ZIZZY’s blog

Details have been scarce on Epic’s next project, Unreal Tournament 3 - but the newest issue of the Official Xbox Magazine contains some very interesting new details on the Xbox 360 version. Gears of War had what was in my opinion some of the best online co-op ever, and Epic looks to raise the bar again by having 4 player online co-op and 2 player split-screen in Unreal Tournament 3’s single-player. There will also be plenty of vehicles (something Gears was severely lacking), with 18 total and 5 turrets.

While it is made by the same developers of Gears of War, it’s still a very different game. The art director for both games, Jerry O’Flaherty, says that “Gears is a more confined game. UT is about big, huge distances. The speed of UT is so quick; it’s not a walking environment, it’s a running or flying environment,” while lead designer Steven Polge kept it short and concise saying only that “it’s Gears on crack. Cover is for wimps!”

The Xbox 360 controls are really good too, and many even prefer them over mouse and keyboard:

Polge revealed that they are so good that half the people who work on the game prefer to play the Xbox 360 version. Furthermore, the guy responsible for the controls has stepped in playtest sessions, where everyone was on keyboards, and with a controller he kicked everyone’s butt.

Then there are of course the graphics. It is supposedly looking better than Gears of War already, due to the fact Unreal Engine 3 for the Xbox 360 has been improved since Gear’s release.

It looks like it’s going to be a great game, and could set the bar for future first person shooters. While there is no release date yet, hopefully it’ll be out by the end of this year.