Due to the nature of this video, the article is currently incomplete when it comes too the interview portions that play throughout the video. In the future these may be placed into the article with playable audio files. Have fun reading!
Back in 2020 I covered my favourite Arena shooter for a Dead Game Review, a game which got a lot of love from fans, but was eventually left behind by the studio that developed it. Unreal Tournament 4 was far from a popular game, it wasn’t even that widely advertised as it was unfinished and in continued development, which meant that for many the new entry to the Unreal Tournament series was hidden in plain sight. I was lucky to have found Unreal Tournament 4 in 2015 and I made sure to keep track of the project over the years to come, even after it was left for dead when that other game Epic developed received its battle royale mode. I was rest assured, Unreal was not going anywhere, if I ever wanted to play, it would always be there on the Epic Games Store ready to download!
The newest and least finished Unreal game of them all also was a formal introduction into the franchise for me. Even though the computer was the main platform of choice since I was a 7 year old child back in 2006, multiple roadblocks prevented me from ever experiencing the franchise.
The series was banned for purchase in Germany and my parents would have never bought the game for me as they took an interest in what media I consumed, something that I was annoyed about back then but which I am eternally grateful for in retrospect Our family computer wasn’t the best and I doubt it could have run some of the newer entries into the series. And finally, I was a far less computer savvy person at the time too with torrenting and game cracking and basic PC related troubleshooting being foreign concepts to me, skills which I picked up slowly over time.
For many other players, like for instance for our guests today, the introduction came at a much earlier point in time!
[Testimonies from phantaci, exitnextright]
After having played Unreal Tournament 4 almost 8 years ago, I explored other titles in the series, playing some of the campaign of Unreal Gold, deathmatching in Unreal Tournament 99 and 2004 and Unreal Tournament 3, with clear preferences forming and the latest iteration of the series emerging as my favourite. As someone who did previously immerse himself into competitive Quake like shooters, with Team Fortress 2 having been my first long term comfort game and later on playing various classic Doom and Quake titles, exploring the established rival series was an eye opener for me, not only when it comes to the differences in gameplay mechanics, but also through exploring the wider impact Unreal and it’s engine has brought forth in many partaking in the hobby. From legendary maps, music and even something as simple as announcer packs finding their way into different games. Similar to how id Software brought out the best in aspiring game developers, Epic Mega Games was a pivotal company in the game development scene, with many older Unreal Engine titles coming bundled with an editor and files being left accessible for the up and coming modder to have a crack at making their own ideas come to fruition, while also allowing other players to experience these creations from the most talented and dedicated in their community.
Unreal and Quake showed early on how important a modding scene can be for a game’s longevity and cultural impact, as decades after the first games in the series came out, they are still cherished and frequently played by fans, with Quake even being ported to newer consoles and both franchises enjoying a somewhat splintered but nonetheless dedicated community of players, eager to improve and get better in the games they adore so much, or to experience casual fun with arranged bot matches and the latest mods and maps one downloaded.
[nickburns on him playing botmatches with mods]
Unbeknownst to players at the time, the legacy of Unreal Tournament would be put to the test by none other than Epic Games themselves.
The Unlisting #
[reactions from interview subjects to the unlisting]
On January 24th 2023, all Unreal games were pulled off digital storefronts, with only Unreal Tournament 3 being granted a re-release some time in the future, but we do not know of an exact release date yet. Initially the only news anyone heard of, related to a Steam Store page which Wario64 uncovered on Twitter, which was generally regarded as positive news in the community, even though Unreal Tournament 3 is somewhat of a black sheep in the franchise. I was quite enthusiastic about the news too, as someone who likes to explore the more inactive side of multiplayer gaming, I thought that this was excellent news! A big game company revitalising an older game to give that title another shot and garnering a newer player base is a great idea and if any company can gamble, it certainly is Epic Games! But my celebration was short lived, as soon after a bombshell was dropped on us, and you know what it is. Not only was Epic planning to turn off all the masterservers from past Unreal Tournament games, but to add insult to injury, all games would be taken off the Steam store, which means that there is no legitimate way to play these titles anymore, except if one contends on buying a second hand copy of one of the games on a physical disc, or opts to buying a key. At this rate it is safe to say that one should just download the games for free at this rate, as Epic Games aren’t interested in selling Unreal games any time soon. Epic’s choice for the unlisting is baffling to say the least.
What many people say, and which I mostly agree with, is that it is rather disappointing that Epic Games treats the franchise that put them on the map with such disrespect, but what also is clear and understandable too is that Epic Games aren’t a charity and they may do with their properties what they want, so if they want to shut down all the servers and essentially kill their own games… they technically can.
