| Unreal Tournament | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Epic Games[a] Digital Extremes |
| Publisher(s) | GT Interactive (Win) Epic Games (Linux)[2] MacSoft (Mac OS) Infogrames (PS2/Dreamcast) |
| Designer(s) | Cliff Bleszinski James Schmalz |
| Programmer(s) | Tim Sweeney Steve Polge Erik de Neve Jack Porter Brandon Reinhart |
| Artist(s) | Shane Caudle |
| Composer(s) | Straylight Productions Michiel van den Bos |
| Series | Unreal |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 1[5] |
| Platform(s) | Windows,Linux,Classic Mac OS,PlayStation 2,Dreamcast |
| Release | Windows LinuxClassic Mac OS PlayStation 2 Dreamcast |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player,multiplayer |
Unreal Tournament is a 1999first-person shooter game developed byEpic Games andDigital Extremes. The second installment in theUnreal series, it was first published byGT Interactive in 1999 forWindows, and later released on thePlayStation 2 andDreamcast byInfogrames in 2000 and 2001, respectively. Players compete in a series of matches of various types, with the general aim of out-killing opponents. The PC and Dreamcast versions support multiplayeronline or over alocal area network. Freeexpansion packs were released, some of which were bundled with a 2000 re-release:Unreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition.
Powered by theUnreal Engine,Unreal Tournament received universal acclaim, often being consideredone of the greatest video games ever made, with reviewers praising the graphics, level design and gameplay, though the console ports were noted for having limitations. The design of the game shifted the series' focus to competitivemultiplayer action with the releases of sequelsUnreal Tournament 2003 in 2002,Unreal Tournament 2004 in 2004, andUnreal Tournament 3 in 2007. In 2014, apre-alpha version of a new game in the series was released titled simplyUnreal Tournament. In 2017, Epic cancelled the game.
Unreal Tournament is an arena first-person shooter, with head-to-head multiplayer deathmatches being the primary focus of the game. The single-player campaign is a series of arena matches played withbots, where the player competes for the title of Grand Champion.[6] The player moves up the tournament ladder in order to challenge the current champion, Xan Kriegor, a mysterious being with exceptional skill.[7] Also available is a practice mode, in which, as its name implies, the player practices a match. Match settings (such as score and time limits) can be customized. Also available are "mutators", which drastically alter gameplay aspects, such as "InstaGib", which makes players compete with instant-kill Shock Rifles instead of the normal weapons.[8] Weapons include the Enforcer, the Rocket Launcher and the Ripper, which fires ricocheting blades. Each weapon has two firing modes which have different effects: for example, Rippers can also fire non-ricocheting blades that explode on impact. A special weapon is the Redeemer, which fires a miniature nuke and causes a large and powerful explosion.[9]
Items such as body armor (which reduces damage taken), health packs (which heal players) and damage amplifiers are scattered across levels.[10] Levels are set in a variety of environments, including spaceships, outposts and buildings like castles and monasteries.[11] Many contain features such as elevators (lifts) and teleporters and obstacles such as water and lava.[12] The game is backwards compatible with the majority ofUnreal multiplayer maps.[13] ThePC version includes alevel editor in which players can create their own levels,[14] and thePlayStation 2 version supports the use of aUSB keyboard and mouse, enabling players to play in a similar manner to the PC version.[15]
For team matches, bots are used to fill the roles of the player's teammates. The player can choose the bots' skill level or have it automatically adjust to the player's performance. Bots can be further customized by changing attributes such as names, appearance and weapon preferences.[16] In team matches, players can give orders to bots on their team.[17] The PC version supports multiplayer mode over the internet or alocal area network (the originalUnreal was mainly a single-player game).[18][19]
Four "bonus packs" were released, each adding maps, characters, or features. For example, Bonus Pack 1 adds "relics" as mutators.[26] Relics are special items that grant a significant advantage to their holder. They include (but are not limited to), the Relic of Vengeance, which creates an explosion when its holder dies, the Relic of Regeneration, which regenerates the health of the holder, and the Relic of Redemption, which makes its holder respawn elsewhere with full health and weapons intact when they would normally die.[27][28] Bonus Pack 4 adds a new version of Xan Kriegor.[29]
