I'd like to point out, just for arguments sake, that I REALLY tried to like UT3. I tried, I really did. I put up with the green pea soup that it sticks your mouse into, the complete lack of basic options any decent PC FPS has provided since the original ****ing unreal, the poor gameplay (being in a pea soup doesn't help), the poor maps relying on uninteresting gimmicks (like having a God damned tank in a DM map) rather than great item placement and flow: and so much else.
I made a big effort to like this game. I stayed away from all the forums (including here) and tried not to listen to any 'whinging' or whatever people want to call it. But I can't escape the basic fact the game just sucks horribly.
I loved Unreal, for all its flaws with the original multiplayer, it was still a fantastic game. I played UT99 CTF obsessively for almost 4 years I thought it was that fun. I LIKED UT2k3, but UT2k4 was a massive step up in every regard for me and I loved that almost as much as the original UT99.
But UT3 just sucks. I can't put it any other way. I could go into detail, saying what I hate about the stupid gimmick maps, poor flow of many others, the lack of modes I always liked to play (Like DDOM), the lack of options and everything else. But there isn't any reason to bother, all of the many problems in this game can be summed up by its commercial failure on the PC [where the franchise is supposed to have its strongest support].
If Epic had made a good sequel to UT99 and UT2k4, it would not have failed this drastically. That it has failed demonstrates enough that it's a poor game.
. Digital distribution does address a lot of inventory costs, but few are willing to go solely e-distribution with no retail presence. Even Valve discourages this approach.
