UT2K4 for the PC?

Do you see what's happening? 3 people, from 3 different places, will all generally agree.

Shooters; they just don't make them like they used to.

FPS games are dying, and the console is what they're going to be buried in.

Here's my problem (and it's been stated time and time again, especially in the Metro 2033 review)

Consoles just aren't made for shooters. Now, here's why:

The keyboard and mouse combo generally found on a pc allows for greater control and diversity for gaming.

10's of keys compared to roughly under 10 buttons (remappable of course using shoulder buttons and the such). The mouse allows for extremely precise selections. Snipers paradise as it were.

IF controllers were so great for sniping and general view/ selection controls, don't you think computers would use controllers? Give a computer user a trackball and watch them squirm.

I could go on and on about pc/console shooters, but most average age gamers will tell you that it's harder and harder to play on a console, but rarer and rarer to find and be able to play a pc shooter. (Crysis, look, the fact that you're a benchmark game is a BAD thing, it means you're basically unplayable).

Folks, here's the skinny. The recent discussions of console shooters have reminded me of a wonderful excellent shooter. A beautiful shooter, arguably one of the best games out there.

Unreal Tournament 2004.

Now, what ties this all together. A gaming/theatre friend the other day admitted to me that he'd never played the fabled UT2K4. I handed him my mac and said "PLAY NOW".

This game... a beautiful birth of many different things. Unreal existed years before, Unreal Tournament existed as a ps2 game as well. Unreal is an engine that many prolific shooters still use to this day. Where do I begin? Hell, I still remember if you bought UT2K4 and owned UT2K3 they'd send you a check for $10. Sweet deal.

It was just a good game. The multiplayer put all other multiplayers to shame.

YOU HEAR ME? ALL OTHERS!!!

It was lightning fast, simple to pick up, and easy to play. It didn't require a beast of a system, didn't require complex controls if you didn't want to, it was very accessible in that sense. And that's ultimately what made it sell so well. Same thing with Unreal Tournament and Unreal Tournament 2k3. Look, Halo, COD:MW, BF- all of them take something from UT2K4. It's that simple.

You were a futuristic smash-tv/running man type thing. It had space stations, future guns and monsters look SHUT UP, it doesn't matter. Play it. You'll see what I mean. Rankings? Didn't exist, you had name recognition. Adjustable multiplayer games? Nope. Suck it up wussy.

The game was tough, but easy to play, tough to master. 6 (?) skill levels, tons of weapons, mapeditors that you actually wanted to use and play with. There's a reason why you'll find a ton of UT2K4 competitions today, it's like the great equalizer. Put Goldeneye and UT2K4 in the same room and the room explodes.

ok maybe not. But UT2K4 was the pc version of what Goldeneye did for the console. That make sense? Great.

Here's a sample of my current UT2K4 key mapping. Q and E switch weapons, WASD move me, R makes me use doors, F brings up a leaderboard. Space makes me jump. CTR makes me crouch. Shift zooms me. Simple. Simple Simple.

Look at the mapping for COD, it's a nightmare. There's a run button, a jump, a grenade button, a melee button, a shoot, an aim, a crouch, a use button, look that's not the point. Too complicated makes for less precision. You're great at COD? Awesome. you probably don't like Halo. You're great at Halo? Great, you probably hate Battlefield. UT2K4 surmised all of those games.

About 15 weapons, all with an alternate fire, nothing fancy. Hundreds of maps, HUNDREDS. A solid engine that ran at 60fps without blinking. Ping didn't exist. Hackers didn't care. You didn't have rankings. A built in music player. Modifiable taunts. Modifiable game rules (no gravity, regen health only when you shoot). A ton of player and game options. Bots.

WAIT. DID YOU SAY MUSIC PLAYER? yep. create a playlist and ut2k4 would play it in game. FIND THAT BUILT INTO A MODERN SHOOTER. Doesn't exist. I actually turned on COD, Halo, and BF just now to check. Doesn't exist. You have to use the console media player.

WAIT, DID YOU SAY BOTS?

Yep. want to play an online CTF game but don't have enough friends with you? The adjustable AT bots will join in, and the adjustable AI bots will kick your ass if needed. Or you can make them easier. pansy. but the ai is pretty dang smart either way.

So obviously, console shooters are dying, just no one thought to tell the fans. Doug what about the great sales of modern console shooters? Aummduh.... more people are playing games in general nowadays. Doesn't count. Also, take the average COD player, are they honestly a gamer? Or a COD gamer? Give them Final Fantasy and see what happens.

OR. go pick up a copy of UT2K4 and play that for a while.

OH WAIT DID I FORGET TO MENTION. epic games (the creators) are cool with the game being distributed for free? Hmmmmmmmmmm. Epic indeed.