There seems to be a certain appeal with gathering a bunch of your friends up and frag matching all day. Many games get released where a multiplayer option gets “tacked” on and doesn’t have a chance to stand up to the big boys like Call of Duty and Halo.  Even though these games have splendid single player campaigns, their multiplayer is far superior to others.  So, where does Unreal Tournament III fit into this plethora of awesome on the Xbox 360?  Well, all I can say is: it fits right in.

          Unreal Tournament III was originally released on the PC in November of 2007 and was then ported over to the PS3 less than a month later.  This had to bring up concerns to many gamers wondering when the 360 version was going to be released.  A game that PS3 and PC exclusive only; that’s seems kind of rare.  Absent from the Xbox 360, the game has shipped more than 1 million units for both systems, but Midway doesn’t plan to stop there.  Fast forward to July 2008 and it finally gets released for the 360, and has some great new content that is 360 exclusive.

          One of the best features is the 2-player split screen, which is growing rarer these days.  Playing online is a blast that sadly some people miss out on due to not having high speed internet.  Even today though, having people actually in your presence playing with you still is fun and will always be fun.  This title also has five new maps, two all new characters, previously released downloadable content, and an exclusive preview of Gears of War 2.

             vehicles are a blast to play around and cause destruction with

          Playing through this online game is a blast.  The game looks great and all the different maps are a visual treat for your eyes (that’s the beauty of the Unreal engine).  Unreal took a little bit to get used to play wise because your characters move faster than other online games.  Getting into vehicles was enjoyable (there are many vehicles) and all the different weapons feel comfortable to use.  My favorite was the flak cannon which shot out a series of bullets which ricocheted off walls.  All the standard modes are present in this game including deathmatch, capture the flag, and duel (which is basically a 1 on 1).  Hearing the announcer yell “KILLING SPREE” never gets old.

          One complaint I have is that the single player is mostly comprised of bot matches on all the different multiplayer maps.  There is a story that you advance through but it basically boils down to you defending humanity from the necris invasion. If you cannot get online and only wanted this game for the single player, there is very little appeal that would keep you hooked on it.  The story mode seems fun but holds nothing against the fast action online matches; those are what this game is all about.

          Unreal is a great play that fans of online FPS’s shouldn’t pass up.  It might not have that certain charm that others hold, but it’s definitely worth a look for those getting bored with other FPS games.  With so many different weapons and vehicles to choose from, this games online experience will reel you back in time after time.  Now everybody, go grab a gun and watch those corners.