Unreal Tournament 3 Review (XBox360)

I have eagerly awaited UT3 on my Xbox and finally it arrived with all the bells and whistles.. wait no it didn't. I would have expected more advertising on such a game that has been coveted by hardcore MS gamers but it was only due to rummaging around HMV that i found out it had finally come out.

I had however already played it on the PS3 and had my fragtastic fix so what possibly could the XBox do differently for me to tear me away from my monolithic paperweight. Split screen two player you say? Why yes thank you. Oh and a free Gears of War 2 disk.. wait isn't that the Goodyear Blimp?

Distraction techniques aside the game itself is bloody amazing all over again.  "Got your nodes!" I shouted as I ran around the usual war torn landscape of Unreal land the only difference here is we're not in a tournament but in a war using tournament technology to never ever die.

Unreal Tournament was a breath of air in the Doomesque days of running around laboratory labyrinths fighting randomly spawned creatures as you actually fought against your fellow man in a competition to see who was best. When you fragged your last opponent or stole the crowning flag of glory you felt accomplished that you were the best person in that tournament. Screw fighting for your country you were fighting for the entertainment of it. Unreal Tournament 3 takes that away. You're back to fighting for your country just like every other FPS these days, only you can never die, as they took the bits from the tournament and threw them into 'real life'.

Each mission is just a tournament in disguise and they don't hold the same fulfillment when you're just running around shooting the evil oppressor. I must admit I haven't played it on-line yet and I am sure that it will feel more UT-y and also I have been reliably informed that UT2K is a good link from the old into the new but still I have to say there was a tiny bit of disappointment in my fragtastic ***** I got from holding the box finally.

Apart from that there isn't much to say about UT3, you either love it or hate it and I do want it's babies but it's another FPS in a sea of them from the PS3 and the Xbox360 just lovingly holds onto its crown for social gaming console.