5 Reasons Why Unreal Tournament is Better than
Quake III Arena

By Dale Weir

1. Extensive Options and Customizations
When playing games like Q3A and UT that claim to be training games for future Deathmatch kings, it becomes apparent how important having control over the game can be to improve your skill. Q3A will have everyone progressing at the same levels and working on the same areas (with the exception of different difficulty settings) with no consideration of individualized pacing. UT, on the other hand, allows an unparalleled amount of customizations so that I could change the game however I saw fit. My character’s appearance could be customized in a variety of ways from skin-color to team affiliation. Weapon selections and switching can be prioritized to my own preferences. Not only were there more computer skill levels (for the Bots) to choose from, but there’s even an auto adjust skill option dependent on player performance. If I ever grew tired of even the abundant play modes available, I could try my hand at the mutation option. Here I could change characteristics about the levels like adding chainsaws to everyone’s arsenal or creating a level where there are solely sniper rifles available for some Professional gameplay. In fact, just about everything in this game from weapon damage levels, overall game speed, and gravity control can be tweaked. Finally, as a true sign of savvy development, UT comes with levels that wouldn’t necessarily fit the bill as typical arena stages. For one, they are a lot more varied and diverse than those of Q3A are. Running around the levels in UT was like running through actual buildings or arenas while Q3A seemed to be recycling the same dungeons that I saw in previous releases.

2. Single-Player Mode
For all the popularity of the Deathmatch genre, jumping into online play is not the intention of everyone starting up Q3A or UT. On one hand, there are the beginners who will have absolutely no clue as to what to do and will need something to break them in easy and, on the other hand, there are those who are familiar with Deathmatching but want real training levels to sharpen their skills. In Q3A, only the latter gamer is satisfied while the beginner must stumble through the ‘training’ courses and jump into the online arena unprepared. The single-player in UT isn’t tacked on at all; instead it offers true training in all the different modes of play and is presented in a far more satisfying, unlocking ladder format. The tutorials in UT better familiarize users with all the basic Deathmatch moves and provide better training levels that get progressively harder at a more reasonable rate. And, thankfully, the competition in the game (the Bots) impede or assist you more similarly to how a human player online would. They are even great for the more experienced player simply looking to sharpen his or her skills. Plainly put, UT’s single-player mode is a more complete experience and has something for everyone. This puts it ahead of the pack.

3. Diverse Weaponry
Where Q3A gets points for their ‘more bang for your buck’ weapons, both in appearance and results, UT takes the prize for its diversity. I must be honest that the weapons don’t look as impressive as the ones in Q3A, but they are all unique. The game comes with everything from the simple automatic handgun to an always-cool sniper rifle to a portable nuclear warhead launcher. But even with such variety I would have to say that the most telling of the craftiness of the developers is the sniper rifle. It changes the game whenever someone gets it. For one, kills are easier if you’re a crack shot and there is no feeling more visceral than picking off an opponent with a well-placed headshot. The best Q3A has to offer is a rail gun and only the most experienced Deathmatchers find any use for that thing. If this weren’t enough, all the weapons in UT are essentially doubled thanks to a secondary fire feature. While a left-click with the Flak Cannon launches a nice blast of shrapnel at opponents, a right-click lofts a shrapnel grenade with even greater destructive power. Battles are rarely one-sided due to the variety of the weapons and this makes the need for player skill to become more apparent.

4. Superior Menu Interface
Back in the day, getting around id games and games of its ilk were cumbersome. Every menu showed the game engine’s archaic DOS roots. That was fine for its time, but many games were still sticking to this right into the age of Windows 95. Epic Games remedies this right away with a slick menu system that puts all the control in front of the user. It begins with a polished Windows-like menu system that is wonderfully easy to navigate in. Jumping into a multiplayer game is as easy as starting up a single-player game. With their streamlined interface, I could get into the chat mode and start up a game by simply clicking various labeled tabs. Even better was the fact that the list of available servers stays in memory and doesn’t automatically refresh itself when disconnected from a server the way Q3A annoyingly does. It was another sign of the interface facilitating less work for the gamer so that he or she could focus just on the game; which is, after all, what we shell out the money for in the first place.

5. More Modes of Play
Let’s face it, Deathmatching is cool, but it can get old quick or at least it would if there were only a Deathmatch and Capture the Flag (CTF) mode. UT succeeds in bringing the gamer more variety right from the start. Along with the two traditional modes I mentioned, Epic added interesting diversions in Assault and Domination. Both of these modes are new to online play and offer unique gameplay experiences that Q3A can’t even come close to providing. I would be remiss if I didn’t admit that Deathmatches are great, but I must also say that they can get tiring after a while. These two levels alone mean there are more levels and more types of gameplay to be mastered, which only further prolongs the game’s life. You will always have something do when you sit down with UT whether it’s online or playing solo (due to the excellent AI). No Quake game to date can say that and that is something UT will be able to hold over its head for a long time.