Introduction #
Late night fragging has never been more entertaining than in Unreal Tournament games. Every game in the series is a timeless masterpiece, featuring slight changes across titles which complement the base gameplay. Unreal debuted the power of the Unreal engine with an immersive single player campaign and bombastic multiplayer action. Unreal Tournament deepened the Unreal multiplayer experience, Unreal Tournament 2004 threw vehicles and skirmish battles into the mix, while Unreal Tournament 3 expanded the movement systems with the inclusion of Hoverboard skating. Unlike Quake, Unreal Tournament went through massive changes throughout the years. Trying to make a new entry in the series stick is difficult, with many legacy players choosing to play older titles they deem better. How can a company create a new mainline entry into one of the biggest arena shooter franchises ever made without pissing legacy players off? Well, Epic had a plan…
Unreal Tournament 4, or how it is officially titled, Unreal Tournament Pre-Alpha, was Epic Games’ attempt at revitalising the Unreal Tournament franchise. Arena shooters have been on a massive decline in popularity in the past decade. Something about the genre does not appeal to the masses anymore and so far no arena shooter managed to take up the limelight in mainstream circles as of late. Creating an Unreal game was not only important to satisfy the long term fans of the franchise, it was the perfect opportunity for Epic to showcase their impressive game engine. Unreal Tournament 4 was a sneak peak into the capabilities of the Unreal 4 engine and despite it being a game from 2014, it looks stunning and played relatively smoothly on the hardware of the time. Even in its Pre-Alpha stage, the game showcased just how powerful Unreal 4 really is. But impressive visuals aside, Epic Games knew that the Unreal Tournament fans are hard to impress. With many players opting to play older games in the franchise instead and big changes maybe turning those players off, Epic decided to handle Unreal Tournament in a way they never considered before.
Unreal Tournament, although unfinished, released as a completely free to play title. The catch? There wasn’t one. Fans and newcomers alike were able to experience the thrills and challenges Unreal Tournament had to offer completely for free. Aside from other titles in the franchise, Unreal Tournament 4 was a throw back to the first game in the series. To aid development and to appease fans, Epic Games decided to collaborate with developers and players alike to create the best Unreal Tournament experience there ever was. The collaboration runs deeper than just filling out bug reports though, anyone was able to create and submit assets to Epic for the inclusion into the game! Music, maps, weapon models and even game balancing was handled by both Epic and the players together. Power players and talented fans were shaping the game as it went. With a strong core foundation in place, a small but talented player base and lots of love by Epic Games, things were looking up for Unreal Tournament! At the time and I would argue even to this day, Unreal Tournament represents one of the greatest achievements in the arena shooter genre. Even in Pre-Alpha, Unreal Tournament showcased the apex of map design, combat and graphics in the entire series.
Epic Games was proactive and treated this multiplayer experience with lots of care, frequently updating the experience for the passionate fans and always holding an ear open for suggestions and criticism. Quality of life changes ensued, weapons constantly changed, sometimes simplified or split into two different weapons for the player to use. Epic Games formed a special bond with the players, even promising them monetary compensation for their work in form of an ingame marketplace filled with community made content! At the time the focus on the game was a bit split though. Epic not only worked on the Unreal 4 engine and their next mainline title in the Unreal franchise, but experimented with a new survival game IP. Fortnite was at first an underappreciated game until Epic Games decided to implement a free to play game mode that proved to be popular at the time. Things changed drastically and with the reallocation of staff and increasing neglect for their would be benchmark multiplayer title, Unreal Tournament was abandoned and left for dead.
Frag like it’s 1999 #
Unreal Tournament 4 might be free to play and an abandoned game, but in many respects it represents the apex of what a modern arena shooter could look like. With a progression system that allows you to unlock characters and cosmetic items over time, singleplayer and various multiplayer options to choose from and refined, bombastic gameplay, this title should not be looked past.
Paywalls? Nonexistent. The map selection is also varied and generally of a very high standard, with carefully thought out item placement and mostly asymmetrical maps to ensure a sense of flow in the players. Longtime classics are reintroduced and new environments are available to explore as well. A lot of maps never left the greyboxing stage, but they are very nice to play on nonetheless. The detailed maps from the bunch look absolutely stunning and still hold up today.
To get good in Unreal Tournament you need to learn certain things: Game Sense, Map Control and Deathmatching. All of these things can be learned while just playing the game organically in any gamemode. Game Sense, is the ability to predict where players might come from and what weapon might be suitable for each situation. Map Control involves your familiarity with the map layout and where the item pickups are situated. Deathmatching is self explanatory. When you are good at Deathmatching, you become a frag machine. To get good it involves good aim, tracking skills and prediction capabilities. Similar to Quake, the movement and combat mechanics are relatively easy to understand, but getting good involves plain experience in the game! So do not feel intimidated by people being much better than you in the beginning.
Gameplay is fast and action packed and if you are a legacy player you will not have that much of a learning curve to get into Unreal Tournament 4, but if you are new, you have to keep one very important thing in mind: NEVER STOP MOVING.
Some of the most popular modes of play include Deathmatch, Blitz and Capture the Flag. The two big ones are Deathmatch and Blitz since you can easily find a match within seconds through matchmaking. To play other modes online, you need to either host a game yourself, or join already existing servers which include other game modes and maps in their map rotation. Speaking of, how dead is the game really?
“Alive and Well” #
Despite all the things going against this game, a small community of Unreal Tournament fans keep this game alive. As of 2020, 3 years after the game received its final update, you can find a match over Matchmaking rather easily at certain times of day. If you live in Europe, finding a match in the early morning hours might be hard, but from midday to the evening you will have an easy time finding games with full lobbies of players. Speaking of hosting dedicated servers are a thing and hosting a LAN game is definitely possible making the game perfect for local play sessions.
So, in a way Unreal Tournament 4 keeps existing, similar to its brothers which released previously. The game strives solely because of very dedicated players keeping the game alive by playing it. You can download Unreal Tournament 4 on the Epic Games Store for free and try it out any time you like.
What is a bit sad is the fact that this game is “dead by design”. Nothing would have stopped Epic Games from finishing the game! It was abandoned simply because Epic decided to put all their eggs in one basket. At the time of it’s abandonment, Unreal Tournament 4 garnered a big enough following of dedicated fans who put many hours into designing maps and assets for the game. Somehow Epic decided that this special bond they formed with the community is not worth the hassle, especially when compared to the massive cash cow that Fortnite Battle Royale mutated into. While the Pre-Alpha of Unreal Tournament 4 is freely accessible and playable for everyone, the game in a way has long died. We will never be able to see the definitive version of what Unreal Tournament 4 was supposed to be. While other games like Toxikk and AirBuccaneers are dead due to player count, Unreal Tournament 4 will never be fully realised ever.
And this is why Unreal Tournament 4 is a dead game to me. It never even came to be.