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The subject of this article appeared in Unreal Tournament 3.IBM PCPlaystation 3Microsoft Xbox 360

Unreal Tournament 3 is the eighth entry in the Unreal series and the fourth entry in the Unreal Tournament series. It was developed by Epic Games and published by Midway Games, and was released for Microsoft Windows on November 19, 2007, PlayStation 3 on December 11, 2007, and on Xbox 360 on July 3, 2008.

Synopsis[]

Unlike the prior Unreal Tournament games, the single-player campaign does not follow a plot based around the Tournament Grand Championship, and therefore several of the teams within Unreal Tournament 3 are not Tournament competitors. The five playable factions are: Iron Guard, a team of human mercenaries led by former Tournament champion Malcolm; the Ronin, a band of four survivors of a Skaarj attack on a human colony; Liandri, a series of advanced humanoid robots custom-built or retrofitted for combat; the Krall, a savage race of aliens formerly under the leadership of the Skaarj, returning from their initial appearance in the original Unreal; and the team of Necris warriors who have undergone the process of the same name, making them stronger at the expense of replacing their biological processes with "Nanoblack", effectively turning them into undead soldiers (hence the team name). In the campaign, players control members of the Ronin, while the Necris serve as the prime antagonists.

In the game's story, set in 2307, some years after the events of UT2004, a Necris attack occurs on a human colony located on an unknown planet, releasing armed Krall warriors upon the dwellers. The colony is defenseless, but a group of Ronins arrives on the scene, defending the survivors. Reaper, the group's leader, advises his second-in-command warrior Othello and his sister Jester to destroy the orbital Necris blockade with a fighter, and orders team's sniper expert Bishop to provide cover as he swarms to save the colony. Suddenly, he is caught in the explosion of an incoming rocket and passes out, but not before seeing an unknown Necris woman shooting a fallen soldier lying next to him. Reaper is rescued by Othello and Jester and wakes up in the base of the Izanagi, a guerrilla force that fights against Necris and Axon, and he meets with the leader, revealed to be Malcolm, who also leads the Iron Guard as the Izanagi's army. He explains that the Necris attack was masterminded by Liandri, who also turn some of the Krall, into Necris, controlled undead soldiers. The unknown woman whom Reaper saw turns out to be Akasha, the Necris High Inquisitor who destroyed the colony and also leads the Necris forces. Reaper wants to kill her for her atrocities, but Malcolm tells him that he needs to prove himself first.

Overview[]

Unreal Tournament 3 promised a return to the "feel" of the original Unreal Tournament. Epic's aim was to make the game more in-your-face, fast-paced, and less "floaty". To accomplish this, gravity was increased and dodge jump was removed. However, dodging, double jumps, and wall dodging remained. Gameplay in UT3 stresses close combat and projectile weapons more than any of its predecessors.

Development history[]

UT3 was revealed to the world in the May 2005 issue of Computer Gaming World magazine. According to Steven Polge, the entire engine and gamecode were rewritten in order to prevent another situation like that of UT2004, where they had to work on top of UT2003 and all of its problems; the eventual result of what they were doing with UT3 is, according to him, a "bigger leap" than that between UT and UT2004. He then explained that during the early stages of development, the dev team played UT, UT2004, and other popular Internet games on a daily basis, and then play the new game in order to compare and contrast with different things.[1] The first news of it began to appear on or around March 27, 2005. The game was originally codenamed UT "Envy", but later, around May 29, 2005, it was revealed that the name had been changed to Unreal Tournament 2007. It was not until January 25, 2007 at the Midway Gamer's Day event in Las Vegas that it was revealed that the game's name had been changed to Unreal Tournament 3.

Early on development, it was confirmed that the (in the words of the developers) "underplayed" Bombing Run, Assault and Double Domination have been eliminated in favor of the gametypes people play, and that the game would ship with around 40 maps, focusing on quality instead of quantity. As for teammate differentiation in team games, it was confirmed that the name beacon from previous games would be back, as well as player glowing upon a certain distance.[2]

As is usual in game development, early on many features that were discussed that were later dropped:

  • A game mode named Conquest was originally announced as a war spanning through multiple levels with lots of destructable features and dynamic things like nanoblack taking over parts of levels owned by the Necris.[3]. Later both Conquest and Onslaught of these game modes were collapsed into a new gamemode called Warfare.
  • Epic also planned to use UT3 to bring more and more people into the Unreal community, with strong community integration out of the box. In-game lobbies were planned for Warfare, and game stats integration would have allowed you to find similarly-skilled opponents via the UT3 server browser. However, none of these elements shipped with the final game. A global rankings system does exist to allow clans and other players to compare scores.
  • The Juggernauts, Nakhti and Thunder Crash teams were all considered for this game, however, they were cut. Only Malcolm from the latter team made the cut, but as a non-playable cameo character.
  • An idea that almost didn't made it into the game was the hoverboards; initially the idea was dismissed as "out there", but eventually, especially after playtests, the idea was welcome.[4]
  • Other ideas that were considered were blowing up certain sections of the maps in order to frag players, the return of 2004's dodge-jumping, three more Necris vehicles to complete a starting pack of 9.[3][5] (in the retail game, only six Necris vehicles (Scavenger, Viper, Nemesis, Nightshade, Fury and Darkwalker) were found in the maps) and having Capture the Flag and Vehicle CTF maps sharing a single mappool.[6]

During development, it was confirmed that versions for Xbox 360 and Sony's Playstation 3 consoles were under development. According to Steven Polge, these versions would contain the same amount of features as the PC version, though the console versions would have slightly tweaked mechanics and settings such as slower speed and aiming help.[6] The PS3 version was initially confirmed to be released as a launch title on Spring 2006 according to a story on GameSpot, but both Epic's own Jeff Morris confirmed in the Atari Forums that the game would still be PC first, and later Mark Rein shot down the news too, saying that the game will be released "when it's done".[7][8][9]

Due to its lineage, and even with the concurrent development of Gears of War sucking up Epic team members, the game was quite anticipated. Voodoo Extreme deemed it one of the 10 most anticipated releases for 2006.

