First Impressions
First Impressions
My first impressions were mixed. Yes the graphics are as superb as I hoped they would be, yes it is really fast paced and action packed, yes there is a few new nice touches (which I’ll go into in a moment), but overall is it that different to the original UT? Honestly, the answer is no.
You can judge for yourself whether that’s a good thing or not. Most of the weapons are from the original, but have been revamped graphically. The character skins are also revamped, but still act in a similar way to the original.
I think it’s a good thing that they have stuck to the original quite religiously in some aspects; after all there is no learning curve if you’re a hardcore UT nut. You just pick and play and it’s UT all over again! 
But for us critical bunch, what will you be paying for next month? A ‘new’ game? I call this a major update of the first game, and to me doesn’t really feel like a sequel. This as I said ISN’T necessarily a bad thing, but for those who expect something fresh you may feel a little disappointed.
But enough criticism for a moment, as the demo is REALLY fun to play and does have some neat touches! It is really fast paced, in your face action from the moment you engage. People fly backwards when you blast them like an action film, body parts fly off when you strike them, when you fall and die you hear the characters bones cracking and body parts waving frantically in the air, everything an action/gore freak wants.
All the overhauled original weapons look so much better, and behave brilliantly. The secondary fire mode beam of the Plasma gun (The 'Link gun' as its called) really is impressive, and reminds me of a green version of that really cool looking gun from the Matrix. However, who wanted an overhaul of the Sludge gun? I hated it, and most people I speak to hated it also. Ok, so they are going for the nostalgia feel, but I doubt many would miss that weapon...
The player characters also look much better and believable (although curiously they strongly resemble character skins from their close rival Q3 Arena…) and their animation certainly doesn’t feel as “Up in the air” the first game did. In the original characters seem to glide across the terrain; this time it does feel a lot more realistic.
The maps you play aren’t perfect (the outside maps have a few hugely apparent graphical glitches) but they certainly look the dogs bollocks, even if they do appear to have copied Halo’s visual style beyond belief on one level.
If every map in the full game is as detailed as these we won’t be disappointed! The superb lighting effects are the most obvious improvement in the game, and really look impressive.
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