During the Human–Skaarj war, the New Earth Government was formed. Mining was the primary method of financing the war, but was unpopular with the working class, who grew weary of the working conditions and the war. The humans were losing the war, and riots broke out. TheTerran system was surrounded by Skaarj forces, but a government team destroyed their mothership, and the Skaarj withdrew. Afterward, revolts and violence among the mining colonies were on the increase, and efforts to deal with them were unsuccessful. The government then came up with the idea of giving the violence an outlet instead. "Consensual murder" was legalized in the year 2291, enabling people to fight to the death under organized conditions. The Liandri Mining Corporation worked with the government and organized leagues and public exhibitions. Soon, these matches became more profitable than mining, and Liandri formed a professional league to compete in a "Grand Tournament", the most popular event in the sport. The game takes place in 2341, fifty years after the fights were first legalized.[30]
With a budget of $2 million, using 350,000 lines ofC++ andUnrealScript,Unreal Tournament took around a year and a half to develop.[31] WhenUnreal (the first installment of theUnrealseries) was released in May 1998, it was well received by the press, but it soon became apparent that the quality of the network code used formultiplayer matches was hampering the game's further success. In the months followingUnreal's release, improving the game's multiplayer part became the top priority of the development team.[32]Epic Games started considering an officialexpansion pack intended to improve the network code while also featuring new maps and other gameplay elements.[31]
The team began work on the expansion in summer 1998, but the task became complicated by Epic's organizational structure. During the development ofUnreal, the team members atDigital Extremes were working inOntario, Canada, while the members at Epic were based inNorth Carolina, United States, requiring regular travel to Ontario. To remedy this, Epic decided to centralize the teams inRaleigh, North Carolina, and by September, work on the expansion could begin. Lead programmerSteve Polge set about laying the foundations for the new game types, such as Capture the Flag and Domination, and level designers created the first round of maps for testing. The content grew quickly, and soon the team realized that it had underestimated the task. In November, after a meeting with publisherGT Interactive,Mark Rein suggested releasing the work as a stand-alone game instead of an expansion. The team was reticent at first, but soon accepted the idea, and in December the game became known internally asUnreal: Tournament Edition.[31]
The development team forUnreal Tournament consisted of around 16 people.[31] Most team members had worked onUnreal, though Epic hired a number of new developers to reinforce the team. Programmer Brandon Reinhart was one such hire, joining Epic in August 1998 to help with the support ofUnreal and the development ofUnreal Tournament. That December, Reinhart discovered anUnrealmod called UBrowser, which provided a new user interface for finding multiplayer matches. After showing it to James Schmalz, the lead designer at Digital Extremes, Schmalz decided to hire the mod's author, Jack Porter. After only a few weeks Porter was already working with the team, replacing the game's existing menu system with his new interface.[31] Epic founderTim Sweeney worked on improving the networking code along with Steve Polge, who also wrote code for AI, player physics and general gameplay.[31][33] Erik de Neve was responsible for theLOD character rendering, and various extra optimizations.[34]
During the game's development, the team lacked artists. The art director at Epic Games, Shane Caudle,[35] and the artists at Digital Extremes could not make enough newtextures because of the amount of diversity in characters and maps. To help with the skin and texture production, Epic contracted Steve Garofalo.[31] The game's level and content management program,UnrealEd, was written inVisual Basic and considered buggy, but no one had time to fix it. The game engine had anobject-oriented design, and thescripting language, UnrealScript, was considered to be more likeJava. The modularity of the object-oriented design meant that programmers could make large changes without affecting other parts of the game. Other tools used during development includedMicrosoft Visual Studio and3D Studio Max.[31] All of the weapon sound effects were created bySonic Mayhem.[36] The soundtrack for the game, which employed the system ofmodule files,[37] was written byAlexander Brandon,Michiel van den Bos,Andrew Sega,Dan Gardopee,Peter Hajba and Tero Kostermaa.[38][39]Unreal Tournament had support for theEAX Version 2.03D positional audio technology byCreative Labs and A3D 2.0HRTF technology byAureal Semiconductor out of the box.[40]