"Another game by Epic! This time it's for both the PC and is a launch title for Sony's Playstation 3. Lead design honors go to Steve Polge, who is best known as the man who made those kick ass bots for Unreal and UT. Will the AI rock the house? You betcha! Will the gameplay on the PC be dumbed down since it's a console game as well? Hopefully not! Epic is good enough to make sure that won't happen, so we'll give 'em the benefit of the doubt."
Voodoo Extreme[10]


On January 14, 2006, Epic posted three new job listings in GameDev for for an Animator, a QA position for the engine/editor, and a Lead Engine Programmer.[11][12] Tim Sweeney also revealed in an interview to Beyond3D that a benchmark for the Unreal Engine 3 would be released before the game because the engine wasn't quite ready yet.[13] Meanwhile, on February 23, a Q4 2005 Midway Earnings conference call revealed that the game was suggested to be released on Winter of that same year.[14]

At Midnight on Friday, October 12th, 2007, Fileplanet began preloading the game to its subscribers. The demo was unlocked and released on FilePlanet at 12:35 PM on Friday, October 12th. The release was apparently several hours earlier than intended, probably in response to a Norwegian site, "IT Avisen", leaking the demo approximately 5 hours earlier than FilePlanet.

The demo, which was Version 3464, came with 3 maps: DM-ShangriLa, DM-HeatRay, and VCTF-Suspense. Of note is that DM-HeatRay was the first taste of the Necris vehicles, specifically, the Darkwalker.

Epic called the release an "Open Beta Demo" in an attempt to signify the incomplete status of the demo. Epic promised to respond to user feedback in order to fix issues in the final game. Several issues reported during the beta demo period were fixed or began to be fixed in the first patch. An updated demo fixing these issues was never released.

On November 12th, 2007 (a full seven days prior to the NA release), the German version of the game was released to German retailers. In order to comply with German regulations for public game sales, the game had blood, gibs, and headshots removed from the game. Very little else was changed except for the localization to German.

The US retail release came on November 19th, 2007. This, however, was the "ship" date, and thus many stores did not receive physical product until November 20th, 2007. The Canadian release came on November 20, and stores put it on shelves the very next day. The European release came on November 23, 2007. Midway announced in March 2008 that they had shipped over 1 million units worldwide.

Release dates[]

Game Version Engine Number Date Reported Version
Beta Demo 3464 October 12th, 2007 N/A
Game Release 3487 November 19th, 2007 N/A[15]
Patch 1 Beta 1 3508 November 22nd, 2007 Version 1.1 Beta 1[16]
Patch 1 Beta 2 3512 November 29th, 2007 Version 1.1 Beta 2
Patch 1 Beta 3 3518 December 5th, 2007 Version 1.1 Beta 3
Patch 1 Beta 4 3521 December 8th, 2007 Version 1.1 Beta 4
Patch 1 3521 December 10th, 2007 Version 1.1
Patch 2 Beta 1 3537 February 7th, 2008 Version 1.2 Beta 1
Patch 2 Beta 2 3538 February 12th, 2008 Version 1.2 Beta 2
Patch 2 Beta 4 3543 February 15th, 2008 Version 1.2 Beta 3[17]
Patch 2 3543 February 21st, 2008 Version 1.2
Patch 3 Beta 1 3547 June 4th, 2008 Version 1.3 Beta 1
Patch 3 Beta 2 3548 June 19th, 2008 Version 1.3 Beta 2
Patch 3 Beta 3 3574 July 10th, 2008 Version 1.3 Beta 1[18]
Patch 3 Beta 4 3590 July 25th, 2008 Version 1.3 Beta 4
Patch 3 Beta 5 3601 August 4th, 2008 Version 1.3 Beta 5
Patch 3 3601 August 13th, 2008 Version 1.3
Leaked Patch 4 Beta 3783 February 6th, 2009 Version 2.0 Beta 1[19]
Patch 4 Beta 1 3786 February 20th, 2009 Version 2.0 Beta 1[20]
Patch 4 Beta 2 3787 February 24th, 2009 Version 2.0 Beta 2
Patch 4 Beta 3 3790 February 27th, 2009 Version 2.0 Beta 3
Patch 4 3797 March 5th, 2009 Version 2.0
Patch 5 Beta 1 3803 March 20th, 2009 Version 2.1 Beta 1[21]
Patch 5 Beta 2 3805 March 21st, 2009 Version 2.1 Beta 1[22]
Patch 5 Beta 3 3809 March 26th, 2009 Version 2.1 Beta 3
Patch 5 3809 May 4th, 2009 Version 2.1
Gamespy Patch N/A June 19th, 2014 N/A

Post-release content[]

On October 26, 2007, a limited collector's edition of the game was announced to be released on PC. This version of the game features an exclusive collector's edition tin and a hardcover art book. A bonus DVD is also included, featuring more than 20 hours of Unreal Engine 3 Toolkit video tutorials, the history of the Unreal Tournament series, and behind-the-scenes footage of the making of Unreal Tournament 3. The bonus DVD contained a DRM called Anti-WarHawK (AWH) which would disable video playback in isolated cases. The Limited Collector's Edition was being sold in the United States, Latin America, Europe, South Africa, Australia and most other territories.

A strategy guide for the game, Unreal Tournament 3 Official Strategy Guide, was published by BradyGames on November 13, 2007.

On the 20th of November 2007, AGEIA released a pack of two UT3 maps (CTF-Lighthouse_PhysX and CTF-Tornado_PhysX) to show off advanced PhysX technology. The pack was later re-released by NVIDIA and included one more map (DM-HeatRay_PhysX).

On the 27th of March 2008, Epic released their first bonus pack, which contains three maps: DM-Morbias, CTF-FacingWorlds and CTF-Searchlight.

