Unreal Tournament III was released in July 2008 for the Xbox 360 and is the 8th game in the Unreal series, highly acclaimed as a series to have influence over the way first person shooter games are created and perceived even to this game. The game is created by Epic Games; the same people have brought us the much acclaimed Gears of War series, so needless to say expectations were high before anyone had even got a copy on the game in their machine.

The "story" of the game is fairly basic and in fact very little detail is given to the player regarding the background of the missions he or she is sent on. The essence of the game however is to battle through hordes of an enemy army that seems to be advancing relentlessly. This story however has been integrated into the multiplayer format, so essentially the single player "campaign" is just an assortment of battles with AI Bots, which may suit some players although it left me wanting more from the game which I was playing.

The gameplay of the game is fairly straight forwards, there are several game types which are commonly used; deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag and territories. These have been directly carried over from the previous Unreal games and they will feel remarkably familiar to anyone who has any experience of online shooters. Emphasis of this game is focused upon the fast-paced gameplay as well as the futuristic weapons and vehicles that are used throughout. The speed at which the gameplay progresses initially takes some getting used to, but after a while it will feel not only normal but it will probably feel as if all games should be made at such a frantic pace. There are also online modes of each of the gametypes so that the player is given a competitive edge when they have finished playing through the campaign.

The graphics of the game are all superb there are some really great environments to interact with and all of the weapons have been designed to perfection. Many of the weapons have been directly carried over from the previous Unreal games, such as the Shock Rifle or the Rocket Launcher but have been given some upgrades to their appearance, giving the older fans something to look forward to and feel associated with as soon as they begin the game. The character design also looks great; all of your team members are well designed, even if they are generally running past you into battle anyway. Some of the most impressive effects for me in Unreal Tournament 3 were the water effects as well as the bullets which come from the guns as they all have a very futuristic and satisfying feeling to them.

The sounds of the game are pretty traditional as far as the Unreal series goes; they are all mostly futuristic laser effects with some explosions thrown in there for good will. This gives the game a very modern feel to it and it feels as if it is exactly the type of game designed to be played on a next-gen console. One criticism of the sound effects overall is the lack of character dialogue. There are a few comments which are made by your associates through the course of a game, however overall you are left with the feeling that your fellow fighters are stupid bots wandering around the battlefield just to fill in the gap that would otherwise have been left there. There are some cutscenes throughout the course of the game which extra dialogue in, but even then the characters come across as quite clichéd, one might as well be Cole from Gears of War both in looks and personality.

In conclusion this is a very fun game, one which is perfect if you want a quick blast of fast paced action, or if you are a long standing fan of the Unreal series. The graphics and gameplay are generally excellent, however the game is let down somewhat by the lack of story and the poor interaction between characters.