Unreal Tournament 2004

Unreal Tournament 2004
Developer(s)	Epic Games Digital Extremes Psyonix
Publisher(s)	Atari, Inc. (Linux/Windows) MacSoft (Mac) Midway
Designer(s)	Cliff Bleszinski Jeff Morris Steven Polge
Composer(s)	Kevin Riepl Starsky Partridge Will Nevins
Series	Unreal
Engine	Unreal Engine 2.5
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
Release date(s)	NA March 16, 2004 EU March 18, 2004 AUS March 19, 2004
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Distribution	Optical disc, Download

Unreal Tournament 2004, also known as UT2004 and UT2K4, is a futuristic first-person shooter computer game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. It is part of the Unreal series of games, particularly the subseries started by the original Unreal Tournament, and is a sequel/expansion to 2002's Unreal Tournament 2003.

The game features most of the content of its predecessor, replacing it on the shop shelves. Unreal Tournament 2004 boxes sold in the United States include a $10 mail-in rebate requiring that a short form be completed and sent to the publisher along with a copy of the manual cover for Unreal Tournament 2003. Versions sold in the United Kingdom had a similar offer, but required sending in the play CD for Unreal Tournament 2003 instead.

Among significant changes to gameplay mechanics and visual presentation, one of the major additions introduced by Unreal Tournament 2004 is the inclusion of vehicles and the Onslaught game type, allowing for large-scale battles

Its sequel, Unreal Tournament 3, was released on 19 November 2007.

Gametypes

The available combat modes are:

• Assault — It is an objective-oriented gametype in which one team attacks the objectives (usually one at a time in a specific order) while another defends. Often, attackers will be rewarded for completing an objective by being allowed to spawn closer to the next objective. If the attacking team completes the final objective within the allowed time, the teams switch roles and another round on the same map begins. If not, the original attackers lose. If a second round begins and the new attackers complete the final objective in less time than the first attackers, they win; if not, they lose.
• Onslaught — or ONS is a vehicle-based gametype. The object of this gametype is to capture a series of power nodes connecting your base to your opponents' base, and destroy their power core.
• Bombing Run — Each level has a ball that starts in the middle of the playing field. Your team scores by getting the ball through the enemy team's hoop. You score 7 points for jumping through the hoop while holding the ball, and 3 points for tossing the ball through the hoop. The ball can be passed to teammates, and is dropped if the player carrying it is killed.
• Capture the flag — Your team must score flag captures by taking the enemy flag from the enemy base and returning it to their own flag. If the flag carrier is killed, the flag drops to the ground for anyone to pick up. If your team's flag is taken,it must be returned (by touching it after it is dropped) before your team can score a flag capture.
• Deathmatch — or DM, is a gametype, in which the point is to either reach a certain number of frags (or kills), or to highest number of frags at the time limit for the match.
• Team Deathmatch — Two teams duke it out in a quest for battlefield supremacy. The team with the most total frags wins.
• Invasion — Along side the other players, you must hold out as long as possible against the waves of attacking monsters from Unreal, earning points by killing these monsters.
• Double Domination — Your team scores by capturing and holding both Control Points for ten seconds. Control Points are captured by touching them. After scoring, the Control Points are reset to neutral.
• Last man standing — Each player starts with a limited number of lives. The last remaining player to still have lives wins the match.
• Mutant — All players start in a deathmatch setting with all weapons, and the first player to kill becomes the "mutant". This player receives unlimited ammo, camouflage,Berserk (Increases rate of fire and knockback) and super speed for an indefinite amount of time, but he slowly loses health and can't pick up any health items. When the mutant is killed, the mutant powers are passed to the killer.

The game also includes a detailed single player campaign, in which you earn credits by competing in tournaments, which you then use to draft a team to compete in team-based tournaments. You work your way up qualifying ladders to the championship.

Development

Screenshot of ONS-Dria.

UT2004 was built with Unreal Engine 2.5 and the content of its predecessor, UT2003.

The game was developed by multiple studios, with Epic Games leading the project. Lead programmer Steve Polge described the role of each company involved:

Epic Games

Enhancements to the Unreal Tournament 2003 game types, the new UI, Voice over IP and bot voice command support, engine enhancements and optimizations. They also made an improved single player game, and improved community and demo recording support, in addition to thirty-one new playable characters. A Sniper Rifle similar to the one included in the original Unreal Tournament was added. They created one Onslaught map, and developed AI support for Onslaught. 16 new DM maps, 5 new CTF Maps, 2 new Double Domination maps and 1 new Bombing Run map were added. The Assault gametype design and implementation were also reintroduced from the original Unreal Tournament.

Digital Extremes

3 new DM maps, 6 new CTF maps, 2 new Bombing Run maps, and 3 new Double Domination maps, 2 new playable characters, the new HUD design; new weapon models for the Assault Rifle, Shock Rifle, and Link Gun.

