Unreal Tournament 3

Last year’s Unreal Tournament III on the PC and PS3 was a successful and exciting entry to the franchise, complete with the great new graphics engine that takes its namesake from it. Now, the game is finally hitting the Xbox 360, giving Xbox gamers the chance to play one of last year’s best shooters.

Offering some recompense to patient Xbox 360 gamers who’ve been anxiously awaiting their port, UT3 on the Xbox 360 will offer some exclusive new features, including five new maps, two exclusive characters, and split screen abilities. Unreal Tournament III is looking to take the 360 by storm the way it did the PC and PS3 last year, giving Xbox 360 shooter fans some much-needed fragging in the slow summer months.

At Midway’s Gamers Day event in Las Vegas, the game’s new split-screen element was on display and gave us a chance to check out how it played. It moved surprisingly well, with rock solid framerates in line with the PS3 version (around 30 fps). While there were some details missing in the split screen mode and downscaled textures, it stayed fast and furious, regardless of what was unfolding onscreen.

The game also played well, too, staying fast-paced and intense as well as allowing you to use vehicles and toggle items like your hoverboard with a quick press of the X Button. The game felt more comfortable on the Xbox 360 gamepad, which lends itself very well to first-person shooters.

Graphically, the game was smooth and fast, keeping with the fluid nature of the gameplay. The character models looked just as good as they do on other platforms, and the lighting and special effects looked fantastic.

Unreal Tournament III was a great PC shooter and did very well on the PS3, as it’s a no brainer that the game would come out at some point for the Xbox 360. Luckily, it’s more than just a straight port, featuring some great new exclusive features. FPS fans will want to take the plunge this May.