On October 20th, 2008, Mark Rein announced via email that Midway and Epic were working on a "major expansion" for UT3[23]. On January 26th, 2009, the first part of this expansion was revealed in the form of a major patch. This information was first revealed publicly by BeyondUnreal[24]. The second part of this expansion was called the "Titan Pack". On February 19th, 2009, the contents of the Titan Pack were revealed[25]. Two new gametypes (Greed and Betrayal), one new Mutator (Titans), 2 new characters (Nova and Kana from the 360 version of the game), a new vehicle (the StealthBender), a new stationary turret (Eradicator), a new Stinger Turret, two new deployables (X-Ray Field and Link Station) a new powerup (Slow Field) and 19 new maps, including the five exclusive 360 maps and the previous Bonus Pack. Modders also had the ability to use Nightshade and StealthBender deployables as in-map items, as displayed, for example, in DM-EdenInc. The Titan Pack and Patch 2.0 were released on March 5th, 2009.

Patch 2.1 for the PC and Patch 2.0 for the PS3 was also released in conjunction with the Titan pack, which allowed for various AI improvements (especially in vehicle modes), networking performance upgrades and added support for Steam Achievements (PC) and Trophies (PS3). It also adds a two player splitscreen mode (previously exclusive to the 360 version) and mod browsing for the PS3 version. This is the last and final official version of UT3, belonging to engine version 3809, and also known as "Patch 5".

On January 29th, 2009, it was revealed that owners of the retail copy of UT3 would be able to use their CD key to register the game on Steam[26]. Registering the game on Steam provides access to Steam-only features such as the achievements added in version 2.0 of the game.

Linux and Mac OS X versions of the game were originally planned to be released as downloadable installers that would work with the retail disc. The two versions of the game were apparently far along with Ryan Gordon even posting screenshots of the game running on the two platforms[27]. However, it was later revealed that due to unknown "legal issues" the Linux installer was not going to be released. The game only works with Windows to this day, however it is possible to run the game in Linux using Wine[28].

On April 3rd, 2014 it was revealed by Glu Mobile (current owners of the Gamespy brand) that the Gamespy multiplayer service would be shutting down on July 31st, 2014. This stood to kill the master servers for the game. Epic decided to release an update that removes Gamespy[29] and replaces it with an in-house solution. This had the side effect of killing the stats tracking for the game entirely and disabling the in-game friend list, however with the update it is still possible to play the game online and continue to host servers for the game.

Console versions[]

UT3 has versions for the consoles Sony Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, with different features compared to the PC version such as a slower player speed.

Before any official bonus content was released, Epic "cooked" a few user created maps and mutators for use with the PS3 version to give those users something to play with. Custom content must be created on a PC first, though.

The PS3 version supports both mods and keyboard inputs and, according to Mark Rein, it was said to be graphically superior to Gears of War. The first patch 1.1 is about 44MB and was released on March 21, 2008. It adds the possibility for players of both the North American and European version to play together, fixes problems with some USB headsets, and now displays best ping servers on top of the list. Some updates are only applied on the North American version, since the PAL version released in March 2008 was partially updated. The 2.0 patch was released on March 5, 2009 and adds better PC mod support, smarter AI, 48 attainable Trophies, server-side improvements, an improved map vote, improved multiplayer support (aka split screen), and a new-made UI. The Titan Pack was released two weeks later, and includes 11 maps and a new game mode.

On release, the Xbox 360 version had five exclusive maps (WAR-ColdHarbor, DM-KBarge, VCTF-Rails, WAR-Downtown_Necris and VCTF-Suspense_Necris), two exclusive characters ((Kana of the Twin Souls and Nova of the Liandri)), two-player split-screen multiplayer mode, and all the downloadable content released by Epic already on the disc. With the release of the PS3 and PC "Titan Upgrade" patch on March 5, these versions offered the previously Xbox 360 exclusive content plus more, including the two-player split screen mode (the only feature that didn't made it back to the PC).

The Xbox 360 version does not support user-generated mods, and additional content will have to be verified by Microsoft before being released. The PS3 version supports actual mods that can be uploaded and downloaded to the PS3's HDD or external media, and then activated through the menu.

Digital distribution[]

The Black Edition of the game, which bundled both the base game as well as the Titan Pack Bonus Pack, was sold on the Steam and GOG platforms for quite some time. This distribution ended on December 14, 2022, after Epic Games announced the shutdown of all their online services in order to concentrate everything on Epic's own Epic Online Services, which included the online distribution of several games as well as their master servers. Users of the platforms that already had the games can still play them either offline or with local multiplayer.[30] However, there were changes to the Steam version of the game which outright rename the game as Unreal Tournament 3X and bills the game as a free-to-play game with cross-play support between the Epic Games Store, Steam and GOG versions of the game. There hasn't been an announced release date at the moment of the shutdown.

Game content[]

Gamemodes[]

Main article: Unreal Tournament 3 Single player

The game's story takes place in the off-season between the 2303 and 2304 tournaments. It follows James "Reaper" Hawkins, a new recruit working for the Izanagi Corporation after the colony he lived in, Twin Souls, was destroyed by a horde of Krall led by the Necris High Inquisitor Akasha. Your mission is to gather as many resources and allies as possible in order to repel the invasion, but there's more to it than meets the eye when Tournament Champion Malcolm gets involved in the picture. This campaign can also be played in Cooperative mode, alongside other three players.

Aside of the campaign, UT3 features several multiplayer and botmatch gametypes such as Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Duel, Survival, Capture The Flag, Vehicle CTF, Warfare, Betrayal and Greed. With the exceptions of VCTF, CTF and WAR, every other mode uses the Deathmatch set of maps.


