The date: Thursday 8th November 2007. The venue: Cutting edge gamer's paradise Omega Sektor in Birmingham, sporting 450 cutting edge PCs all networked together with Internet access as well. The event: The launch of what promises to be one of the biggest shooters of the decade, the unparalleled Unreal Tournament III.

Picture the scene; everywhere you look there are journalists wandering around, a buzz of excitement in the air, rows of PCs lined up with more journalists exploring the delights of the various modes that UT3 has to offer, music pumping in the background, posters splashed all over the walls, the low, red lighting completing the atmosphere. This is one of the biggest launches for one of the biggest games of the next generation - and it promises to come in with inimitable style, mercilessly fragging the opposition!

After meeting up with fellow reviewers John Barnes, Tom Clark, Ian O'Neill and Martin Oddy, and enjoying Epic Games' Vice President Mark Rein's short but sweet introduction to the event, I got straight to 'work' on the nearest free PC, and dived headfirst into the insanely frenetic world of Unreal combat. This is a shooter that makes all others feel as though they're played in slow motion - it's unbelievably fast and nothing short of split second reactions and pinpoint accuracy will get the job done against the fearsome opposition, be they the incredibly adept bots or other human players. Over the next few games I enjoyed UT3's steady learning curve; I was mercilessly fragged in my first game, barely getting a handful of kills before the winner reached 20, then I gradually did better each time around until I got my first killing spree and won my first match. Ah, the sweet taste of success!

Not only is the game fast and furious, but it flows beautifully, with not a hint of lag or slowdown over the network we were using. You can whip around in an instant, double jump in all four directions (professional players leap around like acrobats whilst shooting the crap out of you!) and whichever weapon you're using, the controls and mouse aiming are so responsive that if you get fragged, you've only got yourself to blame.

My first hour or so was spent in the oriental-flavoured Shangri-La, with multi-level corridors and balconies on the outside surrounding a central courtyard where much of the action takes place. The general tactic here is to grab your weapon of choice from around the outskirts and then charge on in to gun down any opposition before they get you, or take advantage of sparring players and mopping them up while they're distracted by trying to kill each other. There are plenty of sniping points too though, and the jump boots are on a long walkway that leave you vulnerable if you try to reach them, while the damage amp is on a fountain in the courtyard and very risky to attempt a grab; the rewards are more than worth it however!

After checking out a couple more maps of equally cool design, some of them spacious and open, others claustrophobic and restrictive, I moved on for a long hands-on session on the PS3, with a network of six machines attached to massive HDTVs. I couldn't believe it when I saw how great the visuals were looking on PS3 - pretty much on a par with the stunning PC version - and that there wasn't a hint of juddering or slow down that has plagued some early PS3 titles. It's smooth like silk, and the PS3 controller is mapped perfectly, to the point that I had no problem at all adjusting to the different way of playing the game. The main difference between the PS3 and PC versions is the speed - the PS3 version is still faster than the average console shooter, but considerably slower than the PC version, and in some ways I preferred it like this. It's a necessity to slow things down given that a controller doesn't give you the same immediacy as a mouse and keyboard, but the gameplay doesn't suffer as a result - it's still hectic but a little more manageable and very accessible for the average console gamer.

It was here that I was able to check out some of the new vehicles, the range of which is unsurpassed, and the awesome new hoverboard that you always carry with you on all maps with vehicles. After a couple of games of Vehicle Capture the Flag, we explored a few deathmatch maps and I'm proud to say I dominated the session, even beating a couple of the folks from Midway and Epic! It was here that the ingenuity of the level designs and the depth and variety of the graphics really struck me. Take Deimos for example, a space station orbiting Earth with not only our beautiful planet in the background, but a massive asteroid belt and some sort of space portal as well. I stared at this for a good minute before tearing myself away to get back to the fragging. Deimos is a wonderfully designed level, with low gravity outside (yes, you can go outside the space station) and a couple of areas of liquid that you literally swim through, slowing you down and making yourself a target as you swim up to the sniper rifle or through a long corridor to reach other goodies.

