Review: Unreal Tournament 2003/2004

I have to say, as my backlog continues to venture into the territory of “online only” games, it’s starting to get a little tough to write some of these reviews. Allow me to elaborate. The game I’m going to discuss today is Unreal Tournament 2004. I’m writing this in 2025, and as you may have guessed by the game’s title, I just spent that last few weeks playing an online game that’s over twenty years old. What’s the problem, you ask? Well, let’s just say that Epic Games is not exactly being kind to the Unreal franchise these days. If you want to play Unreal Tournament today, you’ve got quite a rough road ahead of you. Not only is the game no longer available for purchase, but the online matchmaking servers were actually taken offline a little over two years ago. This effectively renders the title abandoned and virtually unplayable. But of course, where there’s a will, there’s a way…

Before I go any further into this review, let me state – yes. I know that this post is titled Unreal Tournament 2003 and 2004. So let’s take a moment to talk about that. After the massive success of the original Unreal Tournament, a sequel was all but inevitable. As you probably guessed by its title, Unreal Tournament 2003 was the sequel in question. Like the previous UT title, this game was designed as a multiplayer FPS arena. Aside from updated graphics and a much improved networking code, this game also introduced several new modes of play. UT2003 was a financial success. But, many players felt that the amount of content in the game fell short of expectations. As a result, work began on building additional content. However, many of the new additions were designed using an updated version of the Unreal Engine. For this reason, the decision was made to create a completely new version of the game. This newer release was titled Unreal Tournament 2004. Of course, releasing an entirely new game in such a short window of time was not without its criticism. To help ease tensions, players who purchased UT2003 were eligible for a rebate on the newer version. In addition, virtually all content from UT2003 was also included in UT2004. The only exceptions were a few bonus maps, but even these were eventually ported to the new game. Years later, when the Unreal titles were made available on digital platforms, UT2004 was listed for sale, while UT2003 was not.

There’s plenty of opinions on the topic. But in my eyes, Unreal Tournament 2004 is essentially just an upgraded version of UT2003. The differences between them are so few, that to me, they are basically the same game. Yes, there are some nuances in the UI and the single player scenario. But, if these things are that important to you, mods exist that make UT2004 mimic the look and feel of the 2003 version. With this in mind, I’m going to base this review solely on Unreal Tournament 2004 and its contents.

As I mentioned above, playing Unreal Tournament 2004 today is not a simple task. Once upon a time, the game was available on Steam. But currently, it can no longer be found on any digital storefront. In order to play it legally today, you’ll have to buy a physical copy second-hand. Once you’ve obtained a copy, you’ll need to head over to Unreal Archive and download the official patch. Once this is done, you’ll also need a few additional tweaks to get the game to run properly on modern machines. The two most important updates are going to be the Fox Widescreen Fix (this makes the game render correctly on modern monitors), and next you’ll want to update the Master Server list. Since Epic Games took the official UT2004 servers offline, pointing the game to the new community-run servers is currently the only way to play online. Doing all of the above will give you a working vanilla copy of Unreal Tournament 2004. Of course there are still a number of official community maps and community made patches out there to enhance your game further.  But none of these things are absolutely crucial to get the game working.

So now that all that is out of the way, let’s talk about the game itself. From here on, I’m going to assume that you are familiar with the previous Unreal Tournament game. If not, I urge you to read my review before continuing.

Unreal Tournament 2004 is very similar to its predecessor in that it is an online arena-style shooter. The main focus of the game is its online multiplayer. Like the previous title, there is also a single player campaign. The main purpose of the single player mode is to act as a tutorial, introducing the player to the concepts of an FPS arena and to teach the various modes of gameplay. The single player campaign begins with the creation of a character and team. From here, you are able to recruit various bot-controlled characters and participate in matches against them in order to prove yourself worthy of being the Team Captain. Once your team is assembled, you can participate in matches against CPU-controlled opponents. Your performance will award you with money that can be used to recruit better team members, cover their medical expenses, and even pay for entry into high level tournaments. The idea here was to learn the strengths and weaknesses of the different CPU-controlled players, then constantly update your roster to tackle different types of matches. But, in the end, it doesn’t really seem to make a big difference. Most of the time, the deciding factor in whether you win or lose depends solely on your skill as a player.  As you continue to win matches, new modes of gameplay will be become available. By the time you have completed the single player campaign, you’ve seen everything the game has to offer and should be ready to test your mettle against real-life opponents.

The following game modes are available in Unreal Tournament 2004:

Returning from Unreal Tournament are: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Domination, Assault, and Last Man Standing.

New in Unreal Tournament 2004 is: Onslaught, Vehicle CTF, Bombing Run, and Mutant.

Onslaught is probably the most original gameplay mode introduced by UT2004. In this mode of play, your team must try to capture and connect various power nodes scattered across the map. By doing so, you can cause the opposing team’s “power core” to overload. Doing so results in scoring a win. The maps for this mode of play are often very large and require players to use vehicles to get around. It is fast paced and was extremely popular during the game’s golden days.

