Unreal Tournament 2007

Unreal Tournament 2007 (previously codenamed 'Envy') is Epic Games' sequel to Unreal Tournament 2004. Published by Midway Games, UT2007 is powered by Epic's new Unreal Engine 3, and is due to be released on PC and PlayStation 3 in the second quarter (April-June) of 2006. Rumors of a future Xbox 360 release have not been confirmed.

This section of BeyondUnreal will get you up-to-date with the latest UT2007 developments as we look forward to this latest addition to the Unreal Universe.

Gameplay

Unreal Tournament 2007 promises a return to the "feel" of the original Unreal Tournament. While UT2004's double-jumping and dodge-jumping will remain, Epic aims to make the game more fast-paced and less "floaty". Epic stresses that the aim with UT2007 is to create a whole new - and better - game, rather than merely a prettier UT2004. In addition to this, old favorites from the original UT such as jump boots and the ability to feign death will return in UT2007.

The gametypes present in the new title reflect the blend of old and new. UT2004's Onslaught makes a triumphant return, along with the classic Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and CTF modes.

Epic is also introducing a brand-new gametpye called Unreal Warfare, which appears to be verging into MMO territory. This time it's also likely that vehicles will appear in standard CTF gameplay, rather than being included in a seperate Vehicle CTF gametype a la UT2004.

While details of this new gametype are still sketchy, Unreal Warfare maps are set to be potentially as large as three Onslaught maps, with 'Assault'-like sub-objectives and even a limited form of resource management. Players will join one of the eight teams, each with its own unique armour, and wage war across huge territories which change depending on which team is in control.

With Unreal Warfare, it's clear that Epic intends to offer something for the more tactical gamer, with the Warfare mode focussing more on strategy, resource management and teamwork. The gameplay sequence at the end of this CG 2005 presentation shows what a Warfare sub-objective might look like.

Steve Polge on Warfare (E3 2006)

First off, in Warfare, you will try to control a series of conduits by delivering an orb to it. Both teams get one Orb, so you'll have to take care of it. Steve mentioned that this will give really skilled players a way to have more fun within the game. Once you deliver the orb to the conduit another one is created.

Teams

As with previous UT titles, players will choose a character from one of the many game teams.

Nakhti (Egyptians from UC2)
Necris
Juggernauts
The Corrupt
Iron Guard
Krall
Jacob's Team (Marines?)
"Player's Team" (Unnamed)

Weapons

The following weapons are confirmed to appear in UT2007:

Rocket Launcher - As in UT2004 and Unreal Championship 2, the Rocket Launcher can load up to three rockets at once.
Flak Cannon
Redeemer
Link Gun
Shock Rifle
AVRiL - Expected to appear in all vehicular gametypes (Onslaught, Unreal Warfare, CTF), expect the Anti-Vehicular Rocket Launcher to be similar to its UT2004 predecessor.
Sniper Rifle - Expect something similar to UT2004's Sniper Rifle rather than UT2003's Lightning Gun.
Dual Enforcers - The favorite from the original UT makes its return.
Impact Hammer - UT's mining tool turned melée weapon returns in UT2007.
Stinger - First seen in the original Unreal, then later in Unreal Championship 2, this Minigun-replacement fires shards of deadly tarydium at your opponents.
Canister Gun - Incorporates the Sticky Grenade Launcher, Spider Mine Layer and Bio Rifle. Fires different projectiles depending on the ammo available to the player.
Target Painter - Epic plans to allow the Target Painter to control level-specific hazards in UT2007.

Vehicles

All nine 'Axon' vehicles from UT2004 and the ECE Bonus Pack will be back in UT2007, with a few changes.

Scorpion - The Scorpion buggy now fires rockets instead of the energy web seen in UT2004. The vehicle also features new XMP-style rocket boosters.
Manta
Raptor
Cicada
Paladin
SPMA
Goliath - Epic claims that the mighty Goliath tank should handle more like a tank and less like a brick in UT2007.
Leviathan - This mobile fortress still features its devastating main cannon and has added distinct weapon fire to each of its four turrets rather than UT2004's link-like projectile. Each turret also has an alternate shield function.

In addition, there will also be an all-new selection of nine 'Necris' vehicles.

Viper - A one-man speeder-like vehicle.
Darkwalker - Think "War of the Worlds". A two-man tripod vehicle that hovers over the surface and uses its legs to pull it along. You don't want to get caught in the "eyes" of its twin lasers!

Each player will also have use of a Hoverboard, added as a way to keep people in the action at all times. Steve Polge comments (E3 2006) on the Hoverboard:

It's not something you want to use in combat, because you don't have a weapon when you're on it. And if you get shot while you're on it you're going to tumble and become an easy target. You can also grapple onto the backs of other vehicles and get a ride. Steve also mentioned that thay also used to it solve the problem of when someone takes off in a hellbender without you, you can quickly grapple onto and tow yourself into the vehicle while it's moving.

Community

Epic plans to use UT2007 to bring more and more people into the Unreal community, with strong community integration out of the box. In-game lobbies are planned for the Unreal Warfare mode, and game stats integration will allow you to find similarly-skilled opponents via the UT2007 server browser.

Also planned are a global rankings system to allow clans to compare scores, as well as a system for viewing community and clan pages in-game.

UT2007 mod teams will, of course, be able to take advantage of the improvements in Unreal Engine 3's UnrealEd content creation tool, including the new UnrealKismet scripting environment, visual material editor and UnrealCascade particle engine. More details of UE3 UEd features can be found here.

Technology

Graphics

The most visible technological improvements in UT2007 come from the move to Unreal Engine 3. Environments are now alive with rich shaders, and per-pixel lit. As such, a DirectX 9 compatible card is a must. Expect the minimum spec graphics card to be an NVIDIA GeForce FX or ATI Radeon 9700 level card. If you're looking for decent performance however, you'll need to aim a little higher. At E3 2005, Epic's Tim Sweeney suggested an NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra level card for decent frame rates at 1024x768 resolution.

AI & Voice

UT2007 will bring major advances in the artificial intelligence that controls UT bots, as well as the way in which players communicate with them. UT2007 players will be able to give bots specific orders using their own voices. Whereas in UT or UT2004 you'd use the voice menu to tell your bots to "attack", you can now give orders like "there's a sniper on the tower, go get him". Bots will also respond to particular questions. For example, if you asked "is there anyone in the cave?", they might reply "no, the cave is clear".

UT2007 bots' personalities will also make them better suited to different in-game tasks.