Mad, bad and dangerous to know
Multiplayer shooters don't come much finer than this classic slice of blasting heaven, and although the Unreal Tournament titles might have something to say about that, you know it would be a bloody battle to the death before we saw a victor. What you have here is a collection of some of the toughest and roughest arena shootouts in history, with a pair of single-player and team-based offerings that offer some intense blasting action. There's no story-based campaign to worry about here, and instead you simply have a collection of multi-player modes, like the classic Capture the Flag and Deathmatch and other more unusual ones, which pit you against other human players or bots in games where you simply need to be the last man standing. The maps here are vast and complex, requiring in-depth understanding if you're going to emerge victorious, while the weapons are brutal and in-your-face, just as you'd expect from such a legendary series. As far as old-school rough and tumble multiplayer shooters go, this is about as good as it gets. Despite the tough nature of the gameplay, there's a surprising amount of depth and sophistication on offer here, mainly thanks to the stunning level design which really requires you to be on top of your game. The weapons too are meaty, satisfying and immensely fun to use, and while the visuals might not look as flashy as they once did, they still do the job well enough, with plenty of effects and suchlike to appreciate. All in all, this stands as a true legend of the FPS genre and if you have any interest in such things, you need this.