Unreal Tournament 3 Deathmatch maps
DM-ArsenalDM-BiohazardDM-CarbonFireDM-DeckDM-DefianceDM-DeimosDM-DieselDM-FearlessDM-GatewayDM-HeatRayDM-RisingSunDM-SanctuaryDM-SentinelDM-ShangriLa
Bonus Pack 1 maps: DM-Morbias
Xbox 360 maps: DM-KBarge
Titan Pack maps: DM-DarkMatchDM-EdenIncDM-OceanRelicDM-Turbine
Unreal Tournament 3 Capture the Flag maps
CTF-CoretCTF-HydrosisCTF-OmicronDawnCTF-ReflectionCTF-StridentCTF-Vertebrae
Bonus Pack 1 maps: CTF-FacingWorldsCTF-Searchlight
Titan Pack maps: CTF-LostCauseCTF-MorbidCTF-NanoblackCTF-Shaft
Unreal Tournament 3 Vehicle CTF maps
VCTF-ContainmentVCTF-CorruptionVCTF-KargoVCTF-NecropolisVCTF-SandstormVCTF-Suspense
Xbox 360 maps: VCTF-RailsVCTF-Suspense_Necris
Titan Pack maps: VCTF-Stranded
Special maps: VCTF-Containment_SP
Unreal Tournament 3 Warfare maps
WAR-AvalancheWAR-DowntownWAR-DuskWAR-FloodgateWAR-IslanderWAR-Islander_NecrisWAR-MarketDistrictWAR-OnyxCoastWAR-PowerSurgeWAR-SerenityWAR-Serenity_NecrisWAR-SinkholeWAR-TankCrossingWAR-TorlanWAR-Torlan_Necris
Xbox 360 maps: WAR-ColdHarborWAR-Downtown_Necris
Titan Pack maps: WAR-ConfrontationWAR-Hostile
Special maps: WAR-Torlan_Leviathan

Characters[]

Five playable races are present in UT3.

New to the Unreal Tournament games, UT3 now includes the option to fully customize your character. Players are able to switch out several armor pieces such as facemasks, helmets, goggles, shoulderpads, torso, arms, thighs and boots.

Weapons[]

Impact Hammer Translocator Enforcer Bio Rifle Shock Rifle Link Gun Stinger Minigun Flak Cannon Rocket Launcher Longbow AVRiL Sniper Rifle Redeemer

Items[]

Items here are divided in two categories: Pickups and Deployables.

Pickups[]

Small Health Medium Health Large Health Helmet Thigh Pads Armor Vest Shield Belt Jump Boots Damage Amp Invisibility Berserk Invulnerability Slow Field

Deployables[]

Strategy-themed devices. These are dropped by the Necris Nightshade, the Axon StealthBender, or are found as pickups in maps. While being carried as pickups, the carrier cannot use weapons.

Shaped Charge Slow Field Generator Shield Generator EMP Mine Spidermine Trap X-Ray Field Link Station

Vehicles[]

Hoverboard Manta Raptor Scorpion HellBender Goliath Leviathan Cicada Hellfire SPMA Paladin StealthBender Energy Turret Shock Turret Rocket Turret Stinger Turret Eradicator Viper Fury Nemesis Nightshade Scavenger Darkwalker

Mutators[]

Main article: Mutator

Soundtrack[]

Main article: Unreal Tournament 3: The Soundtrack
Main article: Music/UT3

Rom Di Prisco and Jesper Kyd composed the UT3 soundtrack. Kevin Riepl also had a major hand in music production for the game, scoring the cutscenes as well as a few in-game music tracks.

An official game soundtrack was released November 20, 2007, called Unreal Tournament 3: The Soundtrack. The 2-CD set contains the in-game music, done by Kyd and DiPrisco, which features a number of remixes from previous Unreal Tournament games. Not every track present in the game is also present in the soundtrack. All cutscene music is missing, as are the themes to WAR-Downtown (Strident) and CTF-Coret (Coret), due to those tracks being composed by Kevin Riepl. These tracks were available for streaming/download from his site during some time, along with some songs from E3 videos and other early demonstrations.

The soundtrack is primarily based on the original Unreal Tournament score which was composed by Straylight Productions and Michiel van den Bos. Jesper Kyd and Rom Di Prisco re-recorded some UT99's tracks and composed several other original tracks which were released on November 20, 2007 by Sumthing Else. Sandhya Sanjana was featured as a guest vocalist.

Title & Author(s) Duration Notes
"Unreal Tournament Title (UT3 Remix)" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music.upk)
3:37 Used in the main menu
"Unreal Tournament Title (UT3 Reconstruction)" by Jesper Kyd
(A_Music.upk)
2:53 Used in the main menu (Demo)
"Tactical Agenda" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music.upk)
4:51 Used in the mission selection screen
"Coret" by Kevin Riepl
(A_Music_Coret.upk)
6:51 Used in CTF-Coret
"Foregone Destruction (UT3 Remix)" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_Foregone.upk)
5:04 Used in CTF-FacingWorlds
"Go Down (UT3 Remix)" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_GoDown.upk)
3:13 Used in DM-Deck
"World of Liandri" by Jesper Kyd
(A_Music_JesperAsia01.upk)
4:49 Used in CTF-Reflection, DM-ShangriLa, VCTF-Stranded
"Necris Attacks" by Jesper Kyd
(A_Music_JesperNecris01.upk)
4:05 Used in DM-Sentinel, VCTF-Necropolis
"LockDown" by Jesper Kyd
(A_Music_Lockdown.upk)
4:50 Used in CTF-Hydrosis, CTF-OmicronDawn, CTF-Shaft, VCTF-Rails
"Mechanism Eight (UT3 Remix)" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_Mech8.upk)
3:34 Used in DM-Arsenal, DM-Morbias
"ONS01 (UT3 Remix)" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_ONS01.upk)
4:29 Used in WAR-Confrontation, WAR-TankCrossing
"Outpost" by Jesper Kyd
(A_Music_Outpost.upk)
4:57 Used in CTF-LostCause, DM-Defiance, VCTF-Corruption
"Robo Mall" by Jesper Kyd
(A_Music_RoboMall.upk)
8:57 Used in DM-CarbonFire
"Temple of Shambhala" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_RomAsia01.upk)
4:06 Used in DM-RisingSun
"Bushido" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_RomAsia02.upk)
4:04 Used in DM-Sanctuary, WAR-MarketDistrict, WAR-Sinkhole
"Necrimanci" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_RomNecris01.upk)
4:39 Used in CTF-Searchlight, DM-HeatRay, VCTF-Sandstorm
"Sanktuary" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_RomNecris02.upk)
4:28 Used in CTF-Nanoblack, CTF-Vertebrae, DM-OceanRelic, WAR-Floodgate
"Afterburn" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_RomUT02.upk)
4:08 Used in DM-Biohazard
"Quantum Velocity" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_RomUT03.upk)
5:00 Used in DM-Fearless, WAR-Islander, WAR-Islander_Necris
"Plasma Oscillator" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_RomUT04.upk)
3:52 Used in VCTF-Suspense, VCTF-Suspense_Necris
"Frozen Babylon" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_RomUT05.upk)
3:37 Used in DM-EdenInc, DM-Gateway, WAR-Hostile, WAR-OnyxCoast, WAR-Serenity, WAR-Serenity_Necris
"Firestorm" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_RomUT06.upk)
5:15 Used in VCTF-Containment, WAR-ColdHarbor
"Defector" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_RomUT07.upk)
4:36 Used in VCTF-Kargo, WAR-Avalanche, WAR-PowerSurge
"Skyward Fire (UT3 Remix)" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_Skyward.upk)
5:06 Used in WAR-Torlan, WAR-Torlan_Leviathan, WAR-Torlan_Necris
"Skylab 9000" by Rom Di Prisco
(A_Music_SpaceDnB.upk)
4:06 Used in CTF-Morbid, DM-Deimos
"Strident" by Kevin Riepl
(A_Music_Strident.upk)
05:58 Used in CTF-Strident, DM-DarkMatch, DM-KBarge, WAR-Downtown, WAR-Downtown_Necris, WAR-Dusk
"To the Death" by Jesper Kyd
(A_Music_ToTheDeath.upk)
6:02 Used in DM-Diesel, DM-Turbine