Sanctuary is another fantastic design, set on an island surrounded by amazingly fluid water, all the more impressive considering that it's just a backdrop. Here I finally got my hands on the Redeemer, which now looks ridiculously cool as you pick it up - and the effect of the missile exploding is better than ever too, as I discovered when I redeemed my first unwary victims (to cries of "what the hell just happened?!") Again, the power-ups and weapons are spread out very nicely and one of the best features of Unreal is that weapons don't vanish when they're collected; they remain in place so that you can get them any time, while the extra ammo scattered around does disappear, to respawn a short while later. All of your favourite weapons are back and cooler than they've ever been, lethal killing machines that are wonderfully animated with some of the best explosions and weapon effects I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying.

There's so much more I'd love to say about Unreal Tournament III, but with my fellow reviewers each giving their overall impressions, as well as focusing on a particular aspect of the game, I'd better leave it at that relatively brief overview. So, without further ado, let's hear what the others have to say!

The Weapons - by Ian O'Neill

During my time at the UT3 launch event I was lucky enough to get hands-time on with both the PC and PS3 builds, which first of all I must note differ considerably. After arriving we immediately got stuck into the PC build, where I was impressed by the wealth of custom armour modifications to choose from. Only a few of the full game's permutations were on offer, but each gives the possibility of combining pieces from each set, with great looking results. The characters are beautifully drawn with immense detail and the great, rich-looking textures so effectively provided by the Unreal 3 Engine.

Getting into the game, we started with a Deathmatch, with our surroundings sporting some great looking Far Eastern architecture. Once I'd managed to pull my eyes away from the fantastic visuals, it suddenly dawned on me just how fast paced this new instalment is. The game is literally played at breakneck speed, whilst managing very well to maintain fluidity throughout, with respawns happening just as quickly. Once the game filled with players, the rockets were whizzing through the air and flak bombs were landing all over the place! This is a game of reactions, have no doubt about it.

As a console gamer I was understandably eager to see the PS3 version running, so after the lovely folks at Midway answered a few of my questions, I eagerly made my way into a back room with a network of six PS3s, where a demonstration version had been set up. We settled in and after a brief intro were invited to play Vehicle Capture the Flag.

As with the PC version, the graphics are of a consistently high standard; however, the PS3 version runs at a much slower pace to accommodate the addition of the PS3's Sixaxis controller and although it is as fast as any console FPS, it feels significantly different from playing the PC build. In terms of gameplay though, this could be the exclusive that the PS3 needs, even if that exclusivity will probably only be temporary, as the 360 version is due to arrive sometime early to mid 2008. The core mechanic has that element found in few other games, like Halo's multiplayer or Epic's Gears of War online, which at the moment no other PS3 title really has. Add to that the inclusion of custom mods in the build for Sony's machine and you have a great looking title here! Now, let's take a more in-depth look at some of the weapons on offer in the game.

Every shooter is judged by the arsenal of weaponry on offer and UT3 stands up there with the best. Although there are apparently a couple of super weapons in the full release, we were given the full set of standard weapons to work with. Matches start with you wielding the Enforcer, a high-powered pistol that features a semi-automatic style burst fire as a secondary mode. Although this may be deemed as a simple starter weapon, quickly scavenging a second enforcer suddenly makes for an extremely effective dual wielding combo, with immense stopping power. The pinpoint accuracy of the firing system also allows you to wipe out players sporting flak cannons or rocket launchers if you get a couple of headshots in.

And speaking of the Flak Cannon, it's back and just as wonderful as ever, with its powerful barrage of molten metal that's deadly at close range, making for single shot frags if you catch a player head on, while you can launch devastating explosive flak bombs with the secondary fire. This is joined by the mid-range Bio Rifle, which spurts a deadly gob of green biochemical waste or charge up for massive damage effect. The Link gun returns, with a constant beam that reduces humanoid players to a skeleton after a couple of seconds of contact, or fires a fast barrage of energy balls, while the Shock Rifle's combo of shooting a ball of energy and then zapping it with the primary railgun style beam is highly lethal and has a large radius of damage.

