Where the first Championship was a glorified port of Unreal Tournament 2003, its successor is built from the ground up as an absurdly ambitious Xbox-exclusive title.
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If we're talking about influential multiplayer first-person shooters of a bygone era, we need look no further than Epic Games' Unreal Tournament series. First released in the early 2000s, Unreal Tournament went on to spawn several sequels and achieve high status within the multiplayer world and the then-young rising esports scene. However, developer Epic Games have shifted gears on the series ever since, placing their focus and attention on other projects as the Unreal Tournament brand slowly faded into the background and made way for successors in the arena shooter genre to shine. What exactly happened to Unreal Tournament, and will we ever see it again? Let's explore.
Unreal Tournament wasn't actually the first of its kind. Before the first entry released in 1999, Epic Games designed a first-person shooter called Unreal which acted as an exhibition piece for their new Unreal Engine. Unreal would later spawn a sequel and expansion pack, Unreal II: Awakening, before morphing into the multiplayer-focused Unreal Tournament. Epic Games, along with Digital Extremes, were still finding their footing with the Unreal Engine, but Unreal Tournament's unprecedented success earned them critical acclaim and recognition in the gaming industry - enough that it would spawn a few sequels, Unreal Tournament 2003, Unreal Tournament 2004 (arguably the most popular entry in the franchise), and finally Unreal Tournament 3.
The first nail in the coffin was Unreal Tournament 3. While it received praise from critics at the time and also sold over a million copies, it released at a highly competitive time in the first-person shooter genre. Unreal Tournament 3, despite its name still carrying plenty of weight and legacy, failed to trade blows with more demanded shooters in the genre like Call of Duty. Fan reception was mostly mixed, though, as fans felt that the magic of the Unreal Tournament series was lost somewhere in the mix of Epic Games implementing more modern design choices and over-complicating its simple and successful formula of the past. With Epic Games shifting gears (no pun intended) towards Gears of War, it would be several years before Unreal Tournament would re-appear in the gaming spotlight.
In 2014, Epic Games would attempt to revitalize the franchise with the now-abandoned Unreal Tournament. Development of the project had actually progressed well, as it even received a pre-alpha build that would remain in a playable state. Unfortunately, Epic Games halted development of the project in December 2018 as several staff members working on the game were migrated over to Fortnite Battle Royale (an extremely lucrative move for the company). Unreal Tournament also had a few things to contend with in the modern gaming scene if it ever were to get a proper resurgence, though.
Epic Games' attempts to revive Unreal Tournament failed due to a number of factors, but we can't help but look at the landscape of the crowded first-person shooter genre, especially the multiplayer scene, at the time. Unreal existed at a time when the first-person shooter genre was still trying to find its feet. Sure, following 1993's release of Doom, we had a number of similar shooters burst onto the scene in the 90s - with Unreal Tournament being one of them - but the competition was far less cluttered to allow Epic's tentpole shooter to shine. In 2014, the market had become saturated by a number of shooters each with their own strengths, catering to a larger variety of gamers. It was always going to be an incredibly steep uphill climb for Unreal Tournament, and with the release of competitive multiplayer shooters like Blizzard's Overwatch, it may have simply been the right place at the wrong time.
The 'wrong time' still stands till today. I believe it's incredibly difficult for any older shooter to revive itself in such a competitive market of major shooters dominating the gaming world every second month. Competitive multiplayer has also evolved to wildly ambitious heights, and it's still difficult for any new shooter to even find its footing in the esports scene now (see Rocket Arena, Valorant, and a number of other projects). Though they hold stable fanbases and recurring players, they still fall in the shadow of bigger multiplayer machines like Overwatch and Call of Duty. For Unreal Tournament to be revived and receive the same attention, it would need to at least compete with these titles.
Sure, DOOM's revival in 2016 may have been the exception, but it placed a stronger emphasis on its single-player content that allowed it to thrive beyond its middling multiplayer efforts (the same could be applied to DOOM Eternal). Unless Unreal Tournament returns with a single-player campaign (for which it's not exactly known for), a multiplayer-focused return would need to shine extremely bright and somehow find its footing again in the upper echelon of multiplayer shooters. As difficult a task as that is right now, is there still room for Unreal Tournament to thrive again?
The answer isn't that simple. Epic Games' cancellation of the latest Unreal Tournament revival serves as a reminder of just how priorities may shift in development according to the market. Fortnite is undoubtedly Epic's big money-maker, and to top it off, the Unreal Engines have become acclaimed across gaming development. Epic Games are perfectly nestled in a position where they've chosen the high road, and understandably so. If it meant leaving Unreal Tournament in its untimely grave, that's the risk-and-reward play they've chosen.
