Unreal Tournament Trailer Is A Blast From The Past

Epic unleashed some new gameplay footage for Unreal Tournament, the community-oriented revival of the team-based, first-person arena deathmatch game that was all the rage back during the early aughts.

The footage takes a few snippets from the original Unreal Tournament from back in 1999, while also showing gamers some of the updated maps and graphics, all powered by the Unreal Engine 4. Check it out below.

It was interesting back then because the original multiplayer for Unreal – the game that started it all and was built on the first iteration of the Unreal Engine – didn't really work out of the box. In fact, I never got the multiplayer to work right for the first Unreal. I imagine a lot of people were in the same boat as myself because instead of trying to fix up a mediocre shooter and retool the multiplayer, they just made Unreal Tournament, which was a great highlight of the game engine and a serious evolution on the Quake arena model.

Unreal Tournament introduced things like alternate fire for weapons with things like dual-wielding pistols – and thankfully they've made a return to form as showcased in the trailer above – and outlandish weapons like the tri-rocket launcher and the goop gun.

Epic knocked it out of the ballpark with the first Unreal Tournament and now they're attempting to rekindle that nostalgia with better graphics, improved controls and upgraded play mechanics with the Unreal Engine 4-powered rendition of the game.

As mentioned in the description of the YouTube page...

Facing Worlds was featured in the original Unreal Tournament and was also “evolved” in Unreal Tournament 3 with additional areas and complexities added to the map. It was a great, fast-paced map good for deathmatch and also worked well for capture the flag. It was also designed with ample opportunities for snipers and rushers alike.

There's also the new Outpost 23 map, which just looks drop-dead gorgeous. The lighting and geometry design is impeccable on the map. It's also available in the current build of the game.

This updated version of the game includes a lot of input and interaction from the community as they help build and shape the Unreal experience. The best part about it is that this newest Unreal Tournament is free to download, so you can grab it right now if you want.

You can register to download a copy of the game right now by paying a visit to the official Unreal Tournament website. They also regularly feature live-streams and content updates over on their YouTube page, so be sure to check that out to keep up to date with the progress and advancements being made on the game as it moves through alpha phase of development.