Achievements[]

Main article: Achievements and awards#Unreal Tournament 3

Achievements (called trophies in the PS3 version and awards in the game log) have been added to the game as of Patch 2.0. Even if you have already met the criteria for the achievement prior to this patch, you will not unlock the achievement. You must meet the criteria after Patch 2.0 to earn it.

Reception[]

Reception to the beta demo was generally positive, with most people agreeing that Epic has "got it right." There was some notable dissension from the crowd who enjoyed UT2003 and UT2004 though, particularly about the removal of dodge jump. Unreal Tournament players, which Epic were targeting, didn't switch to UT3 either due to steep system requirements and the overall unstable state of the game for months after release.

Upon launch, Unreal Tournament 3 received generally positive reviews from critics. Warfare, in particular, has been praised for being a more strategic and improved version of Onslaught, though the gametype turned off many veteran Onslaught players due to the newer additions. Several issues with the game led to low player numbers, with the key issues being:

  • Lackluster Single-Player and no Tournament mode: While the Single-Player was hyped a lot, it failed to deliver. It was too long and it completely replaced the old Tournament mode. It also had awkward explanations for classic arena gametypes, like FLaGs (Field Lattice Generators) and that scoring points ran out enemy respawners.
  • Awkward and oversimplified UI: The UI felt very awkward and was very simple compared to previous UT games. There were very little options available for common settings, and overall the UI felt very unfinished. Many settings could be changed via INI, however often these settings do not save, revert, or appear to have no effect. As of Patch 2.0, the UI has been reworked with a new color scheme and more advanced options, fixing many of the prior complaints. As of June 2014, Gamespy has been removed from UT3 which fixed many of the issues with config files reverting.
  • Poor Server Admin launch: Perhaps the worst problem, due to UT3 being primarily a multiplayer game, are issues with the server admin tools. The initial release of the Windows dedicated server package was littered with bugs preventing a significant number of hosts from running servers. The Linux dedicated server was released a month after the retail game, on December 18, 2007 which left many hosts without any UT3 package to offer. Web Admin was also missing from both the original release and the first patch, though it was released alongside Patch 2 and received steady updates until support ended for the game in 2009.
  • Modding support oversimplified: Another key complaint with the game is that much of what used to be done in UnrealScript has been moved to native code, supposedly as a way to improve performance on consoles. This, however, has made it increasingly difficult to develop proper mods and mutators for the game in many instances. As of Patch 2.0, modding support improved drastically however it was never as easy as it had been in previous games.

As for the Titan Pack, critics complained about the number of servers running the Titans mutator, which gave players the ability to turn into giants with overpowered weapons. Many players found this mutator uninteresting and most of the servers running after the pack was released were running the mutator.

The game was deemed one of the "1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die" (2013 edition) by Tony Mott, editor of Edge magazine, on the eponymous book.[31]

"Unreal Tournament is the fastest-moving multiplayer shooter in more ways than one. As a game of blasting fellow humans into pieces, it has enough foot speed, firepower, and body count to make its competitors blush. As a project for Epic Games it's even more restless, adding a wealth of new features to each new installment, including characters, maps, vehicles, and game modes. And as a lifelong promoter of modding as both a hobby and career move, it comes with some of the most versatile home development tools around, giving free access to the prolific Unreal Engine. Just head to its online forums for some extraordinary user-created maps.
The problem with speed, though, is that it tends to leave people behind. Hence the reputation of most PC shooters for precipitous learning curves and hardcore communities: If you weren't there from the start, what business do you have playing now? Previous
Unreal Tournaments 2003 and 2004 did little to shake this attitude. But Unreal Tournament 3 is different. With a single-player story mode full of tutorials and sparring sessions, it’s as much a game for rookies as veterans.
This was vital for
Unreal Tournament 3 because it wasn't just the average PC game. It was a PS3 game, too, and one of the first to let console gamers see what they were missing. In a gesture that's unlikely to be repeated any time soon, it gave PC modders the tools they needed to "bake" content for both platforms, a map that works on one being just mouse clicks away from the other. Someone even added Halo’s Master Chief, much to the ire of Xbox 360 owners; their version offers no mod support thanks to Microsoft’s content approval process."
Tony Mott

GamingScan deemed the game one of the best split-screen PC games ever.