But I leave the question to you: would you be open to seeing Unreal Tournament revived yet again?
Unreal Tournament wasn't actually the first of its kind. Before the first entry released in 1999, Epic Games designed a first-person shooter called Unreal which acted as an exhibition piece for their new Unreal Engine. Unreal would later spawn a sequel and expansion pack, Unreal II: Awakening, before morphing into the multiplayer-focused Unreal Tournament. Epic Games, along with Digital Extremes, were still finding their footing with the Unreal Engine, but Unreal Tournament's unprecedented success earned them critical acclaim and recognition in the gaming industry - enough that it would spawn a few sequels, Unreal Tournament 2003, Unreal Tournament 2004 (arguably the most popular entry in the franchise), and finally Unreal Tournament 3.
The first nail in the coffin was Unreal Tournament 3. While it received praise from critics at the time and also sold over a million copies, it released at a highly competitive time in the first-person shooter genre. Unreal Tournament 3, despite its name still carrying plenty of weight and legacy, failed to trade blows with more demanded shooters in the genre like Call of Duty. Fan reception was mostly mixed, though, as fans felt that the magic of the Unreal Tournament series was lost somewhere in the mix of Epic Games implementing more modern design choices and over-complicating its simple and successful formula of the past. With Epic Games shifting gears (no pun intended) towards Gears of War, it would be several years before Unreal Tournament would re-appear in the gaming spotlight.
In 2014, Epic Games would attempt to revitalize the franchise with the now-abandoned Unreal Tournament. Development of the project had actually progressed well, as it even received a pre-alpha build that would remain in a playable state. Unfortunately, Epic Games halted development of the project in December 2018 as several staff members working on the game were migrated over to Fortnite Battle Royale (an extremely lucrative move for the company). Unreal Tournament also had a few things to contend with in the modern gaming scene if it ever were to get a proper resurgence, though.
Epic Games' attempts to revive Unreal Tournament failed due to a number of factors, but we can't help but look at the landscape of the crowded first-person shooter genre, especially the multiplayer scene, at the time. Unreal existed at a time when the first-person shooter genre was still trying to find its feet. Sure, following 1993's release of Doom, we had a number of similar shooters burst onto the scene in the 90s - with Unreal Tournament being one of them - but the competition was far less cluttered to allow Epic's tentpole shooter to shine. In 2014, the market had become saturated by a number of shooters each with their own strengths, catering to a larger variety of gamers. It was always going to be an incredibly steep uphill climb for Unreal Tournament, and with the release of competitive multiplayer shooters like Blizzard's Overwatch, it may have simply been the right place at the wrong time.
The 'wrong time' still stands till today. I believe it's incredibly difficult for any older shooter to revive itself in such a competitive market of major shooters dominating the gaming world every second month. Competitive multiplayer has also evolved to wildly ambitious heights, and it's still difficult for any new shooter to even find its footing in the esports scene now (see Rocket Arena, Valorant, and a number of other projects). Though they hold stable fanbases and recurring players, they still fall in the shadow of bigger multiplayer machines like Overwatch and Call of Duty. For Unreal Tournament to be revived and receive the same attention, it would need to at least compete with these titles.
Sure, DOOM's revival in 2016 may have been the exception, but it placed a stronger emphasis on its single-player content that allowed it to thrive beyond its middling multiplayer efforts (the same could be applied to DOOM Eternal). Unless Unreal Tournament returns with a single-player campaign (for which it's not exactly known for), a multiplayer-focused return would need to shine extremely bright and somehow find its footing again in the upper echelon of multiplayer shooters. As difficult a task as that is right now, is there still room for Unreal Tournament to thrive again?
The answer isn't that simple. Epic Games' cancellation of the latest Unreal Tournament revival serves as a reminder of just how priorities may shift in development according to the market. Fortnite is undoubtedly Epic's big money-maker, and to top it off, the Unreal Engines have become acclaimed across gaming development. Epic Games are perfectly nestled in a position where they've chosen the high road, and understandably so. If it meant leaving Unreal Tournament in its untimely grave, that's the risk-and-reward play they've chosen.
But I leave the question to you: would you be open to seeing Unreal Tournament revived yet again?
There are 3 comments
Unreal Championship is the third entry in the Unreal series, and the first launched for the Microsoft Xbox console. It was co-developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes, and released on September 24, 2002. It was released only six days prior to the release of Unreal Tournament 2003, the fourth entry in the series. Description From the creators of Unreal comes Unreal Tournament, a competition that tests your reflexes and competitive spirit in deadly arenas. Battle 15 of your friends or customizable bots in.
