Midway Unreal Tournament III review

The original Unreal Tournament is a cult classic, but while this latest instalment doesn't do anything particularly wrong, it suffers for being rather traditional when rivals such as Team Fortress 2, Crysis and Call of Duty 4 are busy trying something fresh.

The deal, as ever, is ludicrously big guns in a sci-fi setting, all rendered with a cutting-edge graphics engine. Bar a new feature here or a redesigned mode there, it's remarkably similar to its forerunners, and that's no bad thing. It's a classic formula, enjoyably over-the-top and free from unnecessary complexity.

The graphics engine is a technical marvel, and initially you'll do an occasional double-take as you struggle to believe that a game can look this real. Unreal Tournament III moves too fast for you to stand around admiring the view, though, which is probably just as well, as the art style leans towards bland and lacking in character. The extra detail in characters' faces and the surrounding architecture doesn't always stand out above the dreary brown and grey palette, while weapons are oversized, fussy and so laden with macho spiky bits that their purpose isn't always obvious.

As a pure deathmatch game, it's hard to criticise. It follows a classic formula that, although aged, is certainly not tired. This is what shooting a load of virtual warriors in a virtual arena should feel like: intuitive, fast and fluid. It piles on a certain wonderful excess that its more restrained rivals lack. Its vehicles especially are delights of sci-fi madness. There's a robot scorpion, a frantically rolling bubble, a towering War of the Worlds tripod, an invisible mine-layer and more. It's in the vehicular combat that this game most develops a personality of its own.

Despite this, if you own an older version of Unreal Tournament, you'll probably be disappointed. It also relies heavily on quick reflexes rather than strategy, so you'll need plenty of practice to survive online, which can make it a frustrating experience for first-time players. There's a token single-player mode, best viewed as an extended tutorial, which pits you against AI-controlled 'bots' and gives you some practive before you venture online. If you're after a more tactical game, try Call of Duty 4; if you want something you can enjoy without a can of Red Bull to hand, try Team Fortress 2.

There's plenty of life in this old workhorse of a game yet, and it's good to revisit it in a flashier suit - it's just a shame it doesn't push the genre forward a little more.