Assume the role of a futuristic warrior engaged in contests of intense shooting battles against skilled opponents, controlled either by human contestants online or by A.I. These contests are fought with powerful sci-fi weapons and vehicles. Destroy your opponent from a distance with the ever popular Link Gun or blast away at close range with the Bio Rifle. Battle against lightening fast A.I. in the deeper and richer single player tournament mode. Expanded Onslaught game type features two complete sets of high-tech vehicles, including the massive Leviathan, the terrifying Darkwalker, and a completely new way to get into the action... the Hoverboard. Fight side-by-side with or compete against new and returning characters from the franchise, all with enhanced abilities and distinct personalities...

For Unreal Tournament III the developers have taken everything that worked well from the previous installments and redesigned the game from scratch to give gamers one of the best looking, and technically spot on offerings so far on the PS3.

While the graphics and sound are all impressive, it's the sheer speed that really makes you sit up and take notice.

All your favourite games are here and can be played on or offline - Duel, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Vehicle Capture the Flag. There's even a single player campaign mode which you can also play online - which adds greatly to the whole experience. There's also a mode called Warfare in which each side has to destroy the oppositions nodes to win. As teams battle over the nodes the game swings backwards and forwards so that a team that looks like they are losing can turn everything around and make a spectacular comeback.

Many may not not be impressed that there is no offline two-player option, but to be honest this game works best on a huge screen with the sound cranked up full - you really don't want to be splitting the screen and squashing the image.

Other neat touches include the fact you can pretend to be dead in order to fool the enemy; can whip out your hoverboard to traverse distances much quicker (even tethering them to passing vehicles so that you can go even faster); use flying vehicles to find hidden areas that contain surprises; and hijack enemy vehicles and raid their base.

For fans of arena based first person shooters, Unreal Tournament III offers a lot that you won't have seen before, not on this scale at any rate.

10

Nick Smithson