[ Transcript of review for Servers Browser 2.0 | Posted by Peter on 2002-10-05 | Score: 8.1 ]
Unreal Browser
Unlike Gamespy or the built-in UT servers browser, this Servers Browser is geared towards games that use the Unreal engine. So, it features some nifty features that those other browsers don't have. While there are some extraneous features, most of them help to complete the utility.
Interface
The interface for the utility is well done. It's easy to use, yet chock full of features. Links are sorted out at the top and, with the built-in web browser, are easily accessible. Other features include a Clan utility, a Favorites tab, a great Filter, etc. You can also change the views of the utility, although I find the default view to be better.
Fast launch
After you configure all your Unreal based games via the "Configuration" tab (just hit Auto Search when there) and find a game that you want to join, you'll find that the Servers Browser loads up Unreal Tournament a bit faster than the regular way that you launch UT. That, in itself, is the main reason why you should get Servers Browser. It's a bit minimal, but for me, the start up time was cut by about 5 seconds.
Other stuff
Besides the regular UT related stuff, there are several additions, some a bit unnecessary in my opinion. There is a Simple FTP utility, an IRC client, and finally, my favorite, a music player. With the music player, you can easily play any UT music file, and the encoding is pretty good.
For UT
If you are a fan of online play, check out this utility for UT. It is basically the ultimate servers browser, beating out those third party browsers, and even the built-in UT browser. While you can use the UT browser easily, you won't be able to get all the niceties that come with Servers Browser, such as the player view that shows you the name and face of the players on a given server. The only problems are that it keeps asking you to upgrade to version 2.1, but the downloaded version is 1.9. Also, the utility can freeze up at times, but usually if you can wait a minute, it can be used once again.
-Peter Yu