For the long range there is the very solid feeling Sniper Rifle, which has an effective zoom. Also, for those who like to pack some seriously high calibre ammo is the Tarydium Stinger, an aim-assisted minigun replacement that's ferociously powerful and features an alternate fire that removes the aim assist but increases stopping power considerably, firing a fast barrage of almost shotgun-like blasts. If you run into someone carrying one of these then you'd either better run, or be carrying my personal favourite, the Rocket Launcher. Simplicity is exquisite in this case, with a simple homing rocket as its primary fire (which leaves one of the most impressive smoke trails I've seen). The secondary feature is awesome though; charging the alternate fire button loads up all three rocket barrels at once, firing them together. This is hugely effective, especially at closer range against a vehicle. I spent a long time using only the Rocket Launcher and quickly grew to respect it, as badly timed shots will kill you just as quickly as your enemies!

The overall feel of each weapon is very varied and the different choices are incredibly well balanced. Each weapon in the game feels almost directly suited to countering another, which promotes some interesting tactics on the battlefield. All of the weapons we were shown also looked great, with just as much intricacy of design as the character models themselves. With the addition of a couple of super weapons, you'll be having hours of fun deciding what's best for you.

The Vehicles and Warfare Mode - by Tom Clark

Most games become less fun the more you play them - you've seen it all before, done very similar things to the last time you played and collected most of the limited range of weapons. Unreal Tournament 3 however just gets better and better every time I play it - the characteristics of a very good and long lasting game. Ensuring there is always something new to see no matter how long you've been glued to your seat are the plethora of multiplayer maps, smattering of game modes, tons of cool vehicles, unpredictable opponents (either computer-controlled bots or other human players across the globe via online play) and of course those awesome weapons. Despite having the hallmarks of quality, initially I found Unreal Tournament 3 a bit disappointing despite the high praise it has been receiving - being very much like Unreal Tournament 2004 only with better graphics (not that 2004 looked at all bad). Boy was I wrong though - by the end of the day I was racking up the kill count in blissful ignorance of the world around me and did not want to stop!

Something that has changed from UT2004 is the number and type of vehicles available. The first new vehicle must come as a surprise to all UT fans - the hoverboard (a sort of low flying skateboard) - available in all vehicle maps in place of the translocator (a personal teleporter) and accessed with the press of a button wherever you are. When unpacked, the camera switches to third-person view show off your character while he, she or it zips around the map, making hoverboarding easy to control and fun. With the hoverboard providing this extra speed get to the action quicker - no boring unobstructed walking over large areas any more - a really positive feature is that you cannot fire or attack while riding it; even running over the enemy will not work. Having no defensive or offensive capabilities means that the hoverboard is only built for one thing - ferrying you to the action or getting you back to base quickly having captured the enemy's flag, the only vehicle that allows you to carry a flag. You can gain some some extra speed by clicking the fire button when near a vehicle driven by a teammate too, grappling on and snagging a lift via a flexible energy beam.

One place where the hoverboard is especially useful is the new Warfare mode - a mixture of Onslaught, Assault and Bombing run from UT2004. Each team - the maximum being two at the moment - has a Power Unit that they must defend from the other team. These Power Units - where weapons and vehicles spawn, ready for use by the controlling team - are linked by a string of nodes, sometimes only one node in the smaller maps, producing heated battles as teams fight and die for control of the node. When a node is under your control and is linked to other nodes and your team's Power Unit, the shield surrounding the next node in the link or, ultimately, the enemy team's Power Unit, is disabled so it can be captured - or destroyed to win the match in the case of the Power Unit. It's all very similar to Onslaught and Assault from UT2004.

