SAN JOSE, CA - August 10, 2000 - How do you improve the Game of the Year? You make it bigger! Coming to retail shelves this fall, Infogrames' Unreal Tournament: Game Of The Year edition features the original game, three map pack add-ons, giving UT players an additional 20 maps, plus three all new modes of play, also known as mods. Created to enhance the online experience of Unreal Tournament, mods are episodic content that extend the gameplay experience of the original product and have typically been found online by savvy gaming enthusiasts for some time. Now with Unreal Tournament: Game Of The Year casual gamers who might not have previously found this content will be able to get in on the action!
'Unreal Tournament's online episodic content has typically been targeted toward the hardcore audience. Now a broader audience of gamers will enjoy this great additional content with the Game Of The Year edition,' said Steve Allison, vice president of business development for Infogrames' San Jose Label. 'The original game sold over one million copies to date and has earned numerous accolades for its technology and gameplay. It is our intent as the publisher for Unreal Tournament to find new ways to bring this franchise to a broader more mass-market audience. By adding these new elements we will do just that.'
'We are ecstatic about the rousing reception Unreal Tournament has received since its release,' said Mark Rein, president of Epic Games. 'In developing the Game of the Year Edition our aim is to broaden the scope of our fan base even further. By implementing the mods and new map packs we are providing all consumers a chance to sample the same great gaming experience that the hardcore community has been enjoying and thrives on.'
The three new mods in Unreal Tournament: Game Of The Year are enhanced versions of mods previously released online to the hardcore gaming community and they include: Tactical Ops, Rocket Arena and Chaos UT. Tactical Ops is set in real world military surroundings and is focused on tactical team-based combat. Players can join either the Special Forces or the Terrorists to defeat one another through strategic objective-based combat. Rocket Arena allows for one-on-one combat in a small arena with no place to hide.
Players descend into the arena with full armor, weapons and health. Spectators wait in line to challenge the winner of the match and can watch the one-on-one battles from a variety of views including through the opponent's eyes or overhead. Rocket Arena is based on the famous game mods developed by David Wright. Chaos UT offers a new unique twist on UT deathmatch play. This mod is a free-for-all fragfest with four new Chaos UT-specific maps and plenty of unique and extraordinary weaponry such as crossbows or auto-turrets that hunt down enemy players.
The last enhancement to the Game Of The Year edition includes three new map packs: the Epic Bonus Pack, the Innox Map Pack and Digital Extremes Map Pack, the London, Ontario-based co-developer of Unreal and Unreal Tournament. These new map pack additions will give players more than 20 all new maps, new character skins and Relics, which provide enhanced power-ups for use in UT game modes.
The Game of the Year edition also includes the latest version of the original Unreal Tournament, which pits players against the toughest warriors in the galaxy in multiple contests and settings. The goal is to become the Unreal Grand Master, testing your skills against, or fighting alongside, teams of 'bots.' Both single player and multiplayer modes are available.