Unreal Tournament 3 -- why is no one playing?

PS3 Fanboy: "An editorial over at Strategy Informer by Marco Fiori attempts to answer a simple but important question: why is no one playing Unreal Tournament 3? At one point, we were all excited about this quasi-PS3-timed-exclusive (it was first released on PS3 and PC, with the 360 version to be released nine months later); being part of the legacy that is the Unreal franchise, it will prove the PS3 can handle the hardcore FPS genre."

[Rick Astley]

I got bored.

[6wl]

Next to CoD4 it just seemed dull. Not enough servers, and half the weapons felt pointless without a mouse and keyboard.

I purchased it hoping the M/K support would be good enough to almost play it like a PC FPS - sadly, it was dire. Laggy, and generally unplayable.

Only game I've purchased for my PS3 that I've traded in to date.

[GVON]

I got bored after a week of playing, sometimes I wish I kept it just for the buzz of another new map/mod but I wasn't worth the 5 minutes of fun that would bring.

[boodybandit]

and Epic hasn't evolved UTs with the times. Same chaotic, fast paced, run and gun game.

I picked up a mouse and keyboard setup for it on my PS3. Played it for a few weeks and it felt the like the same old UT.

I agree with Rick.
I just got bored with it quick!

[Violater]

-Developer support was embarrassingly lacking

-The UT3 universe and Story has potential bt the Single player was a JOKE and a very bad one at that.

-The Multiplayer offered no incentive to keep playing, no real rank system, party support or unlockables. Just run bang bang bang jump spam rocket rinse repeat.

-Voice chat did not work from the get go.

Rumble support was good though, best among FPS presently on the PS3 I would say.

Mods are a plus but a pain to install, and the visuals were hit and miss, looks better when you are hosting.

Months after the crappy server issues have not been worked out.

[deeznuts]

I got bored after playing for a couple of hours.

[mikeslemonade]

I got bored of COD4 after a month and then played UT3 for like 3 months. There's no one playing UT3 anymore besides the default maps and the default weapons. It's fun when someone included modded maps, the 3rd person cam, and sometimes there's rockets-only matches that are fun too.

I blame you guys for me not playing. If there were more people playing I would play because frankly every other shooter out there already has gotten boring.

I guess it isn't until the Socom beta before we have some more online shooting fun.

[Armyless]

Mouse Lag

(and yes I know about the tweak)

[Palodios]

The game was really lacking some meat and bones. The storyline was a poor attempt to add something to UT, no offline multiplayer, leaving only online multiplayer. Unreal multiplayer is usually a blast, but 5 game modes, no new weapons, and while beautiful, the maps were completely forgettable, and I had tons of connection issues. An online-only game with connection issues and not many options? No wonder it sold so little and so few people are playing it in face of the competition.

[Kaneda]

I didn't get bored, but its just not as good as COD4.

[JsonHenry]

The game is the SAME game it was back in 2000!! That is why. No one wants the same weapons, the same style, and the same boring gameplay for 8 years in a row!

That is why it sold so poorly on the PC platform. We were bored with it BEFORE it came out.

[MikeGdaGod]

well i only bought it to show support to the devs for adding mods. i don't really like FPS anyway, especially one that's only worth playing online.

[princejb134]

same here got bored

[resistance100]

The lego mod was fun for about a day, then after that there was no real reason to play it

[BSigel81]

I traded it in for COD4

[Statix]

The mods, I feel are a problem, because the sheer number of available game modes disperse and spread thin the player count too much. Additionally, people get bored of the vanilla built-in gametypes precisely because of the variety they experience with the mods.

Take it from COD4 as a lesson--that game only has essentially 3 game types, and deathmatch.

[Perkel]

because there is only one best UT and it isn't ut3 :)

UT99' rulez forever ! Still the best mp FPS Go buy it there are looooots o serveres and maaaany people still :)

Where Epic go wrong with ut3 ? No assault, venicles, and this candy graphic blehhh. I think this UT3 engine is the worst. Every game looks onit the same, gears, turok, ut, strangehold.. bleh. Candy candy candy :/

[Pedobear]

360 can have this.

[chasegamez]

warhawk is better

[GVON]

That's a valid point, I can't play competitive any more but nothing beats 4 player split screen on-line, with ut3 I got frustrated but warhawk I find that because the maps are big I can do what I want in the battle,be it cruise around looking for guys setting up mine fields or getting into the thick of the action with a tank.

[spandexxking]

warhawk FTW!

[BRACHATTACK]

i found that online was too difficult and depended on luck. the actual aiming when shooting was crap too, you had to judge where the enemy would run into the bullets.

graphics and sound were great though:)

[spandexxking]

sounds like unreal to me:)

[SlyGuy]

Deathmatch with 20+ players in a smaller stage is ALOT of luck.