Vehicle Capture the Flag is exactly as it sounds, CTF on large maps with vehicles.

Bombing Run was originally introduced in UT2003. In this mode, the goal is to score points by carrying a ball to the opposing teams’ goal. It’s similar to CTF, but backwards. Instead of taking something from the opponent’s goal and returning it to base in order to score, you are now taking something to the opponents goal to score. To me, this mode is a bit quirky and doesn’t feel like it fits in with the other game types. Still, it’s pretty fun when you get paired with the right group of people.

Finally, we have Mutant. This mode works largely like a regular Deathmatch game except that the first player to get a frag becomes a “mutant”. Mutants are granted buffs in the form of extra speed and infinite ammo, etc. This gives them an edge over other players, but also makes them the number one target. Whoever manages to frag the mutant, inherits their powers. In this way, its similar to a game of Tag, where being the Mutant is the equivalent of being “it”. It’s fast paced and often very unbalanced. Still, despite it’s chaotic nature, this is one of my favorite modes.

Aside from the new game modes, one of the biggest differences between UT99 and UT2004 is the graphics. This game was released during a time where 3D graphics technology was accelerating at an unimaginable pace. Instead of 16-bit textures, UT2004 supports 32-bit textures right out of the box. The lighting system in this game is also vastly improved. This is also the first Unreal title to fully support vertex shading, meaning that reflective surfaces look better and more realistic than ever. These visual changes are not only noticeable in the environment, but also the character and weapon models. Compared to other games in the series (which were infamous for their jaw-dropping graphics), this game is leaps and bounds above what was seen before.

In its prime, Unreal Tournament 2004 was an extremely popular game with a strong community. Even up to the final days, the official servers had active players around the clock. Today, using the community-ran servers, there’s not as many active players. Most of the servers with a player count are actually populated with bots. But, during peak times you can still catch a handful of real players if you know where to look.

This was a game that my wife and I used to enjoy together in the early days of our marriage. I have many memories of late night frag fests with her. When I played this game again for this review, I was hoping to capture a fraction of the magic once again. Sadly, while the nostalgia was there, it just wasn’t the same. But, at the end of the day, what can you expect from a game twenty years after its initial release.

Despite the wow factor that this game initially brought to the table, it’s very difficult for me to recommend this game today. The hoops you have to jump through just don’t align with the skeleton crew that remains of the games’ community. Still, if you enjoyed UT2004 back in the old days, and you have a group of friends willing to play, it can certainly be worth taking a trip down memory lane.

Version Reviewed: PC

Difficulty: Variable–  The single player campaign has a variable difficulty setting that is pretty accurate at first. However, as you progress the difficulty seems to ramp up a bit quicker than expected. Still, I’d say it’s fairly balanced. Naturally, all bets are off when playing against other people. The difficulty in multiplayer mode is directly related to the skill of your opponents.

Multiplayer: Yes.

Story: The background story is similar to the previous title. The Liandri corporation serves as a loose set up for the reasons the tournaments exist. This “tournament lore” builds off of UT99 and even UT2003 to an extent. But it’s not important in the slightest. This game is all about multiplayer action.

Originality: Arena deathmatch games were still a blossoming genre by 2003/2004. As a second-gen title, this game attempts to stand out by introducing vehicles to the mix and providing some rather unique modes of play. In this regard, I think it did a pretty good of standing out among the crowd.

Soundtrack: The soundtrack very appropriate and well done. But, most of it is recycled from previous Unreal games. The tunes are catchy, but overall they are not particularly memorable.

Fun: In its prime, this was the game to play. It can still be fun today, but the online community is very small and it’s a little difficult to get into. Still, if you’re a previous player, the trip down memory lane can be quite nice.

Graphics: The best in the series yet. Surprisingly, even by today’s standards, this game still look sleek and certain areas still managed to give me pause.

Playcontrol: The default controls are pretty much perfect. The modern standard of WSAD is included out of the box and is implemented flawlessly. The physics handling in UT2003 and UT2004 are slightly different (I prefer 2004’s), but both are much tighter and even more responsive than UT99..

Downloadable Content:  Free mods and maps.

Mature Content: Violence, Gore

Value: You can get used copies of this game online for around $25. I’ve even seen sealed copies pop up from time to time. But. due to the lack of official support from Epic, it’s hard to recommend this to anyone but serious Unreal fans.

Overall score (1-100): 90 – It’s hard to score this game fairly today, considering how Epic Games has basically pulled the plug on official support. But, looking past that, there’s no denying that this game was top quality in its day. Personally, I don’t feel like it was quite as iconic as the original UT, or even Quake III Arena, but it ranks right up there.

Original System: PC

Available today on:  Currently not available   – (Updated as of Summer 2025)

Best Experience: PC   – (Updated as of Summer 2025)