We've probably all heard this before, especially all the UT fan outcries after the release of the Unreal Tournament 3 Beta demo in late fall last year. Epic Games admitted that the third installment of the series considered god of the multiplayer shooter arena isn't perfect, especially the console-friendly UI used for the PC version of the game. The game company explains at the full story.

And yet again, this development may have already reached the ears of the Unreal Tournament-faithful, but we'll be attempting to update the uninformed still waiting for Unreal Tournament III (Mac, PlayStation 3, Windows PC on DVD, Xbox 360). In a past interview with Game Informer, Epic Games' lead producer Jeff Morris said, "Your [AI] teammates are individuals, with their own personalities."

 

And ever since, some UT fans have been whispering about the possible return of a few memorable bot "personalities" from Unreal Tournament classic. Alas, this news may dampen such lively spirits, for Morris' statement has been clarified in another interview with Australia's Gameplayer:

Unlike previous UTs, in single player you’re controlling a distinct character, with his own personality, quirks, and likes/dislikes. Your team is also comprised of these fleshed out characters and their antics, both in-game and in the cinematics, help ground the over the top action that UT is known for into a strong narrative.

So rather, like Unreal Tournament classic, bot statistics will definitely come into play. But for Unreal Tournament III, that aspect has been improved considerably to 'flesh out' your chosen character and your teammates. This time, background ties down each of your companion's personality and their combat actions.

And because most UT-fans have been content to play offline with AI rather than online with cheaters, Morris states that Epic Games has created considerable content for those types of gamers. "This time around they’ve got a huge campaign to sink their teeth into," said Morris.

Although hopes that ace-gunner Tamerlane, counterpart ace-gunner Tamara, sharpshooting Loque, or bunny-hopping Kragoth may return have dimmed somewhat, suggesting their return to the Unreal Tournament limelight might be helpful. Who knows? Maybe Epic will listen. Besides, who wouldn't want to have ol' buddy Tamerlane watching your back?

We've heard Jeff Morris talk about a sequel to Gears of War. But what about the mastermind behind the game himself, Cliff Bleszinski? He did create the game after all, as the game's designer. So what are his thoughts on designing a second game? Here's an excerpt from a recent IGN interview about it:

IGN: Do you think we can expect a second Gears of War in 2008?

CliffyB: I don't know. Talk to Mark Rein (Vice President of Epic Games). [...]

I never said there would be a second Gears of War, man! (Laughter.) Let me re-phrase it for you. There have been games in the industry that have been complete failures, and since Gears is not one of those, logically you can extrapolate that since it's done so well, a sequel seems pretty smart.

IGN: But what I'm really getting at is will it be in 2008? I mean, we get Gears of War in 2006, Halo 3 in 2007, and Gears of War 2 in 2008. Works perfectly.

CliffyB: I don't know, anything can happen. Aliens could attack our city.

God. That means if aliens could attack our city, then a GoW2 is possible. I'm so wishing now that aliens would attack out city [sticks out "Live Long and Prosper" hand signal to the skies]. Of course, it's up to you, whatever you'd read into his statement. That's just a minor excerpt from a very extensive interview in IGN.

Click the "Read" link below for the full eight pages of some CliffyB chit-chat with IGN, including his insights on the A-Button, the "Mad World" cinematic trailer, and the chainsaw controversy, among a whole lot of other-worldly stuff.

Epic Games must have been out full force during Midway Games Day '07, or at the very least, staff people were very available for interviews and quiet chats around that time. Mark Rein got hit on for Unreal Tournament 3, Jeff Morris, too - and here we have Jeff Morris again, this time on a blind date with CVG. Let's cover all the stuff that wasn't covered the last time.

• Oh yeah, about those maps. "We don't know the exact number of maps we'll ship with but we want it to be between 30 and 40 - that's substantially more than other games in the genre." That's substantially more maps than the average frag-monkey can handle in a given 24-hour period, even neglecting food and sleep. (I did about sixteen once before being checked into a hospital.)
• Three Unreals, three platforms, three versions, three ways of storing game content. They wanted to be sure that the game was essentially the same across platforms, so "chances are it'll be the same sort of size that will fit on all of them."
• "But while we want all of the versions to be the same that's not to say we won't do exclusive patches for each platform and that would enable us to do some pretty spectacular exclusive content."
• No announcement so far that Unreal Tournament 3 will carry a Games for Windows tag - negotiations are still on-going.

UT fans all around the world are clamoring: "When is it coming out?" It's probably gotten loud enough to get Epic tone-deaf. So now Jeff Morris, Epic Games' lead producer, bravely takes center-stage to answer a few questions from Billy Berghammer from Game Informer.

As said before in Midway's Gamer's Day in sin city Vegas, the name change of Unreal Tournament 3 was based solely because the game will represent the third generation technology of the Unreal 3 engine. Although some speculation revolved around the name-change were mainly focused on the release date, the game is still expected to come out by 2007, although that's just a hope.

The PC and Xbox 360 versions are probably first to ship, although the PS3 may also see a release date close enough to the first releases. UT3 may also sport Xbox 360, PS3 and PC interconnectivity for online play, but they will wait and see how other games doing this will turn out first.

The game, thankfully, will not be a Vista exclusive. Though Vista support will be included, the game will not leave XP users behind. There is no confirmation for open DX10 support, nor exclusive DX10 support. Like the first Unreal Tournament, the bot personalities will return (can you say Tamerlane?) although UT3 will integrate the personalities with a very emotion-driven, engaging story line of actual Unreal Tournament competition for the single player campaign.

Maps will also evolve over time in the campaign, once the Necris open their big box of surprises. New gameplay modes will also be featured, the biggest one being Warfare. This combination of Assault and Conquest modes will spell the rolling in of huge, epic maps and lots of new vehicles.

Speaking of new vehicles, there are not only different types of vehicles, but there are also two varieties of each type: one for each side. The Axons will have their own assortment of vehicles, while the Necris will have their own, too. Each one has their advantages and disadvantages, but mostly their based on providing variety in gameplay. The hoverboard is also a new addition to the game, allowing massive maps to be traversed from end to end in a jiffy. It also allows players to tag along vehicles that are being rushed to battle without tiring out from chasing them on foot.

Epic Games is just a couple of months away from releasing a final release version. They are at the stages of polishing everything out. They will release a demo for the PC just to get pre-release feedback. When everything is good to go, the release will just be around the corner.

Epic Games producer">Jeff Morris, producer for Epic Games, knows his math. That's why he expressed delight at the idea of Epic Games making a sequel for the top-selling Gears of War.

He said that he read somewhere that every sequel sells 10% less or more than the previous title. "Yeah we'd love to sell another 3 million copies of another Gears product." We agree. If you do the math, 90% of 3 million copies sold is still 2.7 million copies, and that still means big money.

 

Too bad the guy to the right of Marcus and Dom didn't sign on for the sequel.

Then again, if popular opinion is correct, Epic Games has been hard at work on the sequel ever since they saw that Gears of War was on its way to being a runaway hit.

If they do make a sequel, they might be stuck making sequels for a long time. But that's only as long as we, the gaming public, continue to support (i.e., continue to buy) those sequels. "If people want another one," Morris said, "I'm sure there'll be another one but there are certainly no announcements."