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Peoii
Ultimate Fanboy
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 572
Location: Post Falls, ID, USA, North America, Earth, Sol, Milky Way
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Tue Mar 23, 2004 4:22 am |
You know, in this world of "kiss my butt and I'll scratch your back" type attitudes between game developers and websites, it's refreshing every once in a while to find something that's not posted here on UnrealOps that's willing to say something negative towards the current "big thing". I've always been a daily reader of the OverClockers Club since before I can remember doing any overclocking, and when their team member Bryan McDaniel sat down and reviewed Unreal Tournament 2004, I knew it was going to be something different.
Overall, his review is pretty favorable, then I got to the part I was waiting for, the reason that the game never quite felt like a full 10 pointer:
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The sounds of the game don’t have much of a difference from UT2K3. While some new phrases have been added for the announcers, they still say a lot of the same old stuff that’s been said since the original. It’s time to change things a little more, don’t ya think? Though I will say, some of the new comments by the announcers are great.
I find the music also gets old rather quickly, and after just a few hours of playing, I disabled the in game music and turned on some real music. Something about fragging with Disturbed, Saliva, Korn, NIN, Audioslave, Nickelback, Metallica, and other hard rock bands made the game a whole lot better. Perhaps in the next edition of UT, we’ll see a real soundtrack. It’d defiantly make the game a whole lot better.
While they may not provide the eye candy that some of the upcoming games are promising, UT2K4 graphics are nice. There’s been some work to increase the detail level of UT2K4, but not too much was done that bogged the game down. I’d sacrifice eye candy for a smooth, fast game play any day (that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like both :p). |
And you know what? I have to agree. While not owning a copy of the game myself yet, I have been over to a couple local friends and played, and the music and sounds do sound kind of old for the game. Also, what real graphic increases did we get? Sure, the engine got polished, and it looks smoother than before, however, was there really any innovation? I don't think so, and neither did Bryan.
So, if you'd like to see a non-butt kissing article about UT2004, head on over and check out the full article, and see if you agree or not. |
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Guest
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Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:10 am |
I dunno. If you listen to the baying of the barnyard UT players (to paraphrase Penny Arcade), apparently UT99 players weren't *looking* for anything different. Mostly, they seem to want an upgrade to the graphics engine and some tidying up to keep up with the latest OS and there you go...
Since Epic didn't pull a very large pool of UT99 players forward with UT03, they really had to figure out something that would balance the demands of new UT03 users with the fact that they needed to get their core UT99 group back. All in all, I think they did a pretty stellar job. I don't completely agree that the soundtracks to UT04 are old and boring. As anyone who has played too much Grand Turismo knows, after a while, you're sick to death of whatever they put in the box, basically. The soundtrack is pretty low key and inocuous which is just about right for my tastes. But I'm not a huge fan of hard rock so this is obviously something of a taste issue. It would have been cool to see in-game CD or MP3 controls though! Perhaps when they release the no-CD patch in a couple of months, eh? 
I'd say that was a decent review, and on a positive note, I'd sort of expect that's about as harsh as any of the reviews are going to get. (Not that it was too harsh, just that Brian wasn't drooling on the floor over how great the game was like some of the other reviewers have been, which was sort of a pleasant change of pace, as noted.)
One last note--sure it feels more like an upgrade to some extent. But if you look at the pricing you can get on this thing--$10 off for UT03 owners, plus some places like EB games offering $20 credit towards the purchase of another game--that's an incredibly cheap selling price for something that they did in fact work a year on!
Just my two cents...
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S-Dot
UO Noob
Joined: 21 Mar 2004
Posts: 5
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Tue Mar 23, 2004 11:19 am |
I agree with 'Guest' that the reviewer shouldn't comment on ingame music when it doesn't fit his personal taste. To me the music sounds good for a 'game' soundtrack. I personal like the electronic sound more than the standard hardrock tracks he mentioned. If he wants to listen to a track that is played every day in the radio he could just turn it on.
