A Quaker's Unreal Perspective

It's a total farce!

Okay, regular readers (including those for Epic) know that bashing Unreal for its various flaws has become a staple pastime at FiringSquad. Its skew-eyed, huge-limbed models, obtusely held and uninspired weapons effects, the list goes on and on. Though the game was a best-seller on store shelves, there are numerous reasons why the number of multiplayer Unreal servers is dwarfed by whatever id game happens to be in the forefront. Updates were often-promised but delayed in delivery, and from the onset it was plagued with "feature-creep," causing longer and longer delays between releases; and for now, we'll just pretend we aren't going to mention the atrocious network code the original game shipped with.

Who's playing for keeps?

Fast forward to current times. Both id software and Epic Games are preparing their new wave of first-person shooters, and both are coincidentally targeting the same market! Of course, we're talking about online multiplayer deathmatch, a faction of play that is still small in the grand scheme of gaming, yet violently addictive. Both games are hoping to dominate the niche with purity of focus in gameplay design, seamless Internet connectivity, and stunning, jaw-dropping visuals.

Id software is taking the approach of refining deathmatch. They've taken the best elements from each of their games, and have combined everything into what could be described as "pure deathmatch experience." With more than 3 generations of FPS engines, weapons and play balance, and network code, there's no doubt that id software is the powerhouse incumbent in this battle. With a proven track record and a majority of FPS players, it's their position to lose.

So what's changed?

Epic on the other hand has a lot to prove. While they've done well with Unreal, the fact remains that the game's lingering problems have caused no end of frustration to both the company and to FPS players everywhere. If anything, they had a load of constructive criticism from FPS fans eager to see some (real) viable competition in the deathmatch arena. So what were they going to do with it?

Assualt, Domination, and more

This is one BIG gun

Early on in development, a memo leaked out of GT Interactive documenting the production of a new game by Epic, called "Unreal Tournament." Coupled with id Software's announcement of Quake 3 Arena, a "multiplayer deathmatch-focused game," FPS fans everywhere were ready to rumble. Last year, it was a competition for the most compelling single-player game. Now, the time needed to craft convincing single-player worlds with complex scripted sequences and increasingly complex architecture has forced smaller development houses to tighten their focus, and for both id and Epic, arena-based deathmatch looked like the right direction to move, for now.