Atari Ships Unreal Tournament 2004; Latest in the Unreal Tournament Franchise Redefines PC Multiplayer Mayhem

Business Wire, March 16, 2004

Entertainment Editors/Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 16, 2004

Game Earns "Editor's Choice" Awards on GameSpy.com, IGN.com

Online PC gaming is Unreal again! Atari and Epic Games have shipped Unreal(R) Tournament 2004, the highly anticipated follow-up to last year's Unreal Tournament 2003 and the third installment in the mega-selling Unreal Tournament franchise, to retail stores worldwide this week. The game has already received a 5 out of 5 stars on GameSpy.com and a 9.4 out of 10 on IGN.com, two of the premiere video game news and reviews Web sites. Both sites gave the game their Editor's Choice Award.

"With Unreal Tournament 2004, Epic, Atari, Digital Extremes and Co. have done more than return the series to its former glory -- they've unleashed a monster that could dominate multiplayer gaming for the rest of 2004," according to GameSpy.com's review. IGN.com agreed, saying "Unreal Tournament 2004 is set to make a thunderous impact as big as (or bigger) than the one caused by the original Unreal Tournament."

Unreal Tournament 2004 was developed by Epic Games in conjunction with Digital Extremes. The game builds on the success of past installments, taking the franchise to the next level with the introduction of the hyper-charged Onslaught mode, the return of the fan-favorite Assault mode, which last appeared in the original Unreal Tournament, and the introduction of land-, air- and space-based vehicles.

Gamers worldwide made the free, downloadable demo of Unreal Tournament 2004 one of the most popular game demo downloads of all time, with more than 1.5 million downloads in the first week of availability. The official demo first hit the Internet on Wednesday, February 11, and was distributed on a worldwide scale.

In Unreal Tournament 2004, players suit up as the ultimate techno-gladiator of the future, taking their fates into their own hands as they battle up to 32 other players in action-packed, frag-filled arenas. Unreal Tournament 2004 contains new maps for all established game modes, including Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Bombing Run and Double Domination, as well as all new arenas for the two additional styles of play - Onslaught and Assault. In addition, Unreal Tournament 2004 contains all of the maps, mutators and game types -- such as Mutant, Last Man Standing and Invasion -- from Unreal Tournament 2003 and the free downloadable bonus packs for that game.

Features in Unreal Tournament 2004 include:

-- Onslaught Mode: Onslaught is an epic-in-scope team-based

challenge that pits two teams in bitter warfare across massive

terrain maps in a frag-filled battle to destroy, capture and

hold key power nodes. Vehicles play a major role as

war-hardened flying and driving machines transport combatants

to the "front" and serve as mobile platforms to launch

devastating attacks on the enemy.

-- Assault Mode: In the completely redesigned Assault mode,

gamers are challenged to complete a variety of mission

objectives to attack or defend bases in a bigger and badder

version of the Unreal Tournament classic; many Assault maps

require the use of vehicles as a critical gameplay element.

-- Vehicles: Unreal Tournament 2004 features a variety of land-,

space- and air-based vehicles, including buggies, tanks,

hovercraft, aircraft and more.

-- Voice Technology: Integrated voice communications, including

voice-over-IP technology to allow real-time chat with

teammates and opponents during gameplay; voice recognition,

allowing players to issue orders to computer controlled bots;

and, text-to-voice conversion of typed chat. Voice chat

includes 3D audio on supported sound cards, so players can

sense where voices emanate from.

-- New and Revised Weapons: The devastating arsenal of

bone-crunching weaponry that Unreal has become famous for

returns, with several enhancements, including model and

texture updates as well as sound improvements. The game also

includes all new weaponry for the massive Onslaught and

Assault battles, including the armor-shredding AVRiL

(Anti-Vehicle Rocket Launcher) to take down incoming vehicles,

the Grenade Launcher, which discharges sticky explosives on

enemy emplacements, vehicles and personnel, the Spider Mines,

which are brutal arachnid bombs that scuttle the landscape

searching for unsuspecting adversaries, and a completely

redesigned and reintroduced Sniper Rifle, not seen since the

original Unreal Tournament.

-- Characters: New and classic fan-favorite Unreal characters

join The Tournament to challenge players, including the

vicious Skaarj and the infamous Xan Kriegor.

-- New Maps: More than 100 levels are included in the game for

all new and existing gametypes, featuring tons of new

textures, static meshes and music. In total, Unreal Tournament

2004 ships with more never-before-seen maps than the entire

number of maps that shipped with Unreal Tournament 2003!

-- UnrealTV: A match broadcast system that allows for hundreds of