Also I can't fully agree with his comment about the announcer. It doesn't really speak too much. And taunts like 'killing spree' and 'multi kill' are real classics that shouldn't disappear. But maybe I'm just an UT99 player who is very happy that his game finally came back |
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Classix
Guest
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Tue Mar 23, 2004 11:45 am |
Well, I think you have to look at his two points in seperate ways. The sound is a valid concern across the board. Everyone hears the same sounds, and they are starting to get old, the taunts and what have you. A little more time could have been spent on the voices so that there are more than three or four. They've got a bunch of distinct groups, why do so many share voices?
When it comes to graphics, thats a subjective complaint. DM-1on1-Trite with all the graphic features on and 800x600x32 I average 120 frames per second. Even on the huge, outdoor Onslaught maps I average 80 frames per second. It's a subjective complaint and one that is viewed differently by everyone with a different system. Should designers design to what people currently have for hardware? Or what they will have near the middle or end of a games lifecycle? I spent about $2500 on my computer last August, so the technology is out there.
Classix[/i] |
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Guest
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Tue Mar 23, 2004 4:14 pm |
The combination of a mature, STABLE game engine with a NEW, very fun gametype (onslaught) and the cheap price of UT2004... and they're finding fault with the music? Its nice and trendy to pooh-pooh on the latest darling game, but really... Those points are a bit weak.
This game is packed with more value than I've seen in years. Its got all the fun of previous versions and a whole BOATLOAD of new content. Can you name any other comparable game on the market? Sure, Halflife 2 and Doom 3 are on the way... but I'm confident UT2004 will come out on top at the end of the year.
Even my non-gaming friends are scrambling to buy this game. That's enough of a review for me... |
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Guest
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Tue Mar 23, 2004 11:30 pm |
Sure, it's a good game with lots of stuff included. Don't think the reviewer denied UT2K4 that much. 
Game reviewers, are like movie critics... it's all a mater of personal taste (and sometimes deep pockets).
Sure, everyone has their own taste in music. And most people will agree that in-game music (especially that created by the $7.00 kid with a midi player) sucks. EA has taken note of this and started using real music in their games, and even giving you the ability to select different play list or add your own music (BFV and Madden for examples).
How cool would it be to have an “UnrealRadio” broadcast through the halls of an arena? I agree, the “Head shot”, and other phrases are classics, but common.. if we can have 100 maps, we can add a few new sounds to, wouldn't ya think? Let's fire the announce in there right now and put Madden behind the mic. “Oh man, did you see that head shot? He's going to feel that in the morning.”.. “Oh, would ya look at that... killing spre- oh ^&*^ never mind, he fired his rocket prematurely.”
100 maps... vehicles... game modes... is a few sound files for voices that hard?
Whats so great about UT2K4? Vehicles? Well.. we can get that in a dozen other games. Fast game play? That too can be found in many games. The Unreal Engine? Well... even that can be found in other games.
Let's face it. It's a true sequel. Hey, could be worse, they could have made it a prequel. :p
I keep using Madden as an example, because I use to like that game. I was in EB once, and someone was asking the clerk about the latest Madden at the time (I think it was 2003). You know what the clerk's reply was? “It's just another madden game.”
While UT2K4 isn't that bad, if UT2K5, 6, 7 or whatever the next one is doesn't do something that just blows away the gaming industry, they'll end up falling into the “It's just another Unreal Tournament game”. I'd hate to see that happen.
I'll keep playing it for now. But with game like Splinter Cell 2, Thief 3, HL2, DOOM3, Painkiller, and others coming out... well, I don't know how UT2K4 will be able to stay in the lite. Best enjoy it while it's hot. I know I will. :p
Whether you liked the review or not, I'm glad ya read it.
See ya in the Tournament.
Bryan "d3bruts1d" McDaniel
Senior Editor
OverclockersClub |
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Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Mar 24, 2004 3:10 pm |
Two points:
1) Game music is also 'real' music, made by 'real' people. It may get a bad reputation in the past due to technology and budget shortages but those days are long in the past. I'm sure I dislike some music you like but I don't go around saying its not real music.
2) Madden is one of the top selling games in the world. Being able to follow in those footsteps is a good thing, even more so because UT is a networked game - the more who play means the more fun for all.
Regardless, I'm still enjoying a fantastic game and I can see myself enjoying it for a long time to come... I'm sorry you don't feel the same.
As an aside, does anyone have some sales numbers? I'd like to see how well UT2004 is selling compared to other games now and in the past. |
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