Unreal Tournament 2004: Difference between revisions

| engine = [[Unreal Engine#Unreal Engine 2|Unreal Engine 2.5]]

From the very beginning, Xan Kriegor, a robot, reigned as champion in the Tournament, until Malcolm, then leading the team Thunder Crash, defeated him and proceeded to merge with the other popular team at the time – the Iron Guard, led by Brock. In last year's tournament, they were defeated by the Juggernauts, led by gene-boosted monster Gorge.

The game takes place as the Tournament enters its 10th year,. Malcolm is back with his old team Thunder Crash and trying to reclaim his title as champion, Brock is back with the Iron Guard and trying for the glory of his own and Gorge and the Juggernauts are there to defend their title. Additionally, the Skaarj Empire has sent a team of their own to the tournament in search of honor and glory and ex-champion Xan Kriegor has had some modifications and is back to return the title where it belongs.

* '''Assault''' —: An objective-oriented game type in which one team attacks the objectives (usually one at a time in a specific order) while another defends. Often, attackers will be rewarded for completing an objective by being allowed to spawn closer to the next objective. If the attacking team completes the final objective within the allowed time, the teams switch roles and another round on the same map begins. If not, the original attackers lose. If a second round begins and the new attackers complete the final objective in less time than the first attackers, they win; if not, they lose.

* '''Onslaught''' — or ONS is a vehicle-based game mode in which the objective is to capture a series of power nodes connecting the player and their opponents’opponents' bases and destroy the power core located within their base. First team to destroy opponents’opponents' power core wins.

* '''Bombing Run''' —: Each level has a ball that starts in the middle of the playing field. The player's team scores by getting the ball through the enemy team's hoop. The player scores 7 points for jumping through the hoop while holding the ball and 3 points for tossing the ball through the hoop. The player holding the ball cannot use weapons but can pass the ball to teammates. The ball is dropped if the player is killed.

* '''[[Capture the flag|Capture the Flag]]''' —: The player's team must score flag captures by taking the enemy flag from the enemy base and returning it to their own flag. If the flag carrier is killed, the flag drops to the ground for anyone to pick up. If the player's team's flag is taken, it must be returned (by touching it after it is dropped) before their team can score a flag capture.

* '''[[Deathmatch (video games)|Deathmatch]]''' — or DM, is a game type, in which the point is to either reach a certain number of frags (or kills) or to the highest number of frags at the time limit for the match.

* '''[[Team Deathmatch]]''' —: Two teams duke it out in a quest for battlefield supremacy. The team with the most frags wins.

* '''Invasion''' —: It is a simple survival mode. The players are forced to work together to try and survive endless waves of monsters from ''[[Unreal (1998 video game)|Unreal]]'' that get increasingly difficult with each wave. Once a player dies they cannot respawn until the round is over. Rounds can either end after a time limit (victory) or when all players are dead (failure).

* '''Double Domination''' —: The player's team scores by capturing and holding both Control Points for ten seconds. Control Points are captured by touching them. After scoring, the Control Points are reset to neutral.

* '''[[Last man standing (video games)|Last Man Standing]]''' —: Each player starts with a limited number of lives. The last remaining player to still have lives wins the match.

* '''Mutant''' —: All players start in a deathmatch setting with all weapons, and the first player to kill becomes the "mutant". This player receives unlimited ammo, camouflage, Berserk (Increasesincreases rate of fire and knockback) and super speed for an indefinite amount of time, but he slowly loses health and can't pick up any health items. When the mutant is killed, the mutant powers are passed to the killer.