In 1999, Epic Games released a playabledemo on September 16.[33] This version of the demo was only compatible withGlide-based accelerators.[41] An updated demo version, with support forOpenGL andDirect3D cards, was released on September 28.[42]Unreal Tournamentwent gold (became ready for release) on November 16,[1][43] shipping a few days later on November 22. The Mac version went gold on December 15.[44] The Dreamcast version was developed bySecret Level, who had to drop Assault mode, along with many larger maps, due to the Dreamcast having insufficient memory.[21] ALinux port ofUnreal Tournament was also in development.[45] The goal of the project was to improve the quality of the Linux port of the game as well as strengthen the mod authoring community and teach Epic about open source projects.[45] In 2000,Loki Software made an exclusive agreement with Epic Games to maintain and support the Linux version ofUnreal Tournament, offering new features, addressing any technical issues and achieving revision parity with the Windows version.[46] Bonus Pack 1 was released on February 25, 2000.[47]Unreal Tournament was re-released in fall (autumn) 2000 asUnreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition, which includes the first three bonus packs andmods such as Rocket Arena, a one-on-one combat mode.[48][49][50]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | PC: 94%[100] |
| Metacritic | PC: 92/100[51] PS2: 77/100[52] SDC: 90/100[53] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| AllGame | PC:  [54] |
| CNET Gamecenter | PC: 10/10[98] |
| Computer Games Strategy Plus | PC:[86] |
| Computer Gaming World | PC:[55] |
| Computer and Video Games | PC: 9/10[56] |
| Edge | PC: 7/10[57] SDC: 6/10[58] |
| EP Daily | PC: 10/10[87] PS2: 3/10[88] SDC: 9.5/10[89] |
| Eurogamer | PC: 10/10[59] |
| Game Informer | PS2: 9/10[60] |
| GameFan | PC: 95/100[64] |
| GamePro | PC: 4.5/5[66] PS2: 4.5/5[67] |
| GameRevolution | PC: A−[61] PS2: B[62] SDC: B+[63] |
| GameSpot | PC: 9.5/10[68] PS2: 8.2/10[69] SDC: 9.4/10[70] |
| GameSpy | PC: 94/100[71] PS2: 77%[72] SDC: 8/10[73] |
| GamesRadar+ | PS2: 69%[65] |
| IGN | PC: 9.6/10[74] MAC: 9.6/10[75] PS2: 8.4/10[76] SDC: 9.4/10[77] |
| Macworld | MAC: 4.5/5[97] |
| Maximum PC | PC: 9/10[78] |
| Next Generation | PC: 4/5[79] PS2: 3/5[80] SDC: 4/5[81] |
| PC Accelerator | PC: 10/10[99] |
| PC Gamer (UK) | PC: 92/100[82] |
| PC Gamer (US) | PC: 90/100[83] |
| PC PowerPlay | PC: 94/100[84] |
| PC Zone | PC: 90/100[14] |
| X-Play | SDC: [85] |
| Gamezilla | PS2: 86%[90] SDC: 87%[91] |
| Happy Puppy | MAC: 9/10[92] SDC: 8/10[93] |
| Inside Mac Games | MAC: 9/10[94] |
| Dreamcast Magazine (UK) | SDC: 87%[95] |
| Maxim | SDC:[96] |
In the United States alone,Unreal Tournament sold 100,998 copies by the end of 1999, according toPC Data.[101] The game's sales in the country reached 128,766 copies, for revenues of $5.42 million, by early 2000. This placed it behind competitorQuake III: Arena over the same period.[102] From January through October 2000,Unreal Tournament sold 234,451 units and earned $8.94 million in the region.[103] The game ultimately received a "Silver" sales award from theEntertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[104] indicating sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[105] By November 2001,Unreal Tournament's total sales were close to 2 million units.[106]
Upon its release,Unreal Tournament received universal acclaim from critics, earning an overall score of 92 out of 100 on aggregate review websiteMetacritic.[51] Similarly,Unreal Tournament earned an overall score of 94% on the video gaming review aggregatorGameRankings.[100] Mainstream press reviews lauded the title for its graphics, gameplay and level design, withComputer and Video Games calling it "a technical and game-playing marvel".[56] In March 2000,Unreal Tournament was second on a list of best-selling games inComputer Dealer News trade magazine,[107] but the development team believed sales would have been higher if the game was released in October 1999.[31]
Jeff Gerstmann ofGameSpot praised the graphics, multiplayer gameplay, weapons, and level design.[68] The game was similarly reviewed byGameSpy, who stated that the title raised the bar for first person multiplayer games.[71] British magazinePC Zone was pleased with the "very intelligent" bots, but criticized the "truly terrible" music.[14]AllGame complimented the addictiveness of Assault mode, and the game's replay value, calling it "a glowing, shining beacon in a sea of multi-player games".[54]Computer and Video Games found the game to have an "excellent" single-player mode, adding that with an average AI skill the player will "progress with little serious effort, taking a thrilling ride through spectacularly atmospheric levels and increasing numbers of opponents".[56]Eurogamer echoed that sentiment, and commented that the game is playable on low-end systems.[59]
