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Taken from http://www.gamespy.com/previews/august03/ut2004pc/
Unreal Tournament 2004 (PC)
New weapons, larger maps, and -- you guessed it -- lots of vehicles.
By Kevin "Novelty" Rice | Aug. 7, 2003
Game Stats
Platform: Windows
Game Type: Action / FPS
Developer: Epic Games
Publisher: Atari
Release Date: Q4 2003
ESRB: Rating Pending
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It's difficult to deny the popularity of the Unreal Tournament series. At any given moment, UT 2003 is usually in the top five on GameSpy's server list. At the recent Summer CPL in Dallas, I ran into Jonathan "fatal1ty" Wendell and asked whether or not he'd be participating in QuakeCon 2003 in a few weeks. "I might just for fun, but probably not. I haven't played [Quake 3] in seven months." What? The guy that placed third and won $5K at QuakeCon 2002 isn't participating? What has happened? "All I really play now is Unreal Tournament." That's quite an endorsement coming from the player that has perhaps made more money playing games than any other gamer in the last few years.
So, it only makes sense that Epic Games continues with one of its most successful game franchises. Although Unreal II received a lukewarm perception by many in the press, UT 2004 is building some steam since its initial appearance at this year's E3. With rumored delays for both Half-Life 2 and Doom 3, it looks as if the first high-profile FPS title of the fall could very well be UT 2004, headed for a late September/early October release. While at the CPL, we had a chance to get up close with the new game, which promises to be far more than an incremental upgrade.
The graphics engine has only been modified slightly, but let's face it: UT 2003 was already beautiful. There are some new particle effects and shaders, and the weapons have been given an overhaul to their appearance. There are also new player models, and for the mapmakers out there, there are entire new sets of coordinated textures, static meshes, etc. There's no word on any updates to the editor yet, although it was fairly solid.
More importantly, though, are the new gameplay modes. Assault, the perennial fan favorite is back, and an entirely new mode called Onslaught is already in place. Here, multiple control points separate two color-coordinated bases. There are lines between each control point or "node," and capturing a node changes the line's color to that of the capturing team. Players work their way across the map in an effort to connect all the nodes and change the connecting lines to their color, eventually having a node of their color connecting to the enemy base. Once this happens, the enemy's base becomes the main target. While each node along the way can be destroyed, repaired, and taken by either team at any point, the team bases cannot be repaired at all. Destroying the enemy base is how the match is won. However, if the node linking an enemy to your base is recaptured by your team or is destroyed, then your base can no longer be attacked. It sounds a little confusing, but in reality, it's quite simple and should lead to power struggles throughout the entire map.
As you may have guessed, maps like this are quite huge, and although you can respawn at any control point your team controls, walking for a few minutes to join the battle is not the way of UT. Therefore, something new had to be added. Something faster. Something more powerful. Something like a tank. Or a dune buggy. Or a fighter. Or a bomber.
Yes, all these vehicles have made it into UT 2004. I didn't get a final vehicle count, but there were plenty of airborne and ground-based vehicles on display. For the most part, the vehicle physics were all in place, and yes, jumping from an airborne vehicle up too high will kill you, complete with screaming and nice ragdoll rolling around on the terrain. It seems as though the vehicles would completely unbalance the game; after all, they're faster, stronger, and can go where you can't. With this in mind, a few of the new weapons have been designed to counterbalance them.
Just looking for a headshot.
You may recall Quake 3: Team Arena's proximity mine gun, and UT 2004 introduces something similar ... albeit a bit more sinister. The new "spider mines" are proximity as well, but when triggered, they attach to and then climb up the poor player. Once on the head, the player hears a ticking sound before his head is released from his now-defunct body. The alt-fire on that weapon (well, I think that was the same weapon) is a grenade launcher, but for a nice twist, the grenades are magnetic. Therefore, you can launch three or four grenades onto a vehicle and watch the fireworks begin.
It appears that most of the vehicles in UT 2004 have a specific weapon designed to destroy it. There are specific anti-aircraft missiles, and the shock rifle appeared to do some extreme vehicular damage as well. (And the "InstaGib" crowd cheers!) The link gun has also been modified to have several functions. In Onslaught, for example, the link gun will heal vehicles (but not other players), and it will also heal (and charge) nodes. The more players linked together, the faster the healing/charging.
UT 2004 also includes controllable turrets. The AI is capable of taking care of them, but most can also be commandeered by players. This is important in some levels, simply because of the sheer amount of damage being dealt by both sides. One particular level takes place completely in outer space, with the defending team starting on a space station while attackers have to disable their shields and eventually land on the ship. Once inside, the attackers must destroy a power core, while the defenders have lots of turrets and can even go airborne for some dogfighting. This was a truly impressive level, even if the bots couldn't fly the ships on the defending side yet. It's easy to visualize the mass-mayhem this could cause with two sides of sixteen players each.
The maps we saw were all visually stunning (as we've come to expect in the series), but more importantly, their scale is enormous. Some of them make even the maps from Tribes 2 look smallish by comparison, and the draw distance was very impressive. It's worth noting that every map and mod made for UT 2003 is compatible with UT 2004, so in addition to the plethora of new maps being included with the new game, the existing base of literally hundreds of maps will continue to work. When the game ships, the vehicles will only be available in the new play modes, but players should be able to alter existing maps to make the vehicles and new weapons available on their old favorites.
Gun turrets pack more firepower than normal weapons.
Am I excited about this release? You bet. The community is already there, the sheer amount of available content is already enormous, and well, I've been a fan of UT since its conception back in 2000. You might think that adding vehicles and turrets and additional weapons would give the game a Halo or Tribes 2 feel, and yet it doesn't. There are similarities, yes, but each has its own distinct feel. The feel of UT is certainly appealing (as can be seen by the number of players and modders), and UT 2004 is on track to continue and perhaps expand on its winning formula.
I absolutely, cannot wait!! Hopefully, I'll be able to practise and hone my skills since I am getting UT 2k3 tomorrow. 