[nickburns on Epic as a company]
Realistically though, Unreal Tournament is unbelievably difficult to kill, especially the older titles which were products of simpler times, and which are well documented and popular amongst modders and system admins. Many also are willing to go through heaven and hell just to play their favourite games one more time; patches, torrent downloads, messing around in CFG files, no problem, but one game in the franchise was in dire straights; Unreal Tournament 4 was at risk of not being playable after the main servers shut down. Due to it using central servers for a multitude of functions which would need to phone home to the server and listen for a response back, it meant that those central servers needed to be reverse engineered, which normally is quite hard to accomplish. Yet key figures in the community proved soon enough that Unreal Tournament players do not give up easily!
Booting up the games #
So, what does Unreal look like after the master servers shut down?
The server browsers do not work anymore for all of the Unreal titles, even Unreal Tournament 3 which will be getting a new server system some time in the future, which we can only hope will preserve the previous methods of hosting and joining games. The only modes you can play are the singleplayer campaigns and bot matches, which for many is enough to enjoy the game, but for the multiplayer fans, things look rough.
The good thing is that the crafty players figured out ways in which they could play Unreal games together again. For Unreal Tournament 2004 the community had to make use of custom masterservers for a good while already, and the community of Unreal Tournament 99 finally got their own masterserver replacement as well.
The most baffling unlistings are Unreal Gold and Unreal 2: The Awakening, both games which feature singleplayer components - Gold being terrific, two being terrible - in addition to the multiplayer action. Quality of the campaign aside, Unreal Gold and Unreal 2 would still be worth purchasing if one wanted to experience the singleplayer campaigns. Nonetheless, the game in the franchise which worried me most was Unreal Tournament 4, as it is a game with a relatively small player base.
So far every game except Unreal Tournament 4 booted without much effort and setup required and one could easily get into a bot match and explore the gameworld. Gaining access to the files also is only a few searches away, with archive.org featuring numerous downloads for various versions of prior Unreal games, even console versions you could load onto a Jailbroken Playstation device, and not to mention, DRM free Good Old Games copies float around the web as well and you don’t need to be scared off from downloading the games in this manner. Epic are not making money on those games either way, so feel free to download to your heart’s content. To focus on Unreal Tournament 4, you cannot download the game from the Epic Games Store anymore, but there are links which one could access to download the files and I will make sure to offer a mirror of my files in the description below. Once the files are unpacked, you somehow need to start the game. Follow this tutorial from timiimit on his website in order to get the game up and running. If this is your first time playing Unreal Tournament 4, you will have to create a shortcut of the game’s exe first and add the line that was written down on the website into the launch commands first. Then you can start the game and already have fun with bots. To gain access to the master servers and play online, you follow the rest of the guide and create an account on timiimit’s website!
Here comes Unreal Tournament 4 #
(Gameplay and Frags to music)
Even though Unreal Tournament 4 has issues and roadblocks were always present as you may have noticed after watching my previous video on Unreal Tournament 4 back in 2019, the game still offers things that a multitude of other experiences do not, and some of these offerings are even becoming more and more unique in the Arena shooter genre itself.
The gameplay itself is excellent, although it features various alterations to the base Unreal formula, some of which have been received well, while others were not that popular. Sliding and wallrunning added much more versatility to the movement, yet the double jump from previous games has been removed. Then, some weapons were simplified, for instance one of the more controversial choices was to split the rocket launcher into two weapons: The rocket launcher itself which retains its secondary fire mode with the option to launch grenades removed, and the grenade launcher, which can launch sticky explosives which detonate on command, and standard grenade pills which bounce around the environment and explode on their own or on impact.
Despite some more or less popular changes in gameplay here or there, the core of Unreal Tournament essentially still remained the same, being skill based competition on an equal playing ground with the only differentiating factor being the experience of each individual competitor in the ring.
Even for the less experienced players like myself, the will to get better becomes infectious and a palpable progression in skill can sometimes be observed over the course of a single duel match. You start using weapons you did not before, suddenly you are surviving for minutes on end instead for only 30 to 40 seconds, you begin to land trick shots and headshots from time to time and you may even land a kill or pick up an item before your experienced opponent gets the chance to. These small compounding victories can be observed if you stick to it and keep playing any Unreal game as a sport!
Being an extremely individualistic game in terms of design, it also allows the player to use every tool in their belt in order for them to develop their own style, and not only that, Unreal Tournament always was a breeding ground for some of the most capable combatants in Esports!