Writing forGamePro, Nash Werner said the multiplayer flexibility was "immense", adding that mutators like low gravity, Sniper Arena and Chainsaw Melee "change everything about the way deathmatch is played".[66]Game Revolution agreed and praised the bots and maps, although it complained that player models were not particularly varied and that the game was not "as visually appealing as the originalUnreal".[61]IGN stated thatUnreal Tournament received the highest ever score at the time of their review, describing the game as nearly flawless.[74] British magazinePC Gamer complimented the artificial intelligence,[82] and its American counterpart did the same to the game's "gorgeous" graphics and "incredible" editing tools.[83]Computer Games Strategy Plus described the artificial intelligence as "outstanding", and commented that the Domination and Assault modes add interest.[86]The Electric Playground, who rated the game 10 out of 10, praised the "innovative" level design,[87] whileComputer Gaming World gave it five stars out of five, saying thatUnreal Tournament redeemed both Epic and theUnreal franchise to action gamers.[55]
The Macintosh version ofUnreal Tournament was equally praised.IGN enjoyed the "perfect" gameplay and multiplayer options, but criticized the high system requirements and the user interface. Nevertheless, the game was described as "the must have title" for Mac.[75]Happy Puppy described the game as "king of deathmatch" due to its "incredible value" gaming and "amazing" variety.[92]Inside Mac Games praised the replay value, but criticized the high system requirements.[94] In December 1999,Unreal Tournament was inducted into theMacworld Hall of Fame.[97]
Reviewing the Dreamcast version,Gamezilla complimented the sound, but criticized the graphics and lack of a plot.[91] Happy Puppy described the game as "intensely fun", but criticized the "mediocre" sound.[93]Edge criticized the lack of Assault mode.[58] The BritishDreamcast Magazine (not to be confused with theOfficial Dreamcast Magazine orDC-UK) was ambivalent to the port's gameplay, visuals and sounds, noting its "blasting" action and the removal of online multiplayer from the European version of the game.[95]GameSpy cited both slow framerate speeds and low sound quality as problems with the Dreamcast version.[73] Scott Steinberg ofMaxim rated the game 4 out of 5 stars, labeling it as a "stone-cold killer" that "runs likeCarl Lewis on aJolt Cola binge" while noting its "surprisingly workable" standard game pad controls.[96]
ThePlayStation 2 release did not fare as well as the PC and Dreamcast versions.[52]GameSpy criticized the graphics of the PS2 version, calling it "uninspired".[72] Its conclusion said about sluggish gameplay, somewhat washed out colors and textures.[72]IGN praised the replayability, and stated that the sound is faithful to the PC version.[76] Gamezilla criticized the PlayStation 2 version's lack of multiplayer support compared to the PC version along withGame Informer,[90] who said despite its flaws, the game "holds its own as one of the best FPSs out there".[60] On the other hand, the port scored 3 out of 10 in the television showThe Electric Playground, with the reviewer lauding the audio and graphics but feeling that the controls could have been better implemented.[88]
In addition to receivingEurogamer's first-ever perfect score,Unreal Tournament was named by the site one of the best games of 1999.[108] Launch editor John Bye chose the shooter as the game of the past decade (1999–2009) and said: "Unreal Tournament is one of the few games in the early days of Eurogamer that I kept going back to months after I'd finished reviewing it, a game that I played to unwind after a long day playing other games. Whether it was trying to break the one-minute barrier in the speed running mayhem of Assault mode, battling back and forth amongst the alleyways of Domination, or dropping shrapnel shells at people's feet with the wonderfully chunky flak cannon in a fast and furious free-for-all deathmatch,Unreal Tournament was an endless source of entertainment".[109] In 2004,Unreal Tournament was inducted into theComputer Gaming World Hall of Fame.[110]Unreal Tournament was a nominee forPC Gamer US's 1999 "Best Action Game" and "Best Multiplayer Game" awards, which went toTom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear andTeam Fortress Classic, respectively. They called it "a brilliant multiplayer game that blew its main rivalQuake III away with awesome bots, graphics, game types and online functionality".[111]Unreal Tournament was named as a finalist by theAcademy of Interactive Arts & Sciences for "Game of the Year", "Computer Game of the Year", "Computer Action Game of the Year", and won "Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering" at the3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.[112][113][114] The Dreamcast versionUnreal Tournament was a finalist for "11th AnnualGamePro Readers' Choice Awards" for "Best Combat Game of The Year", but lost toHalo: Combat Evolved forXbox.[115][116]
