Unreal Tournament is very much an old-style FPS game. It follows more the style of Quake and the earlier Doom multiplayer than Counterstrike or Medal of Honor. Thus, fighting effectively in Unreal Tournament is very different from fighting effectively in Counterstrike.
Basics
There are several things that the newbie should keep in mind:
- Don't be a statue. When standing around, especially in open territory, it's easy to hit you. More so when you're getting involved in a brawl. Keep moving and it'll be harder to hit you.
- Weapons have secondaries. Experiment if you can, if you aren't familiar with the weapons. Flak cannons can shoot flak shells over medium distances aside from the normal shrapnel burst. Rocket Launchers can load up to three rockets at a go and launch them in a spiral pattern towards an enemy. See what you can find.
- Familiarize yourself with a weapon. It's not necessary to be a master of all the weapons. All that's necessary to be good at this game is being very good at one or two weapons and being able to use all the others to defend yourself while you run for your weapon of expertise.
- Campers are easier to locate. If you aren't using a lightning gun where the lightning bolt instantly gives you away, the puff of smoke from your sniper rifle will definitely make you easier to find. Staying in one place too long is like hanging a nice inviting "FRAG ME" sign around your neck, especially when you've just pissed someone off by killing them or their teammates.
- Shooting at someone's corpse after you've killed them is usually taken as an insult and brings up the competition to a much more personal level.
Advanced
- Dodging. Tapping in one direction twice quickly executes a quick dodge. Master this and it'll save your life many times over. You can use it when, say, you see a rocket rushing straight at your face, or when you suddenly notice the big smiley face on the flak shell growing larger...
- Support. In team-based games not everyone can go out into the field and run around fragging the other team. Someone has to stay behind and keep the base (or the flag) safe. And since the entire enemy team generally would like nothing better than to get into the base and steal your flag, you probably want more than one person. Just in case.
- Pick your targets. If you see the enemy ball/flag carrier in front of you, and a bunch of enemy goons about to block your way, don't bother with the goons that much. Your priority is the enemy ball/flag carrier. If you can take care of the enemy goons quickly, feel free; but remember the flag carrier is still your higher priority.
L337ness
- Practice. Become one with your weapons. Learn to flow within combat, picking off goons and targets effortlessly. Learn how to instinctively target an opponent with your weapon of choice so that regardless of his range or speed you can still hit. All of this will only come with practice. There is no shortcut to 1337ness.
Adrenaline
Unreal Tournament 2003 introduced the new "Adrenaline" system.
Adrenaline is a special factor which can be used to execute powerful moves. You can collect Adrenaline by collecting orange-white capsules, accomplishing objectives or killing other players.
You can view how much Adrenaline you have by looking at the Adrenaline meter in the upper-right corner of your screen. Once your Adrenaline reaches 100, it'll start flashing and you will hear a background voice.
With 100 Adrenaline, you can perform Adrenaline moves:
- Speed (Up-Up-Up-Up): Highly increases your speed and jumping height. Usefull in Capture The Flag/Bombing Run matches. Depletes Adrenaline Meter faster.
- Berserk (Up-Down-Up-Down): Doubles your firing rate for all weapons. Usefull in Deathmatches.
- Regeneration (Down-Down-Down-Down): Increases your health by 3 per second. Increases till 199 and then starts increasing your shield till 150.
- Invisibility (Left-Right-Left-Right): Makes your character partially invisible. Bots still see you, but human players will have difficulty finding you. Useful for Snipers.
Weapons
Unreal Tournament 2004 contains a wide variety of weaponry, each weapon having it's own special style. It is important to study the effects and advantages of each weapon, as different weapons are best used in specific situations.
Standard Weapons
Standard Weapons comprises of those weapons which are found most commonly in maps and are primarily used by players to inflict damage on enemies.
Translocator
The Translocator is a special "weapon" found only in Capture the Flag and Bombing Run matches. The Translocator is used to instantly teleport to a particular location, in shooting range of the user.
Default Key: Q
Ammo: Translocator Discs/Rechargable
Primary Fire: Shoots the Translocator disc. This will call back the disc, if used without teleporting.
Secondary Fire: Teleports to the location of the disc, if present.
Usage Tips: The Translocator is best used to overtake enemies and allies to reach the flag/ball, or to reach out-of-reach areas. It is important to learn using the Translocator very fast, and rapidly translocate to achieve optimum speed. The Translocator can also be used to kill, but mastering this is very, very difficult. If a player teleports to a location already occupied by another player, the latter gets killed, or "telefragged". This can also happen at "portals" and "warp zones".
Shield Gun
The Shield Gun is the weakest weapon in the game, but if used properly, can be very, very lethal. The Shield Gun is available for the player as soon as he/she spawns. It is generally recommended to stay off this weapon, unless there is no other option.
Default Key: 1
Ammo: Shield Ammo/Rechargable
Primary Fire (Hold Down & Release): Holding down the Primary Fire will cause the weapon to "charge up" it's energy. At this stage, if the gun touches any enemy, the enemy will get instantly fragged. If the primary fire is released, the gun will release dangerous plasma wave that can deal heavy damage to an enemy in close range. This mode consumes no ammo.
Secondary Fire (Hold Down): The Secondary Fire consume your ammo to generate a shield that can protect you from incoming fire. Once the ammo is depleted, you cannot use the shield. The ammo recharges when the shield is not in use.
Usage Tips: The Primary Fire, although powerful, is limited in range and is therefore best used a last resort. It is also a favourite weapon of many campers, lamers and other archetypical players, because of it's surprising and often, lethal attack. The Secondary Attack, or the shield is best used for personal protection, if the player is stripped of weapons. It also forms an effective barrier to protect the flag/ball carrier in CTF/BR matches.