Interface and Sound

Menus galore

Unreal Tournament had one of the most plainly functional FPS interfaces out there, and little has changed for UT2K3. It’s not flashy or elegant, but remarkably easy to use and obvious. Everything is divided into a large assortment of specific menus, each dealing clearly with the subject it’s supposed to. Somehow this massive system avoids being cluttered or overwhelming. It takes a short while to get used to, but it’s never confusing. In fact, it has some features we loved, like the ability to queue up weapon auto-selection to your preference. Hate the flak cannon? Put it as low as you want. Always want to pick up a rocket launcher, even if you have a lightning gun? Rate the RL higher!

My prediction shots are off

I didn't turn the announcer off, he strokes my ego

Death to me :(

That’s not to say that the interface is perfect. There are a few issues that could be squared away in a patch. Character selection for the singleplayer portion of the game includes a facial portrait of the model, but not the 3D model itself. Granted, no one will notice what character you are using in the singleplayer game… except you, the person to whom the model is most important. What makes this design decision even more baffling is that model viewing is supported in the engine, as evidenced by the multiplayer character selection system.

UNSTOPPABLE!

The sounds that come with UT2K3 are basically the same as the ones in the original UT. Even the controversial announcer makes a re-appearance, as do the trash talk character voices. Not all sounds are identical, some may have been re-recorded or to use the popular movie catchphrase, “digitally remastered”. Whatever the case may be, the sounds are very appropriate for the game and still high quality. We are upset somewhat at the fact that more new sounds weren’t included, but we’ll cover that later in the ballistics report.

Getting spanked

Doing the spanking

Neat little red laser

Sound in competitive FPS is used as much as sight to provide players with clues what’s going on. Quake players are able to track an opponent’s progress by the sound of him picking up armor, a weapon, or jumping or going through a teleport. There’s no special trick to making sound effects useful, except by making them distinctive and heard over a long distance. UT2K3 manages this to some extent, over the cluttered sound of other effects. In truth, playing the game is a bit like playing a slot machine – it makes pleasant, mechanical noises that reinforce the fun of playing. Nothing wrong with that, since that’s how all games are designed, but we feel more effort could have been devoted to making the sounds useful.