When debating an Unreal Tournament 2004 purchase over another title of the type, or simply on its own merits, understand that this is a game of pure value. The box comes with everything UT 2003 offered plus new weapons, new maps, new modes, new art, new vehicles, a new interface, and new potential. It's a brilliant collage of smooth, polished gameplay, solid netcode, unadulterated diversity, and a frenetic pacing few games can rival. Those not pleased by rocket wielding mutants, bunny-hopping teenagers, and vehicular emphasis may find UT 2004 to be somewhat of a poorly timed release amidst an uncanny sea of quality 1st quarter PC releases, but that's preference over respect. This game, whether you like the sub-genre or not, must be respected.

When scrutinized, the lone components of UT 2004 amazingly remain valid, and worthy of purchase and praise. Unlike most titles that average to be greater than the sum of their parts, if any single component of UT 2004 were omitted, it'd still find place in our libraries. Since this is not the case, and everything that should be present is accounted for along with unexpected additions that simply rule, the title manages to exude a degree of polish we just don't see many games managing to achieve anymore. Part of this can be attributed to Epic's thoughtful inclusion of all that made UT 2003 so acceptably adequate, but more deserving of award is what's new.

Each of the additions alone adds a sizeable amount to the game. Of immediate interest are the reinstated Assault mode and the revised take on Battlefield's conquest, deemed Onslaught. The latter is gaining a ridiculous amount of popularity among the FPS community. It demands the lightening reflexes for which the series has always been known, and then requires an extra level of teamwork that even Assault and Domination can't touch.

Even with a mode more demanding of cooperation, the immediate pick up and play gratification of UT remains perfectly intact. A highly intuitive, carefully balanced flow allows players to begin working as a team without the real understanding that they're consciously cooperating to achieve a single goal. Teams of link gun wielding soldiers will amass around enemy nodes, tear them to shreds, and then link with one another to rapidly construct nodes of their own, or rapidly repair vehicles and stationary turrets. This compounding effect tightens the focus on maintaining squads, whether they consist of multiple people in vehicles or those simply wandering about on foot. Since vehicles are supplied at nearly every turn and teleportation devices are also allowed, traversing the maps in these packs becomes second nature, and not a deliberate, tediously organized endeavor that some other team-based games propose we subject ourselves to.

Though this particular flavor of play doesn't always carry over to the rest of the game and its multitude of maps and modes, it really doesn't have to. Unreal Tournament 2004 simply offers so much in such a variety of different areas that any first-person shooting fan in dire need of a fresh, but familiar experience will be content. A brilliant array of diverse maps and intricately detailed objectives in Assault coupled with typically furious deathmatching across the board ensure this. Epic's use of Unreal Tech's many technical advancements means that regardless of game type preference, the eyes and ears will be well catered to.

Though not without a smattering of obscure and nitpick-able problems barely worthy of mention (and thus left entirely out of this particular review) UT 2004's biggest fault is one of timing. Why so many publishers insist on bolstering 1st quarter revenues by releasing all of their marquee titles within two weeks of one another is beyond me or any other man of reason. Even with so much competition abound, I'd be hard-pressed to find a single reason, let alone many, that would sway away any prospective fan or newcomer from investing in UT 2004 and being happy for quite a long time.