Unreal Tournament 3 Comments by Kristan Reed

first

No keyboard and mouse gimps this quite a bit. Even Quake 3 on the DC had keyboard and mouse support.

MS - Gimping games since 1897

Meh.

This is about £7 on the PC by the way :)

God I need this game :(

I would hate games on the 360 to have keyboard and mouse support. Use a PC.

If epic would go back to the roots of UT it would be an instant sale but the only thing that these games have in common with UT are their names.

@yea its so bloody awkward!

I have no qualms whatsoever with no mouse/keyboard, although the mods thing does sting a bit. What was the latest on this anyway? Are Epic going to put some user mods on Marketplace for download? (Better be free of course :D)

"Unlike in the PS3 version, there's no keyboard, mouse or user mod support."
I don't want keyboard & mouse support on a console game as it makes it unfair on those that don't have them. The good thing about consoles is that everybody is playing with the same equipment making it fair for everyone. If you want keyboard & mouse support then get the PC version.

Why don't folk want to have an improved control method?

/puzzled

I prefer knowing everyone i'm playing against is using the pad like myself, if theres a ps3 option to only find rooms with all players using pads then great but i seem to doubt it.

As much as the keyboard and mouse combo is clearly best how many people here saying its the only way and a crime not to have tried it while sitting on a comfy living room chair with friends and family visiting with kids and dogs running about?

On the PS3 version you could always filter out the keyboard/mouse players if you felt that was unfair.

I'm anti gimping. Yes.

Level playing ground.

Wow the PS3 fanboys aren't happy

And Frudster, there were never that many people playing UT3 on PS3 so filtering what was left wasn't much fun was it?

Mine is nestled at home thanks to thefilthandthefury's enthusiasm!

Of course the PS3 had k&m specific rooms.

@Thunderhead

Ignorance is bliss :)

I refuse to use a keyboard and mouse sitting on the couch. I also sit at a desk all day I am not doing it when I come in. Having an option to filter players out is fine, but it just reduces the number of available players. Stick to controllers for consoles.

SDF "my version has a couple of things yours doesn't! and they are the most important features ever! despite the fact next to no one who bought the game used them!"

Sounds like this could be good to play offline with a couple of friends on the sofa? I'm not into spending hours getting my headshot 'just so' online but messing around vs some bots that are capable actually sounds like fun, reminds me of perfect dark (N64 of course, wouldn't want to drag up the other travesty...)

Ironic that you should mention SDF, GamerG. Are you a member of an Xbox equivalent?

So, why get this when BF: BC is available?

Yea, it's the splitscreen and bots that make this a must buy, not the online. As good as the online might be I'll probably stick with halo. I love blasting through bots splitscreen with mates though, that's why I still have PD0 in my collection. Woeful game but the splitscreen multiplayer with bots is first class.

@GamerG - Actually plenty of people use both mods and K&M on the PS3 version.

@KD - When you host a game you can choose whether or not K&M is allowed, and when searching for a game you can select whether or not you see K&M servers. If you select to all servers you can see a K&M icon next to the servers that allow it.

Aretrak, not particularly I just like calling out Bullshit (and the occasional wind up)!

Wonga - Sorry, did you mistype or did you say that keyboard and mouse was a shit control method for games? For driving games I would agree, but for strat games and first person games I'm at a loss as to why you would type that.

"There are a few slowdown hiccups on now and then, and is some very minor screen-tearing during cut-scenes. But there's absolutely no texture pop-in to speak of, and a wonderful array of lavishly detailed environments to explore unfettered - something the PS3 struggled with even when you installed the game to the hard disk."

The PS3 version of UTIII used pre-rendered cutscenes as far as I could tell, particularly the opening one so it sounds like the 360's are real-time (lack of disc space?). As for the PS3 struggling with the environments, I never once saw any evidence of that during the time I spent with the game; the engine seemed to run very well on the machine, far better than other UE3 games had at that point in time anyway.

I bought the 360 version anyway, part out of curiousity to see how it compared with the excellent PS3 version, but mostly because it's one of the few online games I actually like playing, having been a big fan of the series since the first game on the PC from almost a decade ago. It'll be interesting to see if Epic support this version with lots of free maps and mods to make up for the lack of user imported ones.

"So, why get this when BF: BC is available?"

Maybe because they are completely different game styles.

Maybe because BF:BC is a steaming pile of horsehit.

Seriously though how many people actually used the PS3 mods, i'm sure all the PS3 FB's did obviously but in general no one did, same with K&B mouse. But by all accounts these are the most important features despite no other game feeling the need or bombing because of a lack of them.

I gave up PC online gaming because I was never sure if I was losing because a) the other guy was cheating or b) the other guy had better equipment than me be it, a better mouse, a better processor, a better G/card etc.