Lost so many hours to UT 2004. Back when the internet connection was atrocious but we soldiered on.
Spent so many hours during my high school years playing Unreal Tournament '99 and Quake 3. Maybe it's just an indication of how different generations have different tastes but I loved the quick-fire nature of arena-shooters, the short rounds, and their many, many modes (capture-the-flag was always my top pick). Honestly, I don't understand why they gave way to far simpler and less varied deathmatches and battle royale (in which the drive to unlock cosmetic items seems more important than individual victories). I'm hoping the push from BR devs to include more varied game types is an indication the tide os changing.
Loved loved loved this series - best FPS lan game for many years!
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I’ll admit to everyone right now, I wasn’t really a big fan of the original Unreal. Though I liked many of Epic Games’ previous shareware titles (Jazz Jackrabbit, One Must Fall 2097, and Zone 66 to name a few), the long awaited Unreal just didn’t cut it for me. It did feature a gorgeous 3-D engine, and some really impressive music, but I just couldn’t really get into the game mechanics. Even worse, the multiplayer over the Internet was unplayable. Patch after patch came out, but still there was no help, and the original claimed dust in my CD carrying case.
Eventually I heard that Epic was planning a multiplayer sequel to make up for the mistakes that Unreal had, but still I was skeptical. Alas, I am once again not afraid to eat my own words. Not only is Unreal Tournament the best multi-player deathmatch I have played in a long time, the single player game takes this game beyond even the almighty Quake 3 Arena in terms of gameplay.
Unreal Tournament (UT) centers around a universal conglomerate called the Liandri Corporation which sponsors an all-out tournament in an attempt to curb violence against its citizens. The tournament consists of five different combat modes. The first is the common Deathmatch, where the object is simply to eliminate (or frag) anyone that you encounter, with the winner being the first to reach a determined number of frags.
The second mode of UT is called Domination, in which various targets, called control points, need to be touched by you or any of your teammates, changing it to your team’s color. The longer the control point stays in your color, the more you score, and the first to reach a designated point limit wins.
Capture the Flag, the third leg of the tournament, follows the grand tradition of other CTF matches found in Quake 2, Half Life, and other FPS titles. The object is simple, invade the enemy base, take their flag and return it to your base before your flag is taken. It might be simple, but when you add rockets and flak cannons, it can be pretty darn tough.
The fourth leg of the tournament, and perhaps the most original, is the Assault mode. In Assault, it is your duty to complete a set of objectives in the allotted time. If successful, you will need to defend these same objectives for the time it took you to complete them in the previous round. These missions can vary from hijacking a battleship’s control room, all the way up to a Saving Private Ryan-esque D-Day invasion to destroy a long range artillery cannon.
The final branch of UT is the Challenge mode, available only upon completing the first four tiers. This is an all-out match against the best in the league. Defeat this leg, and you will be named UT Grand Champion.
As expected from the Unreal series, the graphics in this game are phenomenal, and since it runs under Glide, you can be certain that owners of 3dfx cards will reap in the benefits. Audio is just as good as before, and still has that Epic style Scream Tracker sound to it, just like they used in their earlier shareware titles.
One factor that UT excels in over Quake 3: Arena is the choice of weapons. Sure we might have the typical mini-guns and rocket launchers (which however in this game, can be used to fire a salvo of missiles instead of just one), but we have special weapons such as the deadly-at-close- range Flak Cannon, or the Redeemer, which is a small tactical nuke that can either be dumbfired or controlled via a remote for an instant Monster Kill.
As mentioned, the single player is amazing, with very intelligent bots that can be altered to suit your skill level. But the best surprise about UT is how great it runs in multiplayer. Compared to Unreal’s slow-as-molasses Internet play, UT runs smoothly right out of the box, as I received ping times of under 300 on a 56k modem. Epic should be congratulated for doing a job well done on the multiplayer code.
It would be hard to find any serious faults with UT, perhaps the fact that you have to work your tail off to beat the bots when at Godlike level, or beating online opponents without losing a life, but it is definite that UT changed my opinion about the Unreal franchise, and this 5-gem monster (for both single and multiplayer) will have a permanent place on my hard drive.
In the much-hyped battle between Unreal Tournament and Quake III, I have to give my vote to UT, because the single player levels in UT are a lot of fun to play, and the mutiplayer is mostly lag-free. UT grabs the first person shooter crown, and should hold onto it for the foreseeable future.
Publishers: GT Interactive
Developers: Digital Extremes, Epic Games
Platforms: Dreamcast, Mac, PC, PlayStation 2
Developers: Digital Extremes, Epic Games
Platforms: Dreamcast, Mac, PC, PlayStation 2