the driver mans the cannon and some else can hop in and man a machine gun. The Raptor is the only flyable aircraft in Onslaught, it fires an energy weapon and has missiles that lock on to other Raptors and Mantas. The last vehicle is the Leviathan. The Leviathan is a type of APC, the driver has access to a rocket pack and the four passengers each man a turret. Its most unique feature is the ability to deploy and fire an extremely powerful ion blast. The game now has built in voice system, much like Xbox Live, which makes it much easier to organize team tactics. There is now a built in mp3 player that can be accessed using F11. The single player ladder also gets an overhaul. Now there are funds used to enter the events, hire and pay team mates, heal the injured, and bet other teams. There is a bug in the ladder, even if you beat it, you will not get your name on the high score board or unlock the three bonus characters. The bots are much tougher in this version and actually can use proper team tactics in all the game modes. UT2K4 also sports improved graphics and netcode over 2003. Overall, 2004 plays more like the original UT, but for those of you that liked 2003 more, it is possible to revert the game entirely to its style.

Score: 8.9

Cabal