Want to play the new Unreal Tournament for free, right this very second? Cor blimey and OMG you totes can! Hero of the people ‘raxxy’ on the Unreal Forums is compiling Epic’s builds and releasing them as small, playable packages that anyone can run, with multiple updates per week. The maps are untextured, the weapons unbalanced, and things change rapidly as everything’s still “pre-alpha” but it’s playable and – more importantly – fun.
To get started, just grab the latest build from here. Every time it’s updated, you’ll need to manually download it, so I’d recommend joining the IRC channel where the efforts are coordinated (enter a name and put #beyondunreal into the channel box) to keep yourself in the loop. Once you’re in game, take a moment to read the information available and then use one of the portals on the right to join a server.
Previously, access to the Unreal 4 editor was required to play the test builds Epic were putting out. This meant buying a subscription to stay updated, or at least a one-time purchase to get a snapshot. What this means is all of this is unofficial, but Epic have given their blessing on it and are responding to feedback coming out of it. It’s a win/win, providing a build for the hungry to play without any additional effort on their part.
The severs are massively packed out at the moment, so it’s a bit of a clusterfuck and there aren’t always open spots. I still had a great time though, just moving around the maps feels incredibly fluid. There’s no actual wall-running, but when you get a string of wall-dodges going without touching the ground it feels like Titanfall. It also runs surprisingly smooth on my reasonably dated machine. Many of those playing are die-hard UTers who’ve been playing since the original in ’99, so do expect to have your ass handed to you repeatedly.
raxxy’s continuing to improve his service, with plans to launch 1v1 servers that will rotate players in and out automatically by the end of the week. Other members of the IRC channel are looking into making a proper server browser and auto-update tools, to make the whole process smoother. As for the game itself, Epic now share their Trello development pinboard with the public and they’re always looking for more feedback and contributions on the official forums. Their most recent dev livestream discussed CTF mode, the teleportation device specific to that, and how they’re planning to handle a dodge button.
Here’s ex-professional FPSer Fatal1ty, who you may remember from your early ’00s branded hardware, rampaging around:
13/08/2014 at 17:21 Freud says:
Looking good. Hope they get back to the roots of simple mechanics that take a long time to master.
13/08/2014 at 17:32 secuda says:
The only F2P game that i am genuin intrresting in.
14/08/2014 at 13:31 lordcooper says:
That isn’t how you spell free.
15/08/2014 at 09:29 LordGold says:
That isnt how u spell copper
13/08/2014 at 17:38 derbefrier says:
Cool I will wait untill it a lot more complete before I try to play though.
13/08/2014 at 17:51 BLACKOUT-MK2 says:
I downloaded it but it keeps telling me I’m missing MSVCP120.dll whatever the heck that is.
13/08/2014 at 17:55 slight says:
Did you install vcredist_x64.exe? You’ll need that too.
13/08/2014 at 17:59 Freud says:
You could try (re-)installing MS visual c++. It’s usually what’s needed when you get one of those error messages.
link to microsoft.com
13/08/2014 at 18:07 BLACKOUT-MK2 says:
Oh yeah, that did it. Thanks a lot. I usually see that when I install games and they’ve worked okay without so I left it. Thanks again.
13/08/2014 at 17:56 rpsKman says:
How is the controller support?
13/08/2014 at 17:57 slight says:
No!
13/08/2014 at 20:18 SuicideKing says:
NEVER!
13/08/2014 at 20:58 Synesthesia says:
The taint! Bