Originally posted by: WhipperSnapper
Originally posted by: zerocool84
I really wish it wouldn't die. I loved older UT's so much but haven't played this one until I upgrade my rig. I hope UT lived on forever in better itinerations.
Oh, trust me, the greater UT community feels the same way. In fact, a good number of serious UT99 players (say the ProUnreal.com and PUG match crowd) liked the game play of the UT3 Demo and they were looking forward to UT3. Then the reality hit that UT3 had been consolized and had an awful user interface and featureless server browser and that it had been released as a buggy beta and that was the end of that.
Basically, Epic killed the UT3 franchise by failing to put out the game as a finished PC game. Going from the polished user interface of UT 2004 (or even UT99) to the clunky and slow user interface of UT3 was like downgrading from a Lexus to a Kia. The list of everything that is wrong with the non-gameplay aspects of UT3 is very long and
they were design decisions because Epic had gotten these aspects right before and they are straightforward and obvious and not issues of chemistry.
One theory as to what happened is that Midway had put a contractual gun up to Epic's head and was demanding that the game be released by Christmas even though it needed another 6 months in the oven. Another possibility is that Epic became so blinded and fat-headed by consolitus that they lost all interest in making games for the PC.
I think the series could be revived with the release a bona-fide UT99-2 that had a fully polished user interface and server browser and that felt like UT99 but with the best game types from UT 2004. A UT99-2 could have Deathmatch, CTF, Onslaught, Assault, Invasion, Domination, and Bombing Run. I know that Epic can do it. At issue is whether Epic would have the desire.