Introduction

In this article I will introduce new players to ut2004 by comparing it to other shooters, and showing how ut2004 is different

Unreal tournament 2004 is the sequel to unreal tournament, which in turn was based on the single player game unreal. If you play the original unreal game you may be able to notice similarities in the weapons of unreal and unreal tournament 2004, however much has changed.

UT2004 differs from other games in the fact that it does not try at all to be realistic, and it gives no apologies for this, other games may try to explain certain essential features so that it seems possible, and many others cannot use good ideas due to realism, ut2004 is not bounded by the laws of what seems normal and what would happen in real life, these laws are abandoned so that the best possible fps (first person shooter) game can be created without compromising the gameplay due to realism. For example:

1. Unrealistic weapons
2. No need to reload, all ammunition is stored in a single clip
3. ability to double jump, and also to trick jump in ways impossible for any real human
4. hitscan weapons accuracy is 100% irregardless of how you are moving

Compared to games such as counter strike for example.

The fact that there are hitscan weapons at all in the game also makes it quite unique. I will explain the terms hitscan and projectile now

A hitscan weapon is a weapon that when fired takes no time at all to reach its target, theoretically at least. This means that what ever is under your crosshair when you fire a hitscan weapon WILL get hit, assuming that the gun is accurate, which in ut2004 both hitscan weapons are. A projectile on the other hand takes a some time from the moment it is fired to reach its target. The amount of time it takes depends on both the distance between the shooter and the target and the speed of the projectile. This is why slow moving projectile weapons are not recommended for long range. In many shooters that try to be realistic, all weapons, even sniper rifles are projectile weapons (although the speed of the sniper round is often very fast) this means that shots must be lead, ie the shooter must aim for where their target will be when the round reaches them.

Allthough this makes it easier to aim in ut2004, the amount of movement of other players cancels this out, you are also expected to move while you aim and shoot a target who is dodging you, of course this is impossible in many games as you must stay still to use the scope, again in ut2004 many good players don't even use the scope often, as it slows them down. It is sort of like using a racing grade car, sure it may be much easier to turn, but what is expected of your skills is much higher when you are on the track then when you are simply driving around in "real life" I will discuss aiming and accuracy in great detail in a later post, as well as how to improve your accuracy.

UT2004 also has a large number of gametypes:

Deathmatch
Team Deathmatch
Last Man Standing
Mutant
Invasion

CTF (Capture the flag)
Bombing run
Double Domination
Onslaught
Assault

Of course just like anything in ut2004, there are heaps of other unofficial gametypes made by other players, for example clan arena, which is basically a two team survival match, last team alive wins the round. I will go into more detail to each gametype in later posts