I enjoyed playing this game around the time of its release. Now, I am replaying it to compare it with the remake and I can say that it still holds up admirably. It is also nice to have this game DRM free thanks to GOG.
Unreal Tournament 2004 (UT2k4) has everything that is required in a good FPS and then some. The features new to the Unreal Series that were introduced in this game (new game modes, vehicles, etc.) were done well and increased the scale of the game. However, the greatest achievements of UT2k4 lie not in the new features but in the way it improved over its predecessors (i.e. all older FPS's ). The core fps aspects such as look and movement control, weapon/damage variety were improved upon enormously and every play style seems to be accounted for i.e. camping, hit and run, offensive, defesive or any other tactics are equally (sometimes uniquely) rewarding in this game and no play style is forced anywhere. The Bot A.I. is exceptional and is among the very best encountered by this reviewer in his 15 years of gaming, at higher difficulties the bots can give even the above average player a run for his/her money. Remarkably few other shooters get the core aspects right, but none exceed UT2k4 (even games of the venerable Quake series fall short). Masters of this game are bound to be good in any other shooter. The other aspect that deserves mention is the support and ease of modifications (mods) available to this game. Mods enrich the game further with new maps, models, game modes, etc.. Some of the more prominent mods have even gone on to become games in their own right (a hallmark of the Unreal series games). In terms of playability (at present), In addition to a substantial singleplayer campaign, a few multiplayer servers are still up and running (a testament to the games quality) and are accessible to all seeking to play. Additionally, (in the opinion of this reviewer) UT2k4 is an ideal game for friends to play over LAN; it's cheap (more so during sales) and can run on most PC's and laptops and therefore guarantees endless hours of fun. UT2k4 is a true classic and worthy of the "good old game" tag. Old, sure, but by no means obsolete or irrelevant.
