Unreal Tournament 2007 - E3 Preview by Jason "Rodzilla" Rodzik   Posted on May 17, 2006   Rodzik’s Impressions As with last year, Midway had a behind-closed-doors demonstration of the next Unreal Tournament, and while this year also featured Unreal Tournament 2007 in the same theater, the game shown to us was much more developed. Last year was an amazing in-engine demo, but this year we were able to actually watch live gameplay demonstration of their next-gen Onslaught gametype. As Unreal Tournament 2007 makes use of Epic’s Unreal Engine 3.0, the graphics are incredible. Players look amazing, the levels really pull you in, and particle effects are superb. As games become more and more detailed, it’s interesting what sorts of things end up included in a game. As I watched the player drive around in a vehicle, I heard several people, including myself, laughed as we noticed not only exhaust coming out of a pipe on each side, but a cover on top of each pipe flapped up and down as the exhaust poured out. I’m sure anyone who has played a multiplayer game that makes heavy use of vehicles has experienced the frustration of nearly reaching a vehicle just as someone else drives away with it, and then having to walk al the way to the next objective. The designers of Unreal Tournament 2007 came up with a rather original solution to this problem, providing players with a hoverboard a la Back to the Future. At one point during the demo, several players on the team we were watching all pulled out a hoverboard at the same time and started hoverskating towards the next objectives, occasionally performing 360’s on the hoverboards. Unreal Tournament 2007 looks to combine the very best of the original and its second sequel, UT 2004, into what should hopefully be yet another amazingly fun game in the series. Vince’s Impressions Based on the 20 minute game demo, UT2007 looks to be another exciting addition to the Unreal family. In addition to the familiar weapons and vehicles, new features like hover boards and mech suits appear in this game to help move players around quickly and obliterate everything in their path. Some tanks can even project energy shields in front of them to protect themselves from enemy attacks. The two factions fighting in the demo were a group of mercenaries and a band of undead warriors. The mercenaries had conventional tanks at their disposal, and the undead had two- and four-legged walking tanks. The purpose of the engagement was to take bases from the opponent and transport orbs from location to location. Unreal Engine 3 performed exceptionally well and the graphics (terrain, explosions, energy fields, etc.) looked absolutely stunning. This will surely be an exhilarating game to play for any FPS enthusiast when it comes out next year.