[exitnextright on identifying players by playstyle alone and his comments on the mechanical skill of high skilled UT players]
Similar to Quake, Unreal Tournament is a game like no other, which first and foremost incentivises the cultivation of individual skill. Of course many different games offer various kinds of gameplay expression and reward the progression of someone’s abilities in different ways, but Unreal Tournament is special in the sense that it offers both a truly neutral playing ground and a capable sandbox for the player to explore.
The proverbial sandbox extends far beyond individualistic player expression; Instead, it is part of Unreal Tournament’s identity to the point where even different gameplay modes can become specialisations for certain players.
[phantasi on dueling and CTF] [exitnextright on different gameplay specialisations]
One specialisation doesn’t even revolve around killing other players at all, it rather centres its focus on running through a map as fast as possible. Bunnytrack maps are parcours courses which require the player to master the game’s movement mechanics for them to optimise their times and run through a map as fast as they can. While Unreal’s movement may seem simple when compared to the bunnyhopping and rocket jumping of Quake at first, it is worth looking into deeper as experienced players will recognize a noob in seconds based on movement alone. Bunnytrack maps may be a great place to start learning the ins and outs of Unreal Tournaments movement mechanics!
I think one thing that deepened this relationship between the game and the players, was that the collaboration between the developers and the community was a fundamental concept for its development from day one, which meant that skins, weapon models, cosmetics, maps, music, anything that can be created, was in a large part created by the community, with the potential for digital items to be sold through a marketplace to support them, similar to how various Valve games handle their own game monetisation. The difference with Unreal Tournament 4 is that the entire game was shaped through community efforts along the way, and this was obvious when continuously playing the game, or when picking it up again after an extended break. I remember the Enforcer and Bio-Rifle changed shape completely for instance, features being adjusted, removed or added and maps continuously getting polished. Then development suddenly stopped.
Fortnite, Unreal and Epic #
In 2017 Unreal Tournament 4 got its last update, and since the game never was officially cancelled, the anxiety of the dedicated player base continuously grew. The developers who previously worked on Unreal Tournament 4 thus began work on Fortnite Battle Royale and the game has been continuously worked on since. Epic didn’t contract any studios or hired new developers for them to resume work on Unreal, so sadly the project didn’t really go anywhere. Epic’s developers were kept busy nonetheless, as Fortnite’s live service model would require them to keep constant momentum going, with more and more character models, animations, sound and features being added and tweaked in a steady pace continuously since 2017, which paid off, with Fortnite becoming not only a game, but a cultural phenomenon in part at the expense of the Unreal Tournament 4 community.
[nickburns on Fortnite’s development]
What left Unreal Tournament 4 fans with a bad taste in their mouth, also were various homage additions to other game properties which to a wider audience of people felt like neat little callbacks, but which to a subset of the Unreal community felt like salt was being rubbed into a wound, with facing world’s theme Foregone Destruction making its way into Fortnite under the name “Unreal Chill” and some of Unreal’s most iconic weapons making their way into Digital Extremes’ Warframe. In isolation those additions clearly weren’t intended to upset any players, in the case of Digital Extremes especially so, as the developer is just as responsible as Epic in turning Unreal Tournament into a household name. For some of the players however that love the most neglected entry into the Unreal Tournament series like myself, those additions felt bitter, which could have been avoided if Epic just cancelled the game in advance instead of letting us hang in a limbo of speculation.
Unreal, Uncertainty and the Community #
Even though Unreal is widely credited to be one of the most competitive shooters ever made, the series seems to have been cursed when it relates to the mainstream competitive scene, as organised matches seem to only ever have happened in more closer knit communities or as a personal sport between players.
[exitnextright on the many 1vs1 matches he had with another player]
Surprisingly, Unreal Tournament 3 was considered to enter the MLG roster as yet another breeding ground for broadcasted competitions, but it is difficult to get a competitive scene going, when not enough people show up to the tournament.
[Phantaci on the failed 64 player tournament]
Where Unreal shined was in the community organised competitive matches on the PC, for which Phantaci eventually became a more than notable figure, despite his troubles in adapting to the Mouse and Keyboard input method!
[Phantaci on his journey into the competitive PC world]
Even though Unreal Tournament wasn’t the most popular shooter on the market, competitive tournaments were held over ESL and Phantaci would host his own duel tournaments with cash prizes.
[Phantaci, ESL and self hosted events]
Despite all the ambiguity in the world, the community somehow prevailed! The game being abandonware did not make the Unreal Tournament Editor any less effective for modding and it also did not stop the community from hosting their own servers and even tournaments!