"Before Epic Games took the world by storm with Fortnite, it used to make excellent multiplayer FPS shooters, notably the Unreal Tournament series. In very much the same way as Quake, the franchise set the tone for years of FPS games to come. You’d be hard pressed to find enough players for an online game today, so split-screen is the next best option. Gather a handful of friends and get fragging in Unreal Tournament 3."
GamingScan[32]


Credits[]

Credits of Unreal Tournament 3
Epic Games
Lead Designer/Lead Programmer Steven Polge
Senior Producer Jeff Morris
Programmers James Colding, Matt Delfke, Martin Sweltzer, Amitt Mahajan, Josh Markiewicz, Joe Wilcox
Additional Programming Ray Davis, Rob McLaughlin, Thomas James, Laurent Delayen, Jeff Farris, Dave Hagewood, Warren Marshall
Art Director Jeremiah O'Flaherty
Technical Art Director Shane Caudle
Lead Artist Paul Jones
Artists Chris Bartlett, Shane Caudle, Peter Ellis, Matt Hancy, Pete Hayes, Jay Hosfelt, Kevin Johnstone, Kevin Lanning, Maury Mountain, Aaron Smith, Chris Wells, Mike Buck, Scott Dossett, Bill Green, James Hawkins, Aaron Herzog, Josh Jay, Wyeth Johnson, Greg Mitchell, Shane Pierce, Kendall Tucker
Additional Artwork Per Abrahamsen, Chris Perna, Cedric Fiorentino, John Sheffield
Lead Level Designers Jim Brown, Dave Ewing
Level Designers Ryan Brucks, Stuart Fitzsimmons, Paul Mader, Sidney Rauchberger, David Spalinski, Phil Cole, Bastiaan Frank, Warren Marshall, Demond Rogers, Mikey Spano
Additional Level Design Cedric Fiorentino, Alan Willard, Ken Spencer
Audio Director Mike Larson
Technical Director, Unreal Engine 3 Joe Graf
Lead Engine Programmer Daniel Vogel
Engine Programmers Josh Adams, Mike Fricker, Keith Newton, Andrew Scheidecker, Scott Sherman, Tim Sweeney, San Zamani, Dave Burke, Wes Hunt, Ron Prestenback, John Scott, Niklas Smedberg, Daniel Wright
Writing/Executive Producer Dr. Michael Capps
Battlefield Surgeon Rod Fergusson
Associate Producer Tanya Jessen
Biz President: Dr. Michael Capps
VP: Mark Rein, Jay Wilbur
Controller: Joe Babcock
Quality Assurance Scott Bigwood
Engine Quality Assurance Brett Holcomb, Preston Thorne, Aaron James
Sys Admin Warren Schultz, Woody Ent (intern), Shane Smith
Office Manager Anne Dube
Special Thanks Cliff Bleszinski, Jean Rochefort, Kelly Farrow, Chris Mielke, Phil Robinson, Lee Jacobson, Samuel Peterson, Chris Norden, Jason Page, James Wang, Bruno Matzdorf, Riley Russell, Jim Black, Leslie Pirritano, Dan Vivati, Greg LaBrec, Anna Fedorova, Olga Latyaeva, Sandra Congdon, Kimberly Thompson, Jay Andrews, Sarah Amidon, David Zucker, Clare Turner, Miguel Iribarren, Ryan Gordon, John Bates, Cort Stratton, Rob Vewter, Mark Danks, Michael Sherrock, Roy Taylor, Bill Rehbock, Eric Reichley, Steve Englebrecht, Alex Ruzhentsev, Jeff Royle, the Gears of War team
On-Site Test Leads Samuel "CriPPleR" González, Roger "Roger" Collum
On-Site Testers David DeYoung, Steven Haines, Nate Kelly, Krystin H. Wells, Robert Flachofsky, Randy Heimann, Elliott Walters, Doug "Renz" Wilson, Andy "Destrothenecro" Bayle, Eric "Poptartbandit" Duggan, John "Monquis" Elliot, Justin "Nightclucker" Hair, John "Doomface" Liberto
Music Rom DiPrisco, Jesper Kyd, Kevin Riepl
Sound Design Jamey Scott, Joey Kunas
Technicolor Interactive Services
Director Audio Service Tom Hays
Casting Director Chris Borders
Additional Voice Director Richard Epcar
Sound Recording Supervisor Lydian Tone
Recording Engineer Morgan Gerhard, David Walsh
Dialog Editor David Fisk, Elizabeth Johnson
Dialog Actors Jester: Andrea Baker
Iron Guard male, Corrupt Robot: Steve Blum
Status Announcer: Kimberly Brooks
Othello: T.C. Carson
Reaper: Chris Cox
Malcolm: Greg Eagles
Lauren: Serena Irwin
Necris female, Akasha: Mandy Kaplan
Necris male, Corrupt Robot: Neil Kaplan
Twin Souls female, Iron Guard female: Iona Morris
Bishop: Nolan North
Krall: David Sobolov
Reward Announcer, Twin Souls male, Krall: Fred Tatasciore
Epic Games China
CEO Paul Meegan
President Lu Zhi Cang
Lead Environment Artist Liao Jun Hao
Lead Character Artist Kong Yuan
Streamline Studios
Adam Capone, Bart Dosten, Fabio Ilacqua, Henrik Bolle, Javier O'Neill, John Flannery, Lucas Bnamiage, Mattias Magito, Olof Strand, Robert Larsson, Stefan Baler, Thomas Schmall, Alex Huneker, Eric Colburn, Eva Koekkoek, Héctor Fernández, Mike Shurtleff, Saskia Kronenburg, Andre Stiegler, Clark Morissaint, Frederik Sjolund, Ilya Nedyal, Jeroen Leurs, Lidija Filipovic, Marc Schweinoch, Michelle Rodríguez, Renier Banninga, Ryan Keuhn, Steven Chagnon, Wanja Svasek, David Lee, Ester Feller, Harpp Seble, Manu Bains, Sabina Dirks, Alexander Fernández, Anethea Veenman-Hodges, Peter "Fufu Frauenwahl" Renner
Soundelux Design Group
Supervising Sound Designer & Mixing Scott Martin Gershin
Project Manager Shannon Potter
Sound Design Brad Beaumont, Clint Richardson, Chad Bedell, Mark Camperell, Candice Baldwin, Steve Robinson, Peter Zinda, Dutch Hill, Patrick Vocono
Additional Mixing & Prep Chad Bedell, Alan Rankin
One Step Up Foley Recordings Foley Artist, Dan O'connell
Foley Mixer John Gucci
Asset Coordinator Patrick Ginn
Operations Manager Marc Aramian
Logo Design Tom Szakoiczay
Krall Design Jim Daly, Arnie Jorgensen
Environmental Concept Artists Feng Zhu, John Wallin Liberto, Vance Kovacs, John Dickenson
Midway Home Entertainment
Midway Amusement Games, Inc.
Executive Producer Mark Caldwell
Producer Jerry Huber
Assistant Producer Adam Hanson
Technical Director Gary Lake
Midway Creative Services Yvonne Baptista, Ryan Braman, Rigoberto Cortes, Gary Gonzales, Jon Mongelluzzo, Jack O'Neall, Bethann Smukowski, James Vogel, Christa Woss, Peter Bennett, Michael Crawford, Stefano Dalu, Rare Macapayag, Sally Nichols, Matt Schiel, Chris Skrundz, Ron White, Larry Wotman
Midway Marketing
Sr. VP Marketing / CMO Steve Allison
VP of Marketing Mona Hamilton
Director of Marketing Tom McClure
Sr. Product Manager Randy Severin
Director of Channel Marketing Kimberly Montague
Director of Online Marketing Christian Munoz
Sr. Database Administrator Shirkant Dodiya
Web Designer Nathan Peters
Midway Public Relations
VP of Public Relations Reilly Brennan
Sr. Media Relations Manager Natalie Salzman
Assoc. Media Relations Manager Sarah Moschea
Midway Home Entertainment
San Diego Quality Assurance QA Director Paul Sterngold
QA Supervisor Adam Jones
QA Lead Eric Chow
Technical Standards Engineer Shana T. Bryant
TSA Ina Yamaguchi, Brian Dumlao
QA Analysts Saleem Crawford, Rommel Abalos, Steve Scott, John Bell, Dan Griego, Randall Iwashita, Lawrence Mayfield, Madeline Shopoff, Peter Briones, Alex Salcedo, Justin Kuehn, JoJo Seaman, Barrett Williams, Mike Campos, Brad Logston, Henry Galindo
Localization Manager Clermont Matton
Localization Supervisors Eric Pochat, Josh Stacy
Localization QA Analysts Franklin Najarro, Leonardo Capezzuto, Steve Farmer, Philip Vodermeyer
QA Data Analyst Rebecca Dowd
EDS GameQ LTD
Console QA Lead Srikanth S K
PC QA Lead Somanna PB
IQC In-Charge Sunil Kumar A P
QA Analysts
Console Team Lokesh MS, Chaltanya M Bhatt, Manjunatha S, Raghavendra Shetty J, Ravi Kumar Jain, Sri Vathsa N, Varun P, Roshan Panot
PC Team Vinay Krishna, Vikas Dwivedi, Pradeep P, Ajish Cherian, Vikas Sawkar, Vinay C, Narayana Gawd, Kuppa Nagendra Prasad
PC Combat Lead Kamalanabha N
PC Compatibility Team Prathap R, Prashanth Ral, Prasad B
GameQ Delivery Manager S Venugopal
GameQ Business Manager Guillaume Fournier
Program Manager Naveen N Belavedi
Midway Special Thanks
John Stookey, Chris 'Blarg' Evans, Carly Yandell
SCEA Programming Chris Norden, Erwin Coumans, John Bates, Vangelis Kokkevis, Cort Stratton, James Wang, Steven Osman
SCEA Support Bret Mogliefsky, Brian Loke, Bruno Matzdorf, Cort Stratton, David Coombes, Erwin Coumans, J Patton, John Bates, Kirk Bender, Mark Danks, Michael Shorrock, Rob Vawter, Steven Osman, Vlad Stamate, Brian Fukuji, Brian Silva, Chris Norden, Dan Burnash, Edwin Hul, Geoff Audy, James Wang, Jon Webb, Madan Kandula, Mark Vitello, Riley Russell, Sky Schultz, Vangelis Kokkevis
SCEE Programming Jason Page
SCEE Support Antohy Bowler, Neil Brown, Paul Holman, Jason Page, Oliver Hume
SCEI Kenjo Akiyama, Teiji Yutaka, Noboru Fujii, Tsutomu Horikawa, Shigeru "Shiggy" Sugimoto
Midway Games Ltd.
Managing Director Martin Spiess
European Director Finance & Operations Matthew Marshall
European Sales Director Rob Gross
European Marketing Director Leonie Manshanden
Senior European Brand Manager Aidan Minter
European Brand Manager Suddy Bhardwaj
Senior Public Relations Manager Phil Robinson
European Public Relations Manager Clare Turner
Project Manager Chris Giggins
Creative Services Manager Joanna Hammond
Creative Services Assistant Zoë Taylor
Logistics Manager Isabelle Midrouillet
Logistics Coordinator Mike Wilcock
Special Thanks Randall Mage, Nina Lampinen and everyone at Localsoft