It sometimes comes down to throwing grenades, hoping for a hit; or swinging your knife hoping to swipe something.

Still, in some stages DM can be the most EXCITING I have ever played. The other modes are not rly about luck...more about teamwork.

[Egzekutor]

1. The graphics to be honest are horrible..it switches from bad to better all the time...its like its crap at the beggining and suddenly gets better.
2. Even with the mouse, aiming is inaccurate.
3. Boring game modes.
4. Players have to much HP.
5. Everything is the same all the time, there is nothing new in this game..

I sold my copy of UT3 few weeks ago..

[ELite_Ghost]

dude the graphics are pretty, they're better than gays of war 2, but I agree, it's just not fun!

[n00bzRtehgey]

Gears.

[n00bzRtehgey]

Wow. So many disagrees (agrees).

[DARK WITNESS]

ummmm. one, nothing to do with the story..

two, well... there are still people playing gears.

i am actually supprised by the number of people still playing it.
personally i can't stand gears anymore.

its a great game, but the host advantage and lag drives me crazy !

it is still a good game, but it got worse with the updates and has not been the same.

[Jigsaw-]

I think on xbl people will be playing much more.

[cartman313]

Until they get bored of it too. Shouldn't take long. UT3 sucks.

[Adamalicious]

I'd guess that no one is playing because it isn't very fun. I'd play CoD4, Warhawk, GTAIV, or MGO online over UTIII any day.

[DJ]

The single player campaign is really just Team Deathmatch against AI bots, with some cinematics strung between the multiplayer maps.

[Time_Is_On_My_Side]

It's more of the same thing they didn't upgrade it enough and with the XBOX 360 not supporting mods, I think it will go down much faster. Then again they have the Gears of War 2 beta like when Crack Down had the Halo 3 beta.

[edhe]

..maybe?

[ObiWanShinobi]

During a couple of months, it was almost impossible to join a game without getting an error message. Essentially there was a conflict of the UK and US versions. Custom games were fine if they were hosted by someone with the same UT3 version you owned. I stopped playing until the patch was available. After that little fiasco, the servers just never really jumped back. I don't know, that's the reason I figured...

[g3nkie]

I think im going to trade it in to help my Battlefield: Bad Company fund.... Shooters like Unreal just don't hold my interest like they used to..

[Wildarmsjecht]

I played it for a month. Beat it, and enjoyed the MP for awhile. But then went back to COD4. It just wasn't any thing different from past Unreal games. Solid game, sure. Fun, at times definately, but can it stack up to other fps games out during that time? Nope. COD and warhawk had me back.

[Cynical-Gamerzus]

it sold real bad basically!!
It was pretty good but of course it is better on a PC!!!!
No one likes hand me downs especially Console Owners

[Polluted]

I kinda like warfare mode. Never seem to have a hard time finding people online to play with.

[J@D]

Same here.

[TheIneffableBob]

I think the reason is that UT2004 is a much better game. UT3 may have technically superior graphics, but the gameplay is such a step down that it's no longer fun to play.

The population of people playing UT2004 right now is greater than UT3's ever was.

[Rocko]

It was a laggy, sh*tty looking mess.

[ELite_Ghost]

maybe on your crappy ass pc...

[Rocko]

on my PS3.

[1stKnighT]

I remember the sony fans praising this game before it's release. And now we find out that it was a sales flop and it sucked. Do you guys even buy the games that you always boast about or do you just use it for your lil list of exclusives?

[spandexxking]

nobody could of guessed it sucked. it was being hyped by all of the 'droids' because of the success the previous ones had. to be fair the game is not that bad just not that great either.

[sleepyk]

LBP, R2, Socom: Confrontation, Bioshock (360 exclusive lost), KZ2 a lil' list of exclusives?

Then again, most of the 360 exclusives are coming to PC anyway, so technically 360 has a lil' list of exclusives.

[mistertwoturbo]

Well UT3 is going to the 360. Will it be better? Who knows. All I know is why would anybody want to plunk down $65 for this game when Gears 2 is just on the Horizon.

[TheTimeDoctor]

i like turtles

[Oner]

You made me chuckle. Bubbles for you!

[Sayai jin]

I played for a few days and got bored. I wonder how it will do on XBL? My guess is about the same.

[Andronicus]

is a main factor when you cant really communicate while playing team games due to the crappy implementation of voice chat in the game it cheapens the experience as well as causes frustration.

[mistertwoturbo]

True dat.

Why in the flying hell in a fast paced shooter, you have to hold on the D-pad to talk.

[CNIVEK]

...will not be an issue with the 360 version, thankfully. I'm sure, by now, EPIC realizes what an "EPIC" mistake they made by putting this game on the PS3. From now on, I'm sure they'll stick to PC/360 exclusivity...where the (Un)real money is. ;)

[Pain]

PS3 gamers dont want boring old-gen PC shooters.

besides why play UT3 or others when u can play WarHawk?