What isn't similar is the reason I, unlike most reviewers, implied a connection with the Bombing run game mode from 2004, sadly removed from UT3. Each team has an orb - a small glowing ball that spawns at a point indicated on the minimap. When you walk over the orb to pick it up, you can carry (or drive) it to the nearest node controlled by the enemy to instantly switch the control to your team - hurry through, because whenever you have the orb you become an irresistible bullet-magnet for the enemy! The enemy team also has orbs and if you take out the person carrying the orb then they drop it, starting a ten second timer. If that timer becomes zero then the orb disappears and your enemies will have to wait a while for the orb to respawn - announced in a suitable and clear voice to their team when the orb is back in play. If an enemy finds the dropped orb before the timer reaches zero then they can pick it up to continue the control switching attempt. To prevent the pesky enemy recovering a lost orb, you can opt to remove it from the battlefield as soon as it has been dropped by going up to it and pressing the 'Use' key - denying your enemy a significant tactical advantage, namely having the control of a node switch instantaneously to the opposing team, which can dramatically alter the outcome of the game. Unfortunately this has the disadvantage of instant death via a rather nasty explosion - but that's the cost of trying to be a hero!

This might all sound a bit complex but Warfare is handled in a very easy to use fashion; nodes are clearly marked with health bars in the colour of the controlling team, beams of light rise high into the sky from the top of nodes ensuring they are always visible and the minimap highlights every significant location. Easy to use or not, Warfare is only one of the game modes that employs vehicles. In these modes, all vehicles from previous tournaments return - the Hellbender, a three-man truck with shock core turret, the high flying Raptor, a small one-man fighter equipped with missiles and blasters, the Manta, a kind of hoverbike with huge fans to rip peoples heads off and Turrets, stationary gun emplacements with powerful dual laser cannons. When entering a turret, the huge side-mounted guns swing around your back and lock in place on either side of your head with a satisfying clunk to really enforce their devastating potential.

Swelling the ranks of this already large array of vehicles are the new and often even cooler ones. My favourite new vehicle has to be the Darkwalker - a towering (that's an understatement) tripod capable of causing mega carnage on the battlefield, not to mention the fear and awe of the sheer sight of this mechanical terror roaming around. Think of the walking mechanical monsters from War of the Worlds and you'll get the picture. Being so tall you would think it would be near impossible to get into - thankfully the Darkwalker's legs fold up, leaving the open cockpit at ground level. Upon entry, the whole cockpit and your vision slowly rise with a majestic and powerful grace, giving onlookers a sense of dread. In terms of power, unfortunately but understandably the Darkwalker (or Deathwalker as I call it) is quite slow and its twin laser beams of death turn slightly slower than you can look, making it hard, but not impossible, to vaporise small, fast-moving objects.

There are simply too many vehicles to go into detail with and I don't want to spoil things for you when you do get behind the wheel, or flight stick. I will mention the new engineering vehicles though - the Nightshade, which look similar to chunky, oversized metal fish and have limited weapons. With only a weedy laser beam turret as a weapon, they may seem like deathtraps to would be drivers - however, they do have a lovely cloaking device that engages as soon as someone climbs in, remaining on as long as you aren't firing. Coupled with the slow movement, the Nightshade might seem of little use but it can be invaluable for defence. Pressing spacebar deactivates the cloak temporarily so you can place one of four defensive objects - a selection of mines and the wonderful new cube of glue. This greenish, three dimensional glue slows down anything that enters it to a crawl be it rockets, other players, vehicles or flak. Slowing down time in specific areas gives a great defence - surrounding your flag in it makes it more difficult for the enemy team to capture, while not compromising offence and slowing teammates down - provided they stay out of it of course!

There's little doubt that Unreal Tournament 3 sports the most diverse and imaginative range of vehicles ever to be included in a shooter, and when combined with the various modes on offer that utilise them, your tactics on the battlefield will only be limited by your own ingenuity.

