Epic Working on 'Major Expansion' for UT3

[DoctorFinger]

Epic VP Mark Rein wants you to relax. No, they're not in some sort of conflict with Unreal Tournament publisher Midway. In fact the relationship is good enough to produce some new content for UT3."In fact, we're working together on a major expansion to Unreal Tournament 3, that we expect will excite and grow our UT3 customer base which, incidentally, now numbers over a million units sold-through world-wide."Unreal Tournament 3 was released a year ago on the PS3 and Windows, with an Xbox 360 version following this past summer. This 'major expansion' would be the first retail add-on for the title, although there are already a multitude of mods, maps and conversions available for the PC edition of the game. Most of which can be transferred to the PS3 version too.

Source - Eurogamer (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=263906).

[Zrikz]

I purchased UT3 for $9 on go gamer a few weeks back and its pretty fun. I hope it does increase population / make it more fun as there are like 2 full servers per game type right now and thats it.

[Maskatron]

First prediction: They put Assault mode back in.

[digitalErich]

Is this the expansion that adds a player base?

[Hemalin]

They'll probably add back in Assault, Bombing Run, Invasion, and Domination.(Is Domination in the game? I can't remember.)

You'd think that Epic would have included Assault by default after they did the same thing to UT2k3.

[Telefrog]

You'd think that Epic would have included Assault by default after they did the same thing to UT2k3.

It really was a boneheaded omission considering the reaction last time.

At any rate, this is good news for me. I like UT3 despite it's warts.

[Ancalagon]

It really was a boneheaded omission considering the reaction last time.

At any rate, this is good news for me. I like UT3 despite it's warts.

I like it, but I dont see what UT3 has that its predecessors didnt. Everything new in UT3 could have been a mod for the old games.

Except the graphics.

[paketep]

Is this the expansion that adds a player base?

Or a minimally decent UI for, you know, PC gamers?

I wish this was the expansion that finally made Mark Rein and CliffyB shut up.

[Telefrog]

I like it, but I dont see what UT3 has that its predecessors didnt. Everything new in UT3 could have been a mod for the old games.

Except the graphics.

Exactly right. I think this was the main reason it didn't do so well. Granted it had other issues as well, such as little to no marketing when it came out, a bad U/I for PC gamers, and general apathy for classless DM multiplayer, but to me the standout reason for it's low sales was the fact that it was just a graphical upgrade to the otherwise superior 2K4 version. Unless you were are hardcore UT fan, or had just never UT before, there was little reason to pony up.

Edit: Although it apparently did well enough to warrant an expansion.

[Maskatron]

I purchased UT3 for $9 on go gamer a few weeks back and its pretty fun. I hope it does increase population / make it more fun as there are like 2 full servers per game type right now and thats it.

Yeah, I was able to get the collector's edition for $10 (Magic PC), and played with it a bit, but the only remarkable thing about it is it made me re-install UT2K4. Better game types + more online players FTW.

[Xerxes]

Championship Edition. Melee is back. ^_^

[J Arcane]

I like it, but I dont see what UT3 has that its predecessors didnt. Everything new in UT3 could have been a mod for the old games.

Except the graphics.
The weapons. UT3's weapons just have more impact than 2k4s, or even the original. There's a visceral feel to the combat that I absolutely enjoyed.

Also, the vehicles are wicked amounts of fun.

It's a shame about the "cribbed from Gears" art style, but the gameplay more than makes up for it.

[KingGorilla]

Or a minimally decent UI for, you know, PC gamers?

I wish this was the expansion that finally made Mark Rein and CliffyB shut up.

Would it matter? Is there anything, short of sending Norwegian hookers to your house that would make you stop playing Left4Dead or TF2 and pick up UT3?

[Ancalagon]

The weapons. UT3's weapons just have more impact than 2k4s, or even the original. There's a visceral feel to the combat that I absolutely enjoyed.

Also, the vehicles are wicked amounts of fun.

It's a shame about the "cribbed from Gears" art style, but the gameplay more than makes up for it.

Yeah, but all of those things could have been done via a mod for the old games, thats the problem. They havent made a new game, they've just given the old one a lick of paint and rebalanced it. Its still the same game they releaseed years ago.

[J Arcane]

Yeah, but all of those things could have been done via a mod for the old games, thats the problem. They havent made a new game, they've just given the old one a lick of paint and rebalanced it. Its still the same game they releaseed years ago.
I think you underestimate how much work it takes to really get that kind of spit and polish into the feel of combat. It may seem trivial to you, but the kind of visceral impact I described is very rarely found in games IME.