UT2k4 was amazing.
UT3 was a godamn masterpiece but too much of a departure, and released too buggy, and multi-platform to boot, to be a success. Combined with butt-hurt gamer types who immediately emigrated to COD4 and TF2 it was a guaranteed failure. STILL, the community that crystalised around it, and continue playing it to this day with skill and dedication, are a big reason why we are seeing this revival. I still play and have a damn fine time with the folk who are still around. It is exactly the niche that is missing in the market - fast paced, high reaction, high skill, focus on movement, no upgrade nonsense. Just pure DM with other game types mixed in.
This new UT...well I think crowdsourcing was a brilliant idea, but a double-edged sword due to the nature of the fanboy community. What will probably happen is that there will be some key landmark projects that will form the basis of the new UT, and from those backbones, we can get a solid and stable game. I wish Epic luck - really hope this works because the UT franchise is one of gaming's dearest, and the only modern one that I can see, which is focused on reviving the glory days of arena-based FPS.