The Levels - by John Barnes

Well, suffice it to say, Epic's level design geniuses have done it again, delivering a superb batch of spangly new arenas alongside some returning favourites. Those who have played the multiplayer demo released a few weeks ago will already be familiar with the grand scale and incredible attention to detail that dominates each and every lovingly crafted killing field. But in case you've been off visiting the Skaarj for a few months, let me fill you in on the finer points of level design in UT3.

Take all that was great about the original Unreal Tournament - the fast pace, the claustrophobic areas so important for racking up the frags, the weird and wonderful architecture - and add to the mix the gorgeous graphics of this release, and you should begin to get an idea of how the new maps play. Ranging from underground mining facilities (á la Gears of War), through outer space platforms to the idyllic vistas of Shangri La, you'll be hard pressed to find a game with a more diverse selection of arenas. And let me tell you, you'll need nerves of steel and the wits of Stephen Hawking to survive this time around!

Many of the new maps feature large, central areas that keep the action thick and fast. Shangri La's central courtyard features sniping points, the Ultra Damage pick-up, multiple tiers and plenty of nooks and crannies to hide in (or escape to!) As I found out during the deathmatch tournament, this is where you'll spend most of your time engaging in duels to the death, surrounded on all sides by non-too-friendly types. But that's not to say that you'll only ever spawn there, as the surrounding corridors offer surprises of their own. Twists and turns, hidden exits and height differences mean you really have to concentrate unless you want to end up as Nali-chow! The bigger weapons are all safely tucked away near the edges of the maps, so you'll have to always keep moving to get the best ammo and gear, and smaller fights break out around these better weapons as players all try to get the Rocket Launcher first.

CarbonFire is a map set in a robot factory orbiting a far away planet. This mechanical-themed map shows off the finer details of the engine beautifully - tiny machines are visible behind the external workings of the factory, cogs and gears whirr in synchronicity, robot torsos travel along light beams to their destinations and all around the factory asteroids spin in joyful weightlessness. CarbonFire is even faster paced than Shangri La, with its meandering corridors and split-level rooms; it's easy to get waylaid unless you've played it a few times. One of the more unique features of this orbital behemoth are the platforms that whisk you away from one side of the map to the other in mere seconds. On more than a few occasions I had been tracking my foes during the tournament, only to see them shoot off to some far flung corridor before I could get even fire a shot!

Deathmatch certainly seems to possess the largest percentage of the multiplayer map count, with over ten maps to choose from, but it is the Capture the Flag and Vehicle CTF maps that really shine. Containment seems normal at first (or as normal as a futuristic outpost with mammoth laser guns can be) but as soon as you venture into the central area it's clear that this map is something just a little bit special. Blindly I wandered into the area surrounding a massive container, remembering too late the name of the map. Just what was this area built to contain, I asked myself. Before long, the answer was clear; looming above me in the icy chill air was a Dark Walker! Sure enough, the monstrosity's heat ray made short work of my puny form and I was sent back to a spawn point in shame. But the crux of this map is that the Dark Walker is still contained, meaning that it can't travel out of its prison. Knowing that, my team quickly sapped its armour in an all-out attack and defeated it once and for all! This balancing of the teams is testament to the brilliant design skills of the Epic team and means that one team never really gains too much of an advantage.

VCTF is a superb addition to the line-up, and also shows off the new vehicles excellently. Kargo is set on a huge container ship and surrounding docks. Once all the vehicles start whizzing around it becomes a hectic free-for-all; jeeps fly from ramps to the ship's deck, tanks guard the docks like Dobermans and sometimes it's all you can do to focus on the goal of getting that flag! Necropolis is a map set in the Necris capital, with all its alien architecture and sand-blasted deserts. Ramps and valleys provide hidden routes into the citadel at the map's centre whilst the buildings and rock formations keep foot soldiers hidden from the long range weaponry lurking in the dunes. Suspense is featured in the multiplayer demo and is set on a huge suspension bridge spanning a swift-flowing river. Despite its simplistic layout - the main route is a straight line from base to base - the map offers many different routes across. You can go all out and storm the bridge itself, you can choose to navigate the various corridors at the sides of the bridge, you can travel under the bridge (where the Redeemer is to be found) or risk going over the cables to the heady heights of the bridge's towers. This multi-path layout is exceptionally well realised and Suspense is for my money the best CTF map ever designed!

