The Best Arena Shooter

Tough one. Definitely not Quake 3 for me, I hated the level design and the boring weapons. I can see why people like it though, it's the Lotus Elise of arena shooters - a perfection of the bare basics.

Each of the Unreal Tournament series brings something different to the table. The first game is the best in my opinion, but is let down a little by what I feel is the series' most dubious weapon balance. Also, 90s shooters are a hugely different experience to those we play today, which makes it rather difficult to get back into. Everything's a lot faster.

UT2004 is probably the best competitive instalment of the franchise, with the defensive element and advanced movement tricks adding an extra layer of skill. However, I think it's also the least enjoyable. The floatiness and long distances between you and your opponent make it rather unsatisfying.

UT3 is the most fun, in my opinion. Extremely satisfying, lots of nice little touches, and bought back a lot of elements that UT200x lacked. But it's stuck in a limbo because it's not as polished, innovative or generally excellent as the original, or as deep or effective for competitive play as UT2004.
While it's not a traditional core value for an arena shooter, what I actually miss the most from the original Unreal Tournament is the world that it created via the cohesive backstory in the map descriptions and the character bios in the campaign ladder (also in the visual style and the, again cohesive, musical score).

I'd also add that Aliens vs Predator 2 was great fun in the early days before players started exploiting the horrendous balance issues.

Oh, and come to think of it, Unreal 2 XMP. That was the best team game I've ever played.

UT would be my favorite series, and of them all... mmm, tough choice. I would say UT3, but it's deader than a doorknob because people can't overlook its issues and UI that they'll spend 30 seconds in, so I'll say UT1.

If that expansion is what I'm hoping it'll be, expect UT3 to retake that lead.

Fuzz said:

So where do I go for a decent game of free for all deathmatch?

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Your arse. Give two gerbils a miniature shotgun each and shove them up there.

Enjoy.

Fuzz said:

Epic has gone console on us and Id is out in the blue somewhere. So where do I go for a decent game of free for all deathmatch?

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Try Warsow. I have no idea if it's got players, but it's free and Quake-based, so if you can understand the movement, it should be a decent game. I feel it's a "for pros, by pros" kind of thing, though, like CPMA, so it might be a terrible experience. D:

Dark Pulse said:

I would say UT3...

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Are you almost certainly in the top 5000?

SirYawnalot said:

Tough one. Definitely not Quake 3 for me, I hated the level design and the boring weapons. I can see why people like it though, it's the Lotus Elise of arena shooters - a perfection of the bare basics.

Each of the Unreal Tournament series brings something different to the table. The first game is the best in my opinion, but is let down a little by what I feel is the series' most dubious weapon balance. Also, 90s shooters are a hugely different experience to those we play today, which makes it rather difficult to get back into. Everything's a lot faster.

UT2004 is probably the best competitive instalment of the franchise, with the defensive element and advanced movement tricks adding an extra layer of skill. However, I think it's also the least enjoyable. The floatiness and long distances between you and your opponent make it rather unsatisfying.

UT3 is the most fun, in my opinion. Extremely satisfying, lots of nice little touches, and bought back a lot of elements that UT200x lacked. But it's stuck in a limbo because it's not as polished, innovative or generally excellent as the original, or as deep or effective for competitive play as UT2004.
While it's not a traditional core value for an arena shooter, what I actually miss the most from the original Unreal Tournament is the world that it created via the cohesive backstory in the map descriptions and the character bios in the campaign ladder (also in the visual style and the, again cohesive, musical score).

I'd also add that Aliens vs Predator 2 was great fun in the early days before players started exploiting the horrendous balance issues.

Oh, and come to think of it, Unreal 2 XMP. That was the best team game I've ever played.

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Get outta my head, man!
I was thinking about this when I woke up this morning acutally and that's almost exactly what was going through my noggin

wierd.

I also really like UC2 back when people were playing it online. Epic kinda screwed up the online from the get go (later fixing it but to barely a rise in online numbers... just enough too late, I suppose) but I still enjoy a splitscreen match once in a while with a buddy.
I kick their ass everytime

I don't play arena shooters much anymore, though I must say the UT series has had me by the balls in the past.
I'm liking the tactical shooters MP and a good SP these days.

To end this handicapped ramble I will just say nothing will ever beat UT, and I don't know what else there is these days.
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Ally

T2A` said:

Are you almost certainly in the top 5000?

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Way to cut out the rest of my post where I say why it's *NOT* my favorite! Congratulations, idiot. Go back to playing COD4.

I like Unreal Championship 2 best. It has its problems too (no bot customization; no way of setting up unfair teams with bots; bots are way better with sniper than with anything else and they are too easy to beat using just melee - compared to a human; I hear online-play is pretty glitchy) but other than issues like that it's really brilliant.

Close second is UT2004, but to be honest I liked UT2003 just as well and apart from the additional content I didn't really care for most of the changes.

------opinions on other arena shooters--------
I don't like UT all that much. Blasphemy, I know, but I find it spammy and I don't like the feel of the movement. It's still a great game, I just wouldn't stick to it as long as to UT200x.

UT3's movement might be similar in principle but it feels completely different and the game feels less spammy. The vehicles are greatly improved over UT2004 too. I could see myself really liking the game but it doesn't run well on my system. I can't blame the game because my system is really old and for what the game offers it runs astonishably well anyway, but I can't play it, so it's out.

Quake 3 is a tad too simple in low-level play and too complicated in high-level play. Doesn't mean it isn't fun with people you know.

I only played the Quake 4 demo but it seemed to be the same in a new coat. Well done.

Warsow is even more polarized. For low-level play the characters can take way too much damage and high-level play is insane. The style is really cool, but it's just too "pro" for my tastes.

Unreal Championship has to be among the worst arena shooters I know. It totally overcompensates for controller shortcomings with too much auto-aiming; the "species statistics" has too much effect on the gameplay; if UT3's UI is bad, UC's UI is raping your babies. And it all falls down anyway because of the horrible framerate.

xMurphyx said:

Unreal Championship has to be among the worst arena shooters I know. It totally overcompensates for controller shortcomings with too much auto-aiming; the "species statistics" has too much effect on the gameplay; if UT3's UI is bad, UC's UI is raping your babies. And it all falls down anyway because of the horrible framerate.

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No doubt, you'd think a game built for the Xbox would excel there yet it blows.

At least they visited the opposite end of the spectrum with the sequel.
That game rules.
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Web shows

Fuzz said:

Do gamers crave more realism and less pointless violence?

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If those are the kinds of questions asked in the board room, we're all "doomed".

Lol, I did a pun.
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bald pussy Webcams

UT2004. Still love / miss the whole franchise, but 2004 had it all with the audience, gametypes, everything working pretty well, patches, community, modding, etc.

UT2004 and the community that grew around it was awesome. There always seemed to be a new reason popping up to make sure the game was installed, updated and ready to play with some new levels, a new mod, player models, voices, reskins or learn and test something new using tutorials, etc.

Fuzz said:

Nothing else, or are we all tired of arena shooters? Do gamers crave more realism and less pointless violence?

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No more realism, more pointless violence, more fun and a mod that kicks anyone on the server that uses leetspeak.

UT 2004

Unreal Tournament 1. No way to top it.

Quake 3 was okay, but I didn't like the environments and the whole feel. The only one from the series which I liked was the first one.

dub said:

UT 2004

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ditto

It's definitely 2k3. I wish they hadn't done UT2004 the way that they did so that you could still play 2k3.