Pop in the DVD and run the installer. It will take a little while as there are a few GBs worth of data to install.

When a game is classified as a First Person Shooter, one instantly knows what type of game it is: you play a character who needs to kill your opponents with a variety of weapons. Of course, UT2004 is no different. What sets the good and bad first person shooters apart is not their level of graphics detail (this game does have incredible graphics), but rather the game play.

Unreal Tournament 2004 has a different style of game play than most games of its kind. Instead of having enemies who are trying to kill you (and you are trying to kill them), it's more of an arena atmosphere. You play as someone who is in a virtual world. If you "kill" another virtual player, you get a point, if they "kill" you, they get a point. If looked at from this perspective, it is less violent than many other first person shooters. This is one aspect of this game that I prefer over most others of its kind.

The same arena style play is present whether in single or multiplayer games. The difference being, in single player games, you get to control a hand picked team (by giving them orders), as you traverse multiple ladders in an attempt to become the best team in the tournament. As you move up the ladder, teams become more difficult and different styles of games become available. You can challenge other teams for credits, or even their team members. There is even a free agent market where you can buy and sell players to strengthen your team. The tournament style of play is very engaging, and I found myself engulfed in trying to become the top team for hours on end.

Although the single player mode is fantastic, this game really shines in it's incredible amount of variety, especially in multiplayer games. There are 10 different types of game play, 17 unique weapons, 95 maps, 9 vehicles, and a couple dozen mutators that can change nearly every aspect of the game. Plus, there have already been three official map packs released that not only include a ton of new maps, but also new vehicles, mutators, and even player skins. With these free add-ons, there is almost an infinite number of game play combinations to choose from. (Get the official downloads from 3D Gamers)

Now that you know how many this and that there are, let's get into what different types of game play are available:

• Deathmatch/Team Deathmatch - These are simply kill or be killed type of games. In normal deathmatch, you shoot anything that moves, while in team deathmatch, you better watch that friendly fire.
• Capture the Flag - Each team has a base, and the flag at their base. The goal is to steal the other team's flag and return it to your own base without being killed.
• Double Domination - There are two domination points on the map that your team must control for a certain amount of time to score a point. First team to x points wins.
• Bombing Run - There is a ball placed at the middle of the map which must be brought to the other team's goal to score.
• Mutant - In this unique game type, only one person (the mutant) can kill all of the other players. The mutant must kill others to stay alive, and other players can try to kill the mutant to become the mutant.
• Last Man Standing - Everybody is given a certain amount of lives. The last person to have any left is the winner.
• Invasion - You work together with all other players to try to stop an invasion of nasty bugs.
• Assault - Your team works together to try and complete a list of objectives. When you are done, you switch sides with the other team, and try to stop them from completing the same objectives.
• Onslaught - There are a variety of linked power nodes that your team must activate in order to make your opponent's base vulnerable. Whomever destroys the other team's base first wins. This is the type of game with vehicles aplenty.

Speaking of those vehicles in Onslaught mode (some are also present in Assault), let's look at a quick list of what you can expect to see:

• Scorpion - This highly maneuverable vehicle has a main weapon similar to that of a link gun, except it will stick to opponents and does a lot more damage. The secondary weapons are a couple of blades that come out to try and chop opponents in half!
• Manta - The fastest, yet weakest vehicle of the bunch. It's good for getting across a map quickly, but is not very good in combat.
• Raptor - The high flying Raptor will give you a bird's eye view of the map. With the ability to get around quickly and a semi-strong arsenal, this can be one menacing vehicle.
• Hellbender - This heavy armored truck needs at least two people in it at once, one to drive and another to shoot. Probably the worst vehicle in the game, it's not much more than a way of getting around with a little extra armor.
• Goliath - The Goliath is your standard tank, which shoots out extremely powerful shells, and has room for a passenger who gets to fire off a high powered mini gun. Having one of these can sometimes determine the fate of the game.
• Ion Tank - similar to the Goliath, except it has a powerful ion cannon which creates an enourmous explosion of plasma. Only available in Assult mode.
• Leviathan - The most powerful vehicle in the game. It has heat seeking energy blasts as a main weapon, 4 side turrets (for passengers), and an alternate fire mode that simply annihilates everything. Don't mess with one of these if you can help it.
• Human/Skaarj Space Fighters - Only available in one of the Assault maps, these space vehicles are hard to control, but are still a lot of fun to play around with.
• Turrets (plasma, ion, minigun) - Nonmobile structures used to defend bases. With the ability to zoom in, they can become quite difficult to negoiate against.

You just can't have a first person shooter without a myriad of weapons. I won't list them all here (like I did for game types and vehicles), but I will tell you the selection is very nice. From the low powered assault rifle, to the two different rockets launchers, to the zooming lightning gun and sniper rifle, everybody will quickly develop a favorite weapon. Probably the best attribute of the hand held weapons is how well they balance against the power of the vehicles. One would assume that someone in a vehicle would have no problem with an enemy on foot. But as long as the person on foot is smart about what they are doing, they can nullify almost any inherent vehicle advantage.

One last thing I would like to mention is the mutators. Again, I will not list them all, but instead, tell you about a few of my favorites. First, there is one called Vampire that makes it possible to gain life by hurting others. This can really make a game interesting. Another cool mutator is Big Head, where the heads of players doing well get progressively bigger, evening out the odds a bit. There are also various mutators which make it possible to change weapons, change vehicles, or other aspects of the game. However, the best one of them all is InstaGib. With this mutator active, everyone gets a one-hit-one-kill weapon, which turns a normal speed game into a fast paced frag-fest. Body parts are flying, blood is splattering, and nobody is safe. InstaGib really makes for some great entertainment.

I did have one problem with this game conflicting with my Gravis Game Pad Pro. But I resolved that issue at outlined on this page.

This is one of the best time wasters to come out in a long time. It looks great, game play is fantastic, and it is extremely easy to get sucked into the single player mode. If you are into first person shooters, or just fast action, this is the game to get.

Pros	Cons
Great looking graphics A multitude of game types, weapons, vehicles, and maps Most vehicles are easy to control Mutators give a whole new perspective to the same game Team based game types are incredibly fun Single player ladder system is engaging	Heavy system requirements Not suitable for younger kids
10/10 stars