Unreal, Unreal II, Unreal Tournament, Unreal Tournament 2003 & 2004 - those were all solid products that thrived and evolved with developer Epic's outstanding patches, new and free content and its legendary community support

(modifications, custom maps, characters, you name it). While the general, very "classy" feeling of the Unreal shooter franchise still persists in UT3, the mouse smoothing here is incremental and crude (same problem as in "BioShock") and

the ridiculous plotline is almost painful to watch (and to listen to). Sometimes 3rd person view is forced upon the player, which isn't necessarily bad but can be distracting. After having played through the "campaign" mode I was left

with the feeling that UT3 targets a significantly younger consumer group than its predecessors.
The game engine, however, is where developer Epic scores once again. It looks stunningly beautiful and can be greatly adjusted to work even with weaker hardware equipment.… more »

Unreal, Unreal II, Unreal Tournament, Unreal Tournament 2003 & 2004 - those were all solid products that thrived and evolved with developer Epic's outstanding patches, new and free content and its legendary community support

(modifications, custom maps, characters, you name it). While the general, very "classy" feeling of the Unreal shooter franchise still persists in UT3, the mouse smoothing here is incremental and crude (same problem as in "BioShock") and

the ridiculous plotline is almost painful to watch (and to listen to). Sometimes 3rd person view is forced upon the player, which isn't necessarily bad but can be distracting. After having played through the "campaign" mode I was left

with the feeling that UT3 targets a significantly younger consumer group than its predecessors.
The game engine, however, is where developer Epic scores once again. It looks stunningly beautiful and can be greatly adjusted to work even with weaker hardware equipment.
The
rich diversity of characters and maps of previous Unreal titles has been greatly reduced. Granted, there are now fewer but highly polished, very well-planned maps with a remarkable emphasis on detail and the characters are

customizable to quite some extend.
Gameplay, especially in Deathmatches and Capture The Flag mode, is still as fast as always and, in my opinion, just as much fun especially with (and against) friends!
Also, Epic delivered a great deal of additional files (they released the "Titan Pack" expansion freely available on their site). Do not expect too many major community releases in the future, though.
In summary, if you are looking for a very solid first-person shooter and/or are a fan of the Unreal franchise UT3 will be for you - despite its flaws.