I haven't played 2k4 yet, so I'll suspend my judgement untill then, but I can see why some people would be disapointed that there isn't more. I allready made a thread a couple weeks ago outlining my doubts with 2k3. The main thing I didn't like was the lack of new weapons, and the lack of pre-existing weapons which should have been carried over from UT99, like the ripper or the tri-barrel shotgun. In my opinion, the main thing that seperated UT from other FPS's of the time was the weapons. Instead of going with the standard shotgun/machinegun/rocketlauncher fare, they created new, innovative weapons which forced you to approach combat differently, taking advantage of the fact that it's a game and anything can happen (ie ripper, shock rifle, biorifle). Even the shotgun, rocket launcher, and machinegun -type weapons were more dynamic than in other games (ie flak cannon). Mods like U4E took this idea to further (sometimes ridiculous) levels creating even crazier weapons. One of the logical things to improve on UT99 therefore would be to add new, more creative and innovative weapons, but instead 2k3 took out 2 weapons, and barely added any new ones. I was hoping 2k4 would improve on this, from what I've read, it sounds like most of new weapons are of the "more-bigger-ass-rocket-launcher" variety.
For all I know, vehicles and the new game types may completely make up for such lackings. I don't claim to know a game I haven't played. I'll let you know my final opinion when I've tried it. I just wish Epic had a bigger vision for expanding UT than just improving the graphics and adding vehicles.
Anyway, as for the idea that deathmatch-style FPS's are immature and stupid, with absolutely no strategy whatsoever, that's BS. Circle strafing, jumping, dodging, etc is part of the strategy of these games. You have to analyze your opponent's position, predict their most likely course of action, and respond based on that with the apropiate method of dodging, or a shot to apropriate location. There is more to it than just holding the 'strafe-right' key while swinging the mouse around to try to keep your crosshair accurately on the enemy while you blast away. Blind circle strafing or blind bunny hopping is pretty easy to deal with. Just aim ahead of your target's circle, or fire above them in their jump path. Of course, the enemy could be moving completely randomly, but it's impossible be completely random, and most humans wil reveal obvious patterns pretty quickly. Ultimately you have to asess the likely influences on their dodging techniques (ie, the walls or obstacles in their way, incoming fire, health packs and ammo they're trying to get to, rooms they're trying to escape to, etc).
Just because it happens to require reflexes doesn't mean it's mindless. That's like saying there's no strategy to fighting games just because you need the basic reflexes required to hit the buttons at the right time. I've seen people write multi-page essays on single facets of the strategy of Street Fighter 2. If your personal preference is against that style of gameplay, fine, there's nothing wrong with that, to each his own, but don't say it's stupid just cause you don't like it.