Each map is also suited perfectly to its game mode. Warfare maps are terrain-based, with sweeping valleys and impassable mountains, featuring little cover and plenty of long range opportunities. One such map is set in a research facility in the icy wastes of a far-off planet and features not only the normal vehicles - tanks, jeeps and, of course, the new hoverboard, standard for all vehicle maps - but also two fearsome Dark Walkers per team! Even compared to UT2004's massive Onslaught maps, the Warfare maps are gigantic, but they never seem too big or empty. The layout of these maps mean that it takes very little time to get from one node to another and skirmishes break out all over the map between groups of players desperate to destroy each other's nodes.

But it doesn't matter if you don't have Internet access, because all the maps are playable against bots (and let me tell you, they put up quite a fight!) plus the addition of the single player campaign means that you can get just as much out of UT3 offline as you can online.

Obviously I didn't manage to get through all the levels of the campaign, but needless to say, each one is superb. Admittedly the campaign is pretty much a case of 'cut scene, deathmatch, cut scene, warfare, etc.' but the fact that objectives are included makes it seem so much more involved. Epic have said that campaign mode features even more maps than the multiplayer modes and if they're all as slick as the ones I managed to get through then Christmas might have to be postponed this year!

Beginning in Shangri la and moving around the world, your character 'Bishop' has to track down the leader of the Necris army to avenge his family/village/dog/teddy bear. It's a little similar to Gears of War, but not so much that you'll regret playing it to the very end just to see what happens. The level objectives feature tasks like disabling vehicles, planting bombs and simply wiping out entire platoons of alien critters, and it's all set in levels similar to the multiplayer.

Unreal Tournament 3's map selection is possibly the greatest collection of maps to ever ship with a game. Not one bad level exists to mar the triumphant return of the daddy of first person shooters. Sublime design, eccentric architecture, beautifully deadly environments and brutally fast gameplay give each map 10 out of 10. If there are any better maps in any game in the next decade (excluding the next Unreal, of course!), then I'll eat my hat.

The Presentation - by Martin Oddy

Well, where to start? I suppose a small confession is in order. I'm not the world's biggest fan of the Unreal series, as I do tend to prefer a more realistic edge to my first person shooters. That's not to say that I don't think they are great games, or that I haven't enjoyed the outings that Epic have thrown our way in the past decade. UT3 is no exception - in fact, it's the most fun I've had with the series since the original back in '98.

Stepping back into the visually slick, frag-happy Unreal universe was a familiar experience. Everything about this rendition drips Epic's usual over-the-top style, from the age-old theme music (which still sounds as good as ever) to the familiar weaponry. So what's new? Well perhaps UT3's biggest triumph is combining everything that made past installments so great into one polished next-gen offering. Not only is there the legendary twitch-based deathmatch modes that made the series what it is today, but also an additional standalone campaign. I didn't get much time to play the latter, but it certainly does sound very promising, with multiple endings to discover and a wealth of maps and modes to enjoy. Instead my time with the game was spent fragging (and being fragged) by other journalists in a variety of interesting ways - and having a blast in the process.

All the expected weaponry is present, including my personal favorites the Flak Cannon and Link Gun. Everything looks and sounds incredible, which is just as well considering what's behind the scenes - the ultra-polished Unreal Engine 3. The game glides along at a steady 60 frames per-second with no noticeable slowdown, an astonishing feat considering the intricacy of the maps. Each of the six different maps I managed to play felt amply diverse in both theme and layout. Jumping and dodging my way around corners and reeling off flak shots felt as fluid as ever - and then it hit me - I'd got the UT bug. From my limited time with the game, it seems that UT3 is set to achieve everything it has its formidable crosshair fixated on - and I for one cannot wait to November 22nd to see what the full game has in store.