Essential Files[]

Main article: Essential files#Unreal Tournament 3
Main article: Bonus content#Unreal Tournament 3

Here you can find a list of official and unofficial, yet essential, files for your game.

Trivia[]

  • The game is the fourth game in the Unreal Tournament series and the eighth Unreal game. It was once codenamed "Unreal Tournament 2007", but later changed and given the number 3 instead, based on the new generation of the game engine it ran on. The games in the UT lineup are similarly named as Unreal Tournament representing the first generation, Unreal Tournament 2003 and Unreal Tournament 2004 representing the second generation, and UT3 representing the third generation.
  • PS3 users can download specially cooked versions of various maps and mutators, provided the author supplies them. However, there are some limitations, and custom sounds or music cannot be supported in PS3 versions of the maps due to a proprietary sound codec being used. The XBox 360 version does not support custom content. However, the Xbox 360 version of the game shipped with exclusive maps and characters not found on the PC or PS3 versions, as well as a split-screen mode. These features were added to the PC and PS3 platform with patch 2.0 and the Titan Pack, though split screen support on PC is limited.
  • There are three characters that can be unlocked by using the code "unlockallchars" or their specific code: "jihan" unlocks Ariel for the Iron Guard faction, while "phayder" unlocks Alanna for the Black Legion faction. The rest of the unlockable characters (all the Necris members, and all the team leaders -Scythe, Lauren and Matrix-) must be beaten in the Ladder in order to unlock them.
  • The installation of the Titan Pack removes Cyclops from the Liandri faction.