Beyond the tournaments the players got more and more crafty, developing various kinds of modifications like mutators for instance to enhance the player experience, which is something that not only is true for Unreal Tournament 4, but for the wider Unreal community at large. Mutators were also prominently used to counteract the less popular alterations Epic have committed to, like for instance disabling the ability to turn viewmodels off entirely, which for the most competitive of players was a significant problem.
[phantaci and I think exit next right on mutator development]
Timiimit’s contributions #
One thing some players wanted to get rid of was the dependency on the Epic Games Launcher, and someone even managed to eventually circumvent the need for the Launcher completely. Timiimit developed UT4UU, or “Unreal Tournament 4 Unofficial Update” which brought various quality of life improvements to the game and a few additional features. The catalyst for this mod idea was when timiimit’s friend who he played bunny track maps with wondered if a player could bind more than just two taunts to their keyboard, which inspired him to start work on something. At first UT4UU was supposed to be strictly for quality of life changes, but eventually it mutated into a more complex modification which significantly changed the game, in favour for pro players who had specific needs which a casual player didn’t, especially the want for a more minimalistic and readable experience. What would be a great utility for almost every player out there however, would be the unlocking of various items that became unobtainable. UT4UU got you covered!
UT4UU initially was just a game hack, but after gaining access to the source code and managing to compile modifications, timiimit set out to rewrite the hack into a plugin, which would expand its usefulness even further, giving players the ability to even modify UI elements which was previously deemed implausible to attain and he even had the ability to fix the broken friend list the game had since 2021.
When the bad news hit, timiimit was just working on UT4UU and his studies, but quickly shifted to developing a masterserver replacement in order to ensure that Unreal Tournament 4 remained playable. When he first heard of the news he was initially confused and pondered on the viability of a master server replacement and if players were really willing to use an alternative method of logging in, but eventually he decided to start development. Developing the master server took some time and help from various contributors, and despite there being some challenges in the way, developing the server was a bit easier than expected, in part due to data traffic still coming from the servers during development, and also in part due to the availability of the game’s source code. The full interview with timiimit that goes into the technical nitty gritty can be downloaded as a PDF in the description below!
If you want to support this master server project, there is one way to directly help out: Download Unreal Tournament 4, create an account at ut4.timiimit.com and begin playing Unreal Tournament! Downloads are provided in the description below!
What the fuck are Hubs? #
Of course asking people to start playing a game that was abandoned by its developers might seem like a huge ask, but when looking at player statistics and just how server hosting works in this game, you might reconsider this presumption fast. While the Quickplay mode doesn’t exist anymore -at least at this moment it doesn’t- multiple Hub servers exist which any player can make use of! A hub isn’t just a normal dedicated server in which a single game takes place, it rather is an environment that can host a multitude of games created by different people. These hubs can have plenty of modifications installed and a variety of maps, allowing a player to experience different game modes with different modifications which may or may not change how the game is played.
Don’t like the rocket launcher missing its grenade function? On one Hub I played, this feature was reintroduced. Sometimes weapons can also look or be animated differently, or even have modified attributes. Players host a wide range of games, some more competitive than others. If you really want to test your skills, join an elimination lobby. Elimination is a team based deathmatch mode in which every player only gets one life and it is one of the most demanding modes out there… The same could be said about Duel, in which two players duke it out one versus one. In case you are wondering, the new master server actually supports a friend list feature, so players can add each other no problem!
Another team based mode I always was quite fond of is Blitz or MegaBlitz, an attack versus defence gamemode in which one team has to deliver their flag to the enemy base. This mode really brings out the esport potential Unreal Tournament 4 possesses, as it not only is about deathmatching, but also about strategy to some extent. The defenders have limited lives and the odds are stacked in the attackers favour. The goal for the defenders isn’t necessarily to completely stop the attackers from ever delivering their flag to the base, the mode is rather centred around making the attackers lifes miserable by retarding the flag delivery as much as possible, as the attacker and defender roles will be reversed every round. The scoring is also rather unique for this gamemode. Instead of relying on plain whole number points per match won, the game rather rewards a team a set number of stars based on how quickly the flag was delivered. A team can earn up to 3 stars if delivering the flag fast enough and the remaining time is added on top of the score as a bonus. A competition can be won in just a few rounds if it is a stomp, or it can result in a war of attrition if the teams are somewhat equally skilled, this is an exciting mode you really should give a try!
But what if you want to have a more casual experience? I personally always come back to the classic Deathmatch. One map, a bunch of players and a deadly arsenal scattered throughout- All you need for some good hours of fun! And better yet, there are no teams so every man or woman fights for themselves!