In 2011,G4tv included two maps from this game,Facing Worlds and DM-Deck 16, in its list of the "Most Influential FPS Multiplayer Maps Ever".[117] In 2013,PC Gamer labeled the Flak Cannon the greatest gun in PC gaming.[118] In 2014,Complex magazine placedUnreal Tournament as number three on its list of "The 50 Best First Person Shooters Of All Time",[119] whileMoviepilot placed it as number two on its list of "The 7 Most Influential Video Games Ever".[120] In November 2014,Kotaku named Facing Worlds the best multiplayer map.[121] In January 2016,Red Bull labeled Facing Worlds one of the 10 greatest FPS multiplayer levels of all time.[122] In July 2016, the game was ranked number 20 onBit-Tech's The 50 Best PC Games of All Time.[123]
| List of awards and nominations | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publication | Category | Result | Ref. | ||
| Computer Gaming World | Game of the Year | Won | [124][125] | ||
| Best Level Design | Won | ||||
| GameSpy | Game of the Year | Won | [126] | ||
| Special Achievement in Artificial Intelligence | Won | [127] | |||
| GameSpot | Action Game of the Year | Won | [128] | ||
| Game of the Year (Readers' Choice) | Won | [129] | |||
| Action Game of the Year (Readers' Choice) | Won | [130] | |||
| Game of the Year | Nominated | [131] | |||
| Best Multiplayer Game | Nominated | [132] | |||
| Best Graphics, Artistic Design | Nominated | [133] | |||
| Best Shooting Game (Console) | Nominated | [134] | |||
| Best Dreamcast Game | Nominated | [135] | |||
| Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards) | Game of the Year | Nominated | [112][113][114] | ||
| Computer Game of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| Computer Action Game of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering | Won | ||||
| CNET | PC Game of the Year | Nominated | [136] | ||
| Action Game of the Year | Nominated | [137] | |||
| Multiplayer Game of the Year | Won | [138] | |||
| Game Revolution | Best Online PC Game | Won | [139] | ||
| Games Domain | Action Game of the Year (Readers' Choice) | Won | [140] | ||
| Daily Radar | Best PC Game | Won | [141] | ||
| Game of the Year | Runner-up | [142] | |||
| Game of the Year (Readers' Choice) | Runner-up | [142] | |||
| Macworld | Best Network Shooter for the Mac | Won | [97] | ||
| GameStar | Multiplayer Game of the Year | Won | [143] | ||
| PC Player | Best First Person Shooter | Won | [144] | ||
| PC Zone | Game of the Year (Readers' Choice) | Won | [145][146] | ||
| First Person Action Game of the Year (Readers' Choice) | Won | ||||
| Game of the Millennium | Nominated | [147] | |||
_play_Unreal_Tournament.jpg)
Lead designer Cliff Bleszinski credited much of the game's success to its community. As he said in the November 2001 issue ofMaximum PC: "Unreal Tournament would not have sold nearly two million copies if it did not have support from the community... We ship the very same tools that we used to build the game, and folks use these tools to realize their own visions of first-person action".[106] LikeUnreal,Unreal Tournament is designed to be easily programmable and highly modularized.[148] Through its scripting environmentUnrealScript and level editorUnrealEd, developers are able to modify easily most parts of the game to both manipulate default game behavior and to supplement the game with their ownmods.[149][150] These range from slight changes on some aspects of gameplay (such as map voting) tototal conversions. One modification,ChaosUT, became popular enough that it was included with the 'Game of the Year' edition of the game, whileTactical Ops: Assault on Terror was released as a stand-alone retail product.[151]
Unreal Tournament was played at theWorld Cyber Games in 2001[152] and 2002.[153]
The success of the originalUnreal Tournament spawned four sequels, includingUnreal Tournament 2003 andUnreal Tournament 2004,[154][155]Unreal Tournament 3[156] and the cancelledUnreal Tournament reboot.[157] The yearly naming structure, based around marketing the franchise as a competitive sports title, was abandoned before the launch of the third sequel.[158]Dark Sector byDigital Extremes was initially planned as a spiritual successor toUnreal Tournament.[159] The game was released for free on theInternet Archive in late October 2024.[160]
Unreal Tournament is the subject ofanthology seriesSecret Level, created byTim Miller forAmazon Prime Video and released in December 2024.[161] The episode,Unreal Tournament: Xan, has the voices ofElodie Yung,Gideon Emery, Mitch Eakins,Chris Payne Gilbert, Carlin James, andFred Tatasciore.
The Linux executable, which requires yourUnreal Tournament CDs in order to install, is now available for download at The Unreal Technology Page.
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