External links and references[]

  1. Salvatore, Kirsten (May 2005). "The Unreal World". Computer Gaming World #251. Internet Archive. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  2. redef (October 10, 2007). "Epic Visited, UT3 Previewed". PlanetUnreal. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  3. 3.0 3.1 spineblaZe (May 22, 2005). "BeyondUnreal at E3: Steve Polge on UT2007". BeyondUnreal. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  4. "Jeff Morris Interview (UT3)". PlanetUnreal (August 15, 2007). Archived from the original on January 11, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  5. Craddock, David (Jan 5, 2006). "Unreal Tournament 2007 Preview". Shacknews. Archived from the original on Jan 10, 2006. Retrieved Aug 19, 2024.
  6. 6.0 6.1 hal (July 14, 2007). "BeyondUnreal Interviews: Steve Polge". BeyondUnreal. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  7. Thorsen, Tor (Jan 3, 2006). "Unreal Tournament 2007 to be PS3 launch title?". Gamespot. Archived from the original on Nov 5, 2006. Retrieved Aug 19, 2024.
  8. Morris, Jeff (Dec 31, 2005). "UT2K7: Released first on PS3 or PC? (reply)". Atari Forums. Archived from the original on Feb 12, 2006. Retrieved Aug 19, 2024.
  9. "UT2007: PS3 Launch Redux". BeyondUnreal (Jan 3, 2006). Retrieved Aug 19, 2024.
  10. Howarth, Robert (Dec 25, 2005). "Top 10 Games of 2006". Voodoo Extreme. Archived from the original on Oct 18, 2006. Retrieved Aug 19, 2024.
  11. "Epic Job Postings at GameDev". BeyondUnreal (Jan 14, 2006). Retrieved Aug 20, 2024.
  12. "Epic Games On The Hunt For Unreal New Talent". BeyondUnreal (Jan 27, 2006). Retrieved Aug 20, 2024.
  13. "Developers Comment on the Latest Hardware Developments". Beyond3D (Jan 27, 2006). Archived from the original on Feb 2, 2006. Retrieved Aug 20, 2024.
  14. hal (Feb 23, 2006). "Midway Advises UT2007 Winter Launch". BeyondUnreal. Retrieved Nov 5, 2024.
  15. Version 1.0 of the game does not mention the game version in the menu.
  16. As of Version 1.1 Beta 1, the game version is listed in the upper left corner of the main menu.
  17. Patch 2 Beta 3 was never released; Epic went straight from Beta 2 to Beta 4, and released Patch 2 Beta 4 as 1.2 Beta 3.
  18. Patch 3 Beta 3 appears to have been mislabeled in the game as Patch 3 Beta 1; currently the only way to tell these two patches apart is to check the internal version number in Launch.log, located in My Documents\My Games\Unreal Tournament 3\UTGame\Logs\. The second line down (Init: Version: nnnn) will give the game's engine number. Patch 3 Beta 1 is 3547, Patch 3 Beta 3 is 3574.
  19. NOTE: This patch was LEAKED. It was not supported by Epic at all, and did not work properly online.
  20. This patch was not leaked, unlike the previous leaked beta. Note that those of you who download the beta version through Steam will NOT be able to connect to 1.3 servers, only 2.0 servers! Non-Steam versions will still connect to 1.3 servers, however.
  21. This version had an issue allowing 2.0 clients to connect. This issue was fixed in the next beta.
  22. This version fixed the ability of 2.0 clients to connect, but did no other changes. Epic appears to have skipped calling this patch Beta 2, and called the next patch Beta 3 in the menu.
  23. Sir_Brizz (October 20, 2008). "Epic Announces "Major" UT3 Expansion". BeyondUnreal. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  24. hal (January 26, 2009). "Major UT3 Update Details". BeyondUnreal. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  25. Sir_Brizz (February 19, 2009). "UT3 Titan Pack Reveal". BeyondUnreal. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  26. "Update Unreal Tournament 3 With Steamworks". Valve (January 29, 2009). Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  27. Gordon, Ryan (September 18, 2008). "Finger info for icculus@icculus.org". Icculus.org. Retrieved April 18, 2019. "Seriously, there's no conspiracy... so stop sending me email suggesting that Microsoft is paying to block this."
  28. "Unreal Tournament 3". WineHQ. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  29. Conley, Stacey (May 31, 2014). "UT3 Patch Allows You to Play After Gamespy Shutdown". Epic Games. Archived from the original on May 9, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  30. "Epic is turning off online services and servers for some older games". Epic Games (December 14, 2022). Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  31. Mott, Tony (2010). "1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die". Universe. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  32. Bardwell, Thomas (April 25, 2019). "Best Split-Screen PC Games". GamingScan. Retrieved May 25, 2019.

See also[]


Unreal (series)
Videogames
Single player series: UnrealReturn to Na PaliUnreal II
Tournament series: Unreal TournamentUT2003UT2004UT3UT4
Championship series: Unreal ChampionshipUnreal Championship 2
Books
Novels: Unreal: Hard CrashUnreal: Prophet's PowerEscape to Na Pali: A Journey to the Unreal
Strategy Games: Unreal (Prima)Unreal II (Prima)Unreal Championship (Prima)UT2003 (Prima)UT2004 (Prima)UT (PS2) (BradyGames)UC2 (BradyGames)UT3 (BradyGames)Unreal (GWPress)UT (GWPress)
Featured Mods
UT: GOTY Edition: Chaos: UTRocket Arena: UT
UT2004 ECE Edition: Air BuccaneersAlien SwarmChaos: UT2 EvolutionClone BanditsDeathballDomain 2049Frag.OpsJailbreak 2004Red OrchestraRocketeerUnWheel
Soundtracks
A History of Unreal MusicUnreal Tournament 3: The SoundtrackEpic Games 20th Anniversary Original Soundtrack
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