''Unreal Tournament 2004'' was built with [[Unreal Engine#Unreal Engine 2|Unreal Engine 2.5]] and the content of its predecessor, ''Unreal Tournament 2003''. The game was developed by multiple studios, with Epic Games leading the project. Lead programmer [[Steve Polge]] described the role of each company involved:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://forums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?362061-Interview-Onslaught-Developer-Psyonix&p=4836277&viewfull=1#post4836277|title=Developer contributions to UT2004|publisher=[[Epic Games]]|website=Epic Games Forums|date=24 March 2004|access-date=14 September 2014|first=Steve|last=Polge}}</ref>

; [[Epic Games]]

: Enhancements to the ''Unreal Tournament 2003'' game types, the new [[user interface]], voice over IP and bot voice command support, engine enhancements and optimizations. They made an improved single-player game, and improved community and demo recording support, in addition to thirty-one new playable characters. A sniper rifle similar to the one included in the original ''Unreal Tournament'' was added. They created one Onslaught map, and developed [[video game bot|AI]] support for Onslaught. 16 DM maps, five [[capture the flag]] maps, two Double Domination maps and one Bombing Run map were added. The Assault gametype design and implementation were also reintroduced from the original ''Unreal Tournament''.

; [[Digital Extremes]]

: Three [[deathmatch (video games)|deathmatch]] maps, six capture the flag maps, two Bombing Run maps, and three Double Domination maps, two playable characters, a new HUD design; weapon models for the assault rifle, shock rifle, and link gun.

: The Onslaught gametype design and implementation, with six vehicles, four weapons (grenade launcher, Spider Mine Layer, Anti-Vehicular Rocket Launcher (AVRiL), and the Phoenix Target Painter), and the energy turret. They created seven Onslaught maps, and collaborated with [[Streamline Studios]] on the popular map ONS-Torlan. They made the model for the Translocator, a portable teleporter.

; [[Streamline Studios]]

: The single-player introduction movie and ONS-Torlan in collaboration with Psyonix. Streamline Studios created the Assault map AS-Confexia as a test for ONS-Torlan, which they released for free.

On February 11, 2004, aA playable [[game demo|demo]] was released for multiple platforms in February 2004, including [[Microsoft Windows]], [[OS X]], [[Linux]] on [[IA-32|x86-32]] (February 13, 2004) and Linux on [[x86-64]] (February 15, 2004). An updated demo version, including all the bug fixes from official patches and some original content, was released on September 23, 2004of the same year.

After being delayed from a late 2003 release,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pc.ign.com/articles/457/457298p1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051227124939/http://pc.ign.com/articles/457/457298p1.html|title=Unreal Tournament 2004 Now Slated For 2004|last=Adams|first=David|date=October 30, 2003|website=[[IGN]]|archive-date=December 27, 2005|url-status=dead|access-date=April 27, 2020}}</ref> ''Unreal Tournament 2004'' was released onin March 16, 2004 in North America and March 19, 2004 in Europe, for the [[IBM PC compatible|PC]] (Linux x86-32/x86-64 and Windows). At release, the game could be purchased as a standard six-disc [[CD-ROM]] release or a special edition [[DVD-ROM]] release that included a [[Logitech]] microphone headset and a second DVD filled with video-tutorials on how to use the included [[UnrealEd]]. The European DVD release did not include the bonus extras. A DVD-ROM release without the microphone followed suit in the United States on April 13. All original PC versions of the game included a $10 mail-in rebate requiring that a short form be completed and sent to the publisher along with a copy of the manual cover for ''Unreal Tournament 2003'', although in Europe the rebate required sending in the play CD for ''Unreal Tournament 2003'' instead. the Mac OS X version (DVD only) followed on March 31, 2004.

OnIn September 21, 2004, Atari released in stores the "Editor's Choice Edition" of ''Unreal Tournament 2004'' which adds three vehicles, four Onslaught maps, and six character skins to the original game, and contains several mods developed by the community as selected by Epic Games. This extension (excluding mods) was released as a Bonus Pack by Atari on September 23, 2004, and is available for free download.

OnIn June 17, 2006, [[Midway Games]] announced they had acquired the publishing rights to the ''Unreal'' back catalog from Infogrames and Atari.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.neowin.net/news/midway-acquires-rights-to-epic-back-catalogue/ | title=Midway acquires rights to Epic back catalogue | date=11 July 2023 }}</ref> InThat November 2006, Midway released ''Unreal Anthology'', a bundle that includes ''[[Unreal (1998 video game)|Unreal Gold]]'', ''[[Unreal II: The Awakening]]'', ''[[Unreal Tournament]]'' (Game of the Year edition), and ''Unreal Tournament 2004''.