Psyonix

The Onslaught gametype design and implementation, with 6 new vehicles, 4 new weapons (Grenade Launcher, Spider Mine Layer, Anti-Vehicular Rocket Launcher (AVRiL), and the Phoenix target painter), and the Energy Turret. They also created seven Onslaught maps, and collaborated with Streamline Studios on the popular map ONS-Torlan. Finally, they made the new model for the Translocator, a portable teleporter.

Streamline Studios

The single player introduction movie and ONS-Torlan in collaboration with Psyonix. Streamline Studios created the Assault map AS-Confexia as a test for ONS-Torlan, which they released for free.

Release history

Screenshot of Unreal Tournament 2004 running on Linux

On February 11, 2004, a playable demo was released for multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux on x86-32 (February 13, 2004) and Linux on x86-64 (February 15, 2004). An updated demo version, including all the bugfixes from official patches and some original content, was released on September 23, 2004.

Unreal Tournament 2004 was released on March 16, 2004 for the PC (Linux x86-32/x86-64 and Windows), the Mac OS X version (DVD only) followed on March 31, 2004. The version for Windows x86-64 was released as a downloadable patch on October 1, 2005. At release consumers could purchase the game on CD, or a limited-time special edition DVD version that came with a Logitech microphone-headset and a second DVD filled with video-tutorials on how to use the included UnrealEd. A single DVD version with neither microphone nor tutorials was also released in Europe. The CD version of the game came on six discs. On April 13, 2004, Unreal Tournament 2004 was re-released as a special edition DVD.

In summer 2004, Epic and Atari, in collaboration, released an XP Levels downloadable mappack, which included two new Onslaught maps, ONS-Ascendancy and ONS-Aridoom. The pack is free for download and use on any system capable of running the game.

On September 21, 2004, Atari released in stores the "Editor's Choice Edition" of Unreal Tournament 2004 which adds 3 vehicles, 4 Onslaught maps, and 6 character skins to the original game, and also contains several mods developed by the community as selected by Epic Games. This extension (excluding mods) was released as a Bonus Pack by Atari on September 23, 2004, and is available for free download.

In December 2005, the Mega Bonus Pack was released online by Epic games, which included several new maps, along with the latest patch and the Editor's Choice Edition content.

In November 2006, Unreal Anthology was released which bundles Unreal Gold, Unreal II: The Awakening, Unreal Tournament (Game of the Year edition), and Unreal Tournament 2004. On March 17, 2008 the game was released standalone and as part of the Unreal Deal Pack on Valve's digital distribution service Steam, followed later in the year by the 'Editors Choice Edition' on GOG.com

Music

The soundtrack for Unreal Tournament 2004 was composed by Kevin Riepl, Starsky Partridge and Will Nevins. It contains grand orchestral scores, hard rock and minimalistic electronic songs. The game includes also almost all tracks from Unreal Tournament 2003.

Main article: Unreal Tournament 2004 soundtracks.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings 94% Metacritic 93/100 Review scores Publication Score 1UP.com A+ Eurogamer 9/10 GameSpot 9.4/10 IGN 9.4/10
Awards Publication Award IGN Best of 2004 (Best Multiplayer Game) GameSpy Game of the Year 2004 (Best Multiplayer Game)

Unreal Tournament 2004 was met with overwhelming critical acclaim and community reaction, with critics praising the unique, fast-paced, fun and challenging nature of the game as its main selling points, while fans touted the post-release support and extensive modding capabilities.

Unreal Tournament 2004 also received awards for Multiplayer Game of the Year from IGN, Computer Gaming World and GameSpy, and an award for Best Value of 2004 from Computer Games Magazine.

The game holds a 93/100 score on Metacritic.

Modification

The game includes extensive modification support which allows users to easily create maps, models, gamemodes as well as various other additions to the game. The game features a flexible modification system which seamlessly blends custom content with the original, as well as allowing for easy tweaking of the game with the "mutator" system.

In 2004 Epic games held the "Make Something Unreal" contest, which rewarded the creators of the best submitted modifications with prizes in cash, computer hardware, and, ultimately, a license for commercial use of Unreal Engine 2 and 3. Red Orchestra, a total conversion modification based on the Eastern Front of World War II and focused on realism-oriented gameplay, was the winner of the contest and is currently available as a retail title on Steam.

Alien Swarm was the winner of Phase 4 of the Make Something Unreal Contest for best non-FPS modification. In 2010, the game was released as a standalone game for free, based on the Source engine instead of the Unreal engine.

External links

• Unreal Tournament 2004 at GOG.com
• Unreal Tournament 2004 at Steam
• UT2004 Stats – Official gameplay stats tracking