Visually, there's little that needs to be said about Unreal Tournament 3 - it's simply as stunning as you'd expect given that the daddy of game engines that lies at its stern. The game simply oozes macho-futuristic atmosphere, with more detail and depth than you could wave a Flak Cannon at. At the launch event it wasn't uncommon to see members of the press (yes, John, I mean you!) stopping mid-combat to take pictures of the awe-inspiring vistas that makeup the environments. There's a generous 40 plus maps on offer this time round and the five or six we got hands-on with ticked all the right boxes. Swaying bridges, crumbling buildings and lush backdrops that leave you wishing you could explore them further, there is certainly plenty of eye-candy to go around.

Performance is part-and-parcel of the Unreal series, so it's good to see UT3 boasting some trusty frame rates. You see, high graphical detail alone isn't good enough for Epic - if the game doesn't run like greased lightning then it simply isn't worth playing. It's unclear whether the Unreal Engine 3 in this, its home game, can remain as impressive when crammed with up to 24 players at a time, but all things considered, it's looking very promising.

Audio typically has little room to impress in first person shooters, whether it's the lasers and hi-tech gunnery of sci-fi shooters, or the gritty, mechanical rattling of rifles in more contemporary offerings. Guns, lasers and rockets all sound pretty much the same, right? Well, there's certainly something to be said about the aural experience on offer with UT3, with its garish, in-your-face explosions and grunts complementing the visuals perfectly. All this is tied together with a familiar sounding musical score, best described as techno-rock, spoiling your ears even further. Likely in part due to the Creative HS-900 headset I was wearing at the time, or maybe even the amount of complimentary alcohol I'd consumed, but either way I still don't remember previous instalments sounding quite this good. Throw in that wonderfully gravelly voice that announces such delights as "First Blood", "Double Kill" and "Head Shot" and you've got everything you could possibly want blasting out of your speakers. Back to you, Geoff!

Thanks Martin! It's safe to say that the Unreal Tournament III launch was an outstanding success. We had two teams of professional gamers breaking gaming world records, the first official UT3 tournament with a state of the art PC and a flashy new laptop as prizes for the winner and runner-up, and of course the unforgettable presence of Mark Rein, who it was a real pleasure to meet - this guy is brimming with energy and enthusiasm, a real character with a wonderful sense of humour and an infectious laugh. All the folks from Epic, Midway and Lunch PR made us feel very welcome and I even managed to tag along for the post-event night out, an experience I won't forget in a hurry!

The game itself meanwhile is just a powerhouse of a shooter, state of the art in every single respect. Its flawless, beautiful graphics are enhanced by an almost endless array of ingeniously designed and perfectly balanced maps with an unbelievable range of locations and environments, backed up by meaty sound effects, a pumping soundtrack and the Unreal voiceover guy who we all know and love. Its incredibly fast gameplay makes for an adrenaline-fuelled experience like no other, with a range of death dealing weapons that are all highly effective and extremely satisfying to use. And the new Warfare mode and Vehicle Capture the Flag really mixes up the gameplay, with an array of awesome new vehicles that offer almost limitless strategies and tactical choices in each and every map. And there's a wealth of features in the Editor that will make this one of the most varied games when it comes to new maps, new mods and new content from the gaming community. We barely scratched the surface of UT3 during our time at the event and the hours flew by in a blur - we're just grateful that there's only a short wait before we can get hold of the full game and begin an expedition deep into its heart that will last into the foreseeable future.

I'd like to thank Kat, Ramona, Claire, Charlotte and Chris at Lunch PR, Jason and Chris from Midway, and Tanya Jessen and Mark Rein from Epic for organising such an awesome event and for making me feel so welcome. And a special mention goes to Tanya, who set aside some time to answer my many questions about the game - so click the link below for plenty more new details about UT3 in our exclusive one-on-one interview.

Feature written by Geoff Holland, Ian O'Neill, Tom Clark, John Barnes and Martin Oddy for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).