Subsequent Midway edition of ''Unreal Tournament 2004'' omits Linux installer from DVD game content.

''[[Killing Floor (video game)|Killing Floor]]'' was originally a [[Mod (videocomputer gamesgaming)#Total conversion|total conversion mod]] for the game ''Unreal Tournament 2004'', first released in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=httphttps://www.gamespotengadget.com/reviews/2009-03-22-killing-floor-review/1900mod-6210253/gets-standalone-steam-release.html|title=Killing Floor Reviewmod gets standalone Steam release|publisherlast=[[GameSpot]]de Matos|first=Xav|date=2622 MayMarch 2009|access-datepublisher=2014-08-07[[engadget]]|first=Daniel|last=Shannon|archiveaccess-date=2014-07-1512 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715053129/http://www.gamespotventurebeat.com/reviewspc-gaming/the-2000s-era-mod-scene-prepared-killing-floor-review/1900dev-6210253for-living-games/|urltitle=The 2000s-statusera mod scene prepared Killing Floor dev for living games|last=liveGrubb|first=Jeff|date=March 26, 2018|publisher=[[venturebeat]]|access-date=May 14, 2024}}</ref> The retail release followed on May 14, 2009. Its sequel, ''[[Killing Floor 2]]'', was released in 2016.

The game served as a platform for the [[Computer game bot Turing Test]] competition, also known as BotPrize.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/415274/a-turing-test-for-computer-game-bots/ |title=A Turing Test for Computer Game Bots |last=Kushner |first=David |date=September 10, 2009 |website=[[MIT Technology Review]] |access-date=August 2, 2017 |archive-date=November 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109022143/https://www.technologyreview.com/s/415274/a-turing-test-for-computer-game-bots/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

| GSpot = 9.4/10<ref name="gamespot review">{{cite web |url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/unreal-tournament-2004-review/1900-6091581/ |title=Unreal Tournament 2004 Review |publisher=[[GameSpot]] |first=Sam |last=Parker |date=2004-03-16 |access-date=2012-03-30 |archive-date=2019-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711123252/https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/unreal-tournament-2004-review/1900-6091581/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

''[[GameSpot]]'' named ''Unreal Tournament 2004'' the best computer game of March 2004.<ref name=gotm>{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040904091730/http://www.gamespot.com/features/6092765/index.html | url=http://www.gamespot.com/features/6092765/index.html | title=''GameSpot''{{'}}s Month in Review for March 2004 | author=Staff | date=April 2, 2004 | work=[[GameSpot]] | archive-date=September 4, 2004 | url-status=dead }}</ref> It received runner-up placements in GameSpot's 2004 "Best Shooter" and "Best Multiplayer Game" award categories across all platforms, losing to ''[[Half-Life 2]]'' and ''[[Halo 2]]'', respectively.<ref name=bestworst2004>{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050307021607/http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/bestof2004/ | url=http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/all/bestof2004/ | title=Best and Worst of 2004 | author=The ''GameSpot'' Editors | date=January 5, 2005 | work=[[GameSpot]] | archive-date=March 7, 2005 | url-status=dead }}</ref> It was a runner-up for ''[[Computer Games Magazine]]''{{'}}s list of 2004's top 10 computer games., However,but it won the magazine's "Best Multiplayer" award.<ref name=cgm14th>{{cite journal | author=Staff | journal=[[Computer Games Magazine]] | title=The Best of 2004; The 14th Annual ''Computer Games'' Awards | date=March 2005 | issue=172 | pages=48–56 }}</ref>

* {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20060826172536/http://www.unrealtournament.com/}} {{small|(archived from the [http://www.unrealtournament.com/ original])}}

* {{MobyGames|/unreal-tournament-2004}}

* {{PCGamingWiki|Unreal_Tournament_2004}}

[[Category:Unreal Engine 2 games]]