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One of the big events at E3 this year was the live demo of Unreal Tournament 2007. Viewers got a chance to watch as Epic Games Lead Level Designer, James Brown, went through a match and showed off everything from new vehicles to new gameplay elements like the Power Conduits.
All of the familiar elements from the line's 2004 title have made it back into the new version of this game. Tons of the classic vehicles and gameplay modes remain, but Epic has made a point to add in new features, both small and large, to help improve the game's overall feel.
New vehicles include the Nemesis (a mobile torrent), the Hover Viper and the Dark Walker (a War of the Worlds-esque device that causes mass destruction). Each vehicle adds a whole new range of gameplay when planning out your strategy or when designing a map with the game's renowned level editor series.
Epic Games' Vice President Mark Rein commented at the demonstration that the point of this version was to add a single player flavor to the multiplayer game. "[Unreal Tournament 2007] brings all of the fun of online gameplay with more of the feel of a nicely crafted single player title," he said.
Brown also made a point to say that the team was striving to make 2007 the premier online death-match competition title.
Unreal Tournament 2007 will contain three or four dozen new maps that will range from small confined spaces to vast huge locations spanning mountain passes and deserts regions.
Because many of the maps will be so huge, Epic has outfitted all of the characters with hover boards for quick movement. You won't be able to shoot while flying around, but Brown and Rein reported that you will be able to perform some pretty nice tricks as you race around the map.
Like the previous title, the point of most of the missions is to blow up the enemy power core. And just like last time, along the way you will have to convert Power Nodes, but UT 2007 introduces Power Conduits which are easier to switch sides and activate scripted world events like opening security gates and raising draw bridges.
Epic Games also made sure to point out that the in-game bots do more than just their generic "I'm being shot at" comments. Now A.I.-driven characters will say things like "Oh no, a Death Walker!" or "There's a sniper in the tower." Rein pointed out that these are the types of comments that other real players would say, statements that will help inform their teammates, not just generic chatter.
The 2007 version of this acclaimed series will come out for the PlayStation 3 and high-end Windows PC's. Look for this title sometime next year. |