[Thoas]

I second that

[Ri0tSquad]

And it was coming from Epic so I was a little shocked how crappy the campaign was. It felt like they didn't even try. The only reason why I still have this game is because of the insane mods and multiplayer. Multiplayer was a win of course but I doubt it'll do any better on 360. Might end up like Virtua Fighter 4 did on 360.

[Bnet343]

And like I have always said you everyone here, UT2k4 is still better

[GametimeUK]

well you should ask the Tre60 fanboys the same question... The latest hyped flop for them seems to be Ninja Gaiden 2 >.<

I also seem to remember Shadowrun having quite a bit of hype before release by the Tre60 fanboys... pfffft that game sucks hard

[mistertwoturbo]

Whoaaa... Shadowrun... Now that game sucked

[jackdoe]

Game wasn't fun. Simple as that.

[power of Green]

No way in hell should people assume the 360 fanbase will feel the same way about this type of game lol. It will be played for a few months untill bigger AAA FPS multiplayer games release that will blow this out of water. I have a title I want to mention but thats for another time.

[REDZEV]

Its not a no brainer here that the POS3 free online service is pretty much the culprit here. with glitches and vechicles that lag like no other game ive seen on the PS3. people just tend to get tired of games quicker when they dont work properly especially online games.
UT3 on the 360 will outsell the PS3 versions 1.2 million copies by a 3:1 margin ill put money on it. the 360 is home to Epic Ip's.

[The Goulet]

You think a year old game with zero mod support is going to sell over 3 million copies? GOOD LUCK WITH THAT. I guess I 'll take that bet...chummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...P.

Goulet

[CNIVEK]

"You think a year old game with zero mod support is going to sell over 3 million copies?"

I doubt it will do that much, considering the competition it will have this fall. But, one things for certain...it'll outsell the PS3 version, 3-1.

[CNIVEK]

...and I'm sure, by now, even EPIC realizes what an "EPIC" mistake they made by putting this game on the PS3. From now on, I'm sure they'll stick to PC/360 exclusivity...where the (Un)real money is. ;)

[avacadosnorkel]

For a straight multiplayer only title it should have been 39.99 when it came out.

After a price drop it should be 19.99

...and if it was only on one system maybe somebody would care.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

Clear indication of future ps3 shooters. Or Call of Duty is just that good.

[ceedubya9]

Got bored after a week. Although, after seeing the price drop as it has, I have been tempted to give it another shot. But with no one really playing online and single player being a horrible joke, I think I'll continue to pass on this one. I expect the 360 version to get the same treatment.

[Qbanboi]

Well i bought it because i had nothing else, but when i got COD4 never touch it again. I say COD4 opened my eyes.

[TiKiMaN1]

I actually played some today with the new NVIDIA PhysX driver out with the PhysX mod for UT3. It was actually pretty fun.

[yanikins111]

At the comments by certain people...

"360 is where the (un)real money is"?

What do you mean by that? That 360 owners turn a blind eye to quality? UT3 is sh**, plain and simple. I was looking forward to it soooooo much, but the kb/m support is near on redundant due to its lag, the graphics, whilst not bad are UE3 = old, the mods get boring, the gameplay is dated, the single player is crap and the multiplayer servers suck 24/7. The fact that some people turn this around and blame ps3 owners for the game being crap/not selling is a testament to their stupidity.

A more appropriate question would be "why is ANY one playing UT3?"
Mgo, Cod4, Warhawk (fun but i just die die die die die die die), gta4 are all way better mp.

If UT3 is anything to go off, and if epic think that people want to play games this bad, Gears2 is gonna suck (and watch the disagrees come in). Not saying gears 2 will suck, but to say a game must be good because the previous game in a series is good, or because a dev is good (which is debatable when it comes to epic games) is.... well i dont know what it is, but im just gonna point at haze as a good example. Or what about everything after THPS2.

And to the sports fans paying attention, I freakin love haze. Its still a good example however of a game not living up to its pedigree.

[SpecialSauce]

i wouldn't mind trading URT for GEARS.

[CNIVEK]

...after you ignored UT3, and wasted a timed exclusive, I doubt you'll get another game from Epic PERIOD....but CERTAINLY not a MS exclusive franchise. :D

[SL1M DADDY]

It just was shadowed by games like Warhaek and COD4. If they would have had a real single player mode, it would have sold a ton more.

[andron]

I don't play much online before, but COD4 changed that. I get bored sometimes, but it doesn't take long until it's fun again...

[zonetrooper5]

Because it was just UT2K4 but with better graphics.

[Gun_Senshi]

Its the Worse UT.

since UT 1999 UT was crap.