Publisher: Infogrames
Developer: Secret Level
Size: 1 GD Rom
VMU: 8 blocks
No. of players: 4(simultaneously) offline or 8(simultaneously) online
Got it for: $39.99, new, the day it came out.

In the future, a company called Liandri seems to own everything and everybody. The crime rate is extremely high, the economy is in the toilet and the main form of entertainment is the Tournament. Using holographic cameras, the public can watch these cyber-death tournaments where opponents battle it out to their death(s). You join the tournament in attempt to take out the legendary Xan and crush Liandri...how winning this tournament is supposed to take down an entire corporation, I don't know...

What's it all about?
It's deathmatch, straight up: Non-stop, fast action and lots of killing. Four modes of play are available, two of which let you focus on goal oriented play rather that straight out killing. You have your choice of 10 weapons to just brutally slaughter your opponents with, across the 60-something levels you'll be visiting; to spice stuff up, you also have your choice of 11 mutators to play with. Now, unfortunately, the Assault mode as well as the GOTY elements(including Chaos UT) didn't make it in, but this is made up for by the fact that almost half of the levels on the disc are new maps made specifically for the console versions!

Graphics - Excellent!!! Man, the game is gorgeous...just plain gorgeous. Every level will just continue to floor you with its excellent textures and, mostly, decent framerate. During two player split screen mode things get toned down a bit, and the framerate will drop, but for the most part it's nothing too terrible.
Sound - A direct port of the sounds from the Mac/PC versions, so...well, excellent. All of the rockin' tunes and sound effects have made it intact, and sound great. Quick Bonus: The official UT soundtrack can be downloaded over in the Sound{e}Scapes section(Tape 8) of the site. I've taken the liberty of combining all the tracks into one monster file, complete with a small bit of editing for easier listening.
Control - Using the oldschool "Turok" style of control is very nice and things control beautifully and very smoothly through it. An option of 4 pre-set configs are available for the DC controller, as well various configs for the mouse/keyboard setup. Looking around, moving, dodging and shooting are all accomplished very easily and without delay on any of the configs.
AI - Depending on your setting, it can be a real pushover or a real nightmare. I never found it so hard that I'd stop playing, so I guess it's pretty fair.
Replay value - High!!! Even in the single player mode, this game is a blast...and with the multiple difficulty levels, not to mention split screen options, it never seems to get old.
Tips for better gaming experiences:
I've actually written up a small FAQ for this game, specifically. Check it out here. If your a Mac or PC player, I've also written up a few things on those versions as well, click here to take a look at that.

Past that, there's a nice trick to unlock the two SegaNet exclusive levels for play in the Practice mode. First off, go to your UT "Network" section in the game. There, type in the following:

Login: admin@sega.net
Password: tenages

Click on connect and save the settings. I don't think you really have to connect, so either cancel it or let it time out(making sure to save the setting. I have this set as my second connect option, so as not to mess with my original, correct dial up config). Now the two SegaNet levels are available for offline play!


Cool Stuff on the VMU:
The Unreal logo graphic will scale towards the screen during game mode selection, and then goes to a static image during gameplay.


My rating: 95(out of 100) - It is difficult to get any better than this, it really is. What you are seeing here is one of the finest ports ever done, losing only a few points to how uneven the framerate can be during certain levels and play configs.

Cat's review:
The single player and online play are awesome(the split screen is way to framey for me), they make this kitty frisky all over!!! The game needs more cats, but other than that it rocks!
This review was completed before I acquired a video capture card. With that said, I have borrowed pics from various sources.

Sega approved graffitti....anyone seen Gum anywhere?
Ah, the time honored headshot...gotta love it.
As you can see, the levels are absolutely gorgeous.
One of the many new levels made for the Dreamcast version.
Though all of the UT servers are now dead, not all DC online games are. Be sure to check out Dreamcast Gaming Online for a complete list of what's still up and around.
Any programmer UT fans out there?:
As stated above, about half of the maps in the DC(and PS2) version of UT are brand new, created specifically for the console versions. What I am wondering is, are there any map making UT fans out there that would volunteer to take a look into the DC/PS2 version, see if there's anyway to extract any of the layouts and make them available on the Mac/PC versions? Quite a request, I know...but some of those maps rocked!!!