One thing I have come to notice however, is that Capture the Flag is seldom played. But don’t you worry! You can just host a match yourself! While you may not own your own dedicated server, Hubs allow you to create games that other players can join, and creating a lobby really is “as easy as one two three”. Bots or no bots, CTF or Blitz, Instagib or not, the choice is yours and other interested people will follow! So really, there is no reason why you shouldn’t give Unreal Tournament a try!
Knowing what Hubs are and how they work now is great, but you may also want to know who hosts them. The Hubs have been created and are maintained by the most dedicated players in the community, and there is quite a selection! Unreal Battles, UnrealPUGs, Phoenix Germany, Unreal Carnage and more, Unreal is and always was powered by the players. These Hubs also existed before the game was shut down, but the entire community essentially was able to make the switch to timiimit’s master server alternative.
I have been playing on a multitude of Hubs and even though I am a European player, Unreal Carnage has cemented itself as a clear favourite for me as many killer Deathmatch games take place there. On the European Hubs you can never go wrong with some Blitz and Elimination is often played by both the American and European scenes. Every Hub also has community Discord servers one can freely join and while the community is filled with players who most definitely are more experienced than you, don’t be afraid to come by and say hi! If you want to play, feel free to download Unreal Tournament through Google Drive or via a Torrent I created in the description below and feel free to represent Dead Game Review by setting a “DGR” clan tag. Hope to see you in game!
The Future - UnDead Unreal #
So… What happens now?
Not only Unreal Tournament 4, but rather the entire series is facing an existential nightmare. The games are unlisted, and if you own them, online play is made more difficult and while many expressed their discontent over the burial of Unreal, not many actually step up to the task of playing the games to keep them alive for longer. One thing that many viewers have previously pointed out, is that the title of this series, “Dead Game Review” is oxymoronic or even completely inaccurate, which for most of the games covered so far is a correct assessment.
[maybe a nick burns clip here on the general outlook players have on “dead” multiplayer games]
While the title of this series may be provocative, its purpose is to inspire more interest in the players for games that they would have deemed not worth getting into. Past shutdown, I was able to play Unreal Tournament 4 any day I wanted to, and don’t forget that the older games in the series are still playable and most of them are still playable online to varying degrees. What Epic have created with the shutdown of Unreal as a franchise, is a collection of “Zombies”, games that have been buried but which just refuse to die. Unreal still is in trouble, it is harder to attract new players, especially in some of the older Unreal titles like 2004 which doesn’t have a functioning server browser anymore, so random players join far less frequently.
We have to be real, Unreal is stagnating. But I believe that we can resist that stagnation. Unreal Tournament will always represent the Apex of competition. It not only represents endeavours to achieve victory, it also inspires self reflection and a will to improve oneself.
[maybe clips from Phantaci and exit next right here relating to self improvement in and out of the game]
Unreal Tournament also became a tool that lends itself to people’s refinement of one’s artistic and technical prowess, having touched the hearts of bedroom producers, fledgling level designers, CG artists and programmers all around the globe.
[maybe a nick burns clip in here on how he started making maps in Unreal, Phantaci on mutator development, I believe exitnextright has something to say here too]
And not to forget, Unreal Tournament means community, bringing with it the many grudges and rivalries, long lasting friendships, year long personal competitions to become the best there ever was, artistic collaborations and even projects such as the one you are watching right now.
Huge thanks to Kurrgan for taking the time to interview subjects, connecting me with people and the Unreal Community at large and offering support all throughout this production.
Thank you Nick for sharing your personal history with Unreal with me and the world. Your love letter to Unreal video acted like a catalyst to this production and it certainly wouldn’t have happened the way it did without your involvement!
Timiimit, I think I am speaking for the entire community for this one, thank you so much for sacrificing so much of your time and resources to ensure that everyone gets to enjoy Unreal Tournament 4 past shutdown and for having taken the time to chat about your work on the master server replacement!
And finally I want to extend my gratitude to Phantaci and Exit Next Right for giving me tons of insight for this production and for allowing me to use clips from your interviews. Too bad I could not be present during your interviews with Kurrgan, but I hope to encounter you guys in game soon enough, even though that would be a definite death sentence for me!
In the end, Unreal is not quite dead yet and I believe that this project is only further evidence of that fact. Unreal only dies if the player base does, and the guys who are still playing past shutdown, don’t seem to be willing to hang up their Shock Rifles just yet. Download Unreal Tournament now and join the fight, it costs you nothing and you may just end up loving it!