Hello! McFly!

Possibly the most highly advertised feature of Unreal Tournament 3 is the reintroduction of a single player campaign instead of the simple tournament ladder play of the previous UT titles. The implementation of this feature is both inspiring and disappointing at the same time. For the first time in a while we get an actual story in the Unreal Universe, complete with cut scenes. The movies are beautifully rendered and very exciting [Ed: LordHavoc - except when they lock up and render many computers unusable, unless an obscure .ini setting is used.] The story follows a squad of commandos whose colony was wiped out by the Krall acting as mercenaries for a Necris invasion. We all remember the Krall as mercenary lackeys for the Skaarj in the original Unreal, I'm sure. While the new Krall bear little resemblance to their classic ancestors, I did get unpleasant memories of being lost in the Sunspire and Nali Castle upon hearing their name. [Ed: LordHavoc - the cutscenes make them out as much scarier than anything I can recall in Unreal. Award - Maybe because they happen to look more like Brutes than Krall now.]

Your characters work for Malcolm of the UT universe as soldiers fighting a war for the Izanagi Corporation against the Axon Corporation. The hope is to get revenge on the Necris. Despite being billed as as the first single player campaign in the UT series, it still feels pretty much like the standard arena fare, moving from one bot skirmish to another with each getting progressively harder as you move between chapters of the story. Still, it feels far more cohesive and meaningful than the UT2k series did. You also collect "cards" as you go which you can play before a mission. These cards provide for features such as removing a bot from the enemy side, or adding a bot to your side. [Ed: LordHavoc - These really help with some missions - the Tactical Diversion card for example takes out two opponents, and the Iron Guard card adds two members of the Iron Guard to your side, unfortunately all cards are one-shot, so you generally only use them when you keep failing a mission.]

The game types are the standard fare: team deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and a slightly renamed Onslaught called "Warfare." [Ed: LordHavoc - The familiar Bombing Run and Domination/Double Domination game types from past UT games do not make an appearance here, and many will miss the Assault game mode as well.] While they've introduced little into the game that can truly be called innovative, there are some interesting additions to the existing game modes (beyond trying to explain flags and spawning in the story.) Onslaught/Warfare, as well as somewhat new "CTF with Vehicles" mode have been granted the addition of a new mobility option: The hoverboard. [Ed: LordHavoc - I've never had so much fun in CTF before the addition of the hoverboard.] The good old translocator is still available in plain CTF, but the hoverboard certainly helps navigate the large maps of Warfare and CTF with Vehicles if you weren't the first one to the Manta. It also provides a fun way to kill time if you're stuck on flag duty. Grappling to a vehicle while on the hoverboard helps get to the action fast if you're in a real hurry.

The addition of "orbs" in the new Warfare mode certainly breathes new life into the already popular Onslaught gameplay as well. It's a small addition, but it can certainly change up the strategy. Each team has orb generators at various forward points on the map. One player may carry the orb either on foot or on hoverboard around the map. Standing near a vulnerable friendly node will reinforce the node (making it invulnerable until the orb carrier is killed or leaves.) Dropping the orb on a vulnerable enemy node will instantly change the node to friendly control. Keeping a lookout for the orb carriers is a must! While sometimes annoying, it can definitely add a third dimension to the game. Also new are unlinked support nodes which can really spice up gameplay with tanks and other precious additions to your efforts. [Ed: LordHavoc - Unlinked support nodes and Orbs really are key to the new Warfare gameplay, there is much tactical variety added in the use of orbs to defend vulnerable nodes and capture enemy nodes - sometimes even using them to capture the unlinked support nodes to provide special vehicles.]

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