What is this game?
I saw that someone answered that they're unsure what the game is about. I think of myself as being somewhat of a self-appointed ambassador of the Unreal Tournament games and a promoter of its online multiplayer community, so I'll be happy to fill you in.
The Unreal Tournament games are online multiplayer FPS games with sci-fi type weapons. Although you don't use real world weapons, the end result is very intense, excellent game play. I've also heard that, compared to the WWII shooters, the UT games have a very fast pace that might take some getting used to, but it's well worth it. Another very important aspect of the game is that it is very moddable. There must be over 10,000 user-made, custom maps and game mods (all free to download) for the UT games, and the good ones are hosted on public servers. What comes in the box is really just the basic gameplay; most of the content will come from custom mappers.
Although the original Unreal Tournament (1999) and even Unreal Tournament 2004 had a high profile, for some reason the game's profile has decreased dramatically in recent years, perhaps because of competition and marketing from the WWII shooters. In fact, UT99 even won a great many Game-of-the-Year awards and you'll sometimes see it referred to as "UT-GOTY". One reviewer described it: "Has us addicted like crackheads on payday."
The Original UT99/GOTY game evolved from a single player game called Unreal which was revolutionary for its use of colors when it was released. Unreal is part of FPS history in that it competed with Quake II and its drab colors and was sometimes referred to as the "Quake Killer". In other words, Unreal was one of the premier FPS titles back in 1998, back when there were only a few FPS games to choose from. The game also came with a single player deathmatch game and it was from there that Unreal Tournament evolved. UT was designed specifically for online multiplayer game play.
Unreal Tournament 3 continues this legacy and brings back much of the feel of the Original UT99, offering Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Warfare (an evolution of UT 2004's Onslaught). Some of the games are played with vehicles and some are not. The UT99 CTF game was wildly popular and it was possible to find thousands of people playing it on the public servers 24/7 back in 2001. UT game play is generally fast-paced and very intense and in some game types you really have to hustle to get into the action and make a difference.
The UT3 game play is excellent and I suspect that it will have more online multiplayer longevity than some of the other games that are outselling it right now, especially after its fully patched up and after the custom maps and mods are out. Both UT99 and UT 2004 still have very loyal followings and they're still played online.
If you've never tried one of the games before, you might consider getting a hold of the original Unreal single player game and UT-GOTY. You can find them cheap off of eBay or you could probably just download them. Another option would be to get the Unreal Anthology (Unreal, UT99, Unreal 2--which was bad, and UT 2004).
To play UT online, there is a learning curve, but new players can become skilled and learn the game if they're willing to work at it and pay their nooby dues.
Gamespot review links:
Unreal:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/act...ary&tag=summary;review
UT99:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/act...ary&tag=summary;review
"Unreal Tournament is the most complete first-person shooter available."
UT 2004:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/act...ary&tag=summary;review
"No other multiplayer-focused action game has this much to offer."
UT3:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/act...ary&tag=summary;review
"Unreal Tournament 3 doesn't make huge changes to the formula, but still ends up feeling fresh, fast, and very fun."
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