With a console all that is removed and i'm happier for it, everyone in the same boat.

A pity they fucked up the PC version because of this.

I own the ps3 version and although the option of mods is nice to have, I'm a firm believer that there's so little out there that comes close to the quality of content provided by Epic it makes the mod stuff almost worthless.

@Wonga - Why are people criticising the game for not supporting a keyboard and mouse when most other console FPSs don't either? Well perhaps because UTIII is an extremely fast paced game and those people think it plays better that way?

Personally I found UTIII on the PS3 perfectly playable with the controller despite spending many years playing the various PC versions of UT. I actually prefer to use a controller anyway as the buttons are all within easy reach and I can play the game while slouching on a bed or couch.

Choice is better.

No choice sucks.

That's the real issue.

@pike: because UT3 is better, according to metacritics. And it has splitscreen, which is great for playing with real-life friends.

... And because i don't like so-called "realistic" shooters, I actually hate the concept as a whole.

@GamerG - The third person mod for PS3 UTIII was neat and there were others I liked too plus there were dozens and dozens of user made maps and characters which certainly gave the game a pleasing amount of variety for a console FPS. Sure the basic gameplay remains the same throughout but at least I wasn't finding myself having to play the same dull maps over and over again ad nauseum as with 95% of other FPSs. I liked that! In fact, I think it's the reason why I like UT so much. :)

Edit: grammar

@ParanoidZombie - I completely agree with you. Shooters like Battlefield, Rainbow Six Vegas, GRAW and even Call of Duty bore me senseless because they have a limited number of modes and maps such that I find myself playing the same ones constantly. At least UT has never been like that plus it's fast and chaotic, just how I like my online shooters. UT is rarely dull IMO.

Wonga I'm really not sure what you are going on about.

Joypads are wonderful, they really are. I use them on my consoles, I use them on my PC. I use them because they are absolutely perfect for certain genres.

That doesn't mean that for other genres that a keyboard and mouse is either preferable, or just better.

I use both methods as it suits. I certainly prefer the choice, and I definitely wouldn't cut off my nose to spite my face by taking a fanboyish approach to either control method by refusing to use them.

want it

Darren, I play mostly with my friends, some play all the time, some rarely play all of them would not care enough to go through the procedures it takes (on PS3 at least) to get the mods on their console. If we are all online and one person doesn't have the mod then none of us can play, likewise if the amount of people who own the game is small (as on PS3) then by adding mods all you are doing is fragmenting the all ready small audience.

On console the mantra should be: Keep it simple!

Ah, it's an old school twitch shooter for the adhd kids. I get it. Well, I'll stay with the more tactical option.

@darren: don't forget that gears2 is just around the corner... i don't think Epic really cares about supporting the x360 version of UT3, and I don't think that most x360 owners will care come november. The game's community will probably have a very short lifespan, just like shadowrun's last year. That's why adding splitscreen support is more interesting than mods if you want to play UT on x360.

One to pick up on the cheap I think. I can see this being traded back in by a lot of people after a couple of weeks.

@Xerx3s - they did though. UT3 is very, very like UT99. The only notable thing that's missing is assault mode, and the novelty value that wore off 8 years ago of course.

Just because it has some vehicle modes doesn't mean you have to play them.

@ParanoidZombie

+1

I would play UT3 with my friends local splitscreen, but won't go online with it as there are much better options (halo, cod are both better). I also wouldnt bother with mods as it won't get the playtime to experiment with them.

Also, KBM sucks for consoles and is for PC games only. Consoles are all about simple pick up 'n' play, one system for all, level playing field gaming.

would love to see how this would have went down if the 360 and ps3 versions reversed features.....

Unfortunately this will soon be heavily discounted and end up in the bargain bins. Exactly the same fate that Bioshock on PS3 could be in for.. far too late for most people to care anymore.

Thanks for that review.
I've been on the fence all week between this and BF:BC.
Fuck the realworld, I want hoverboards and the big booming voice.

Is there going to be a demo?!

At one time predictions were made that lack of HDD would harm X360.

The lack of mod in UT3 go a long way to demonstrate that this prediction may be a correct one, I always thought it was a serious mistake when MS announced no hdd X360.

However performance wise its seem to prove to be marginally better than PS3, despite no advantage of HDD and of course had the advantage of extra seven months, same as PS3 usually get for their delayed releases titles!

Problem is too many similar titles and releasing at time when interests in UT3 not as high as it was pre christmas, still keen to rent it out as already have both PC and PS3 versions. Just to see how it do and perhaps get an odd achievement points!

Can you play split screen online?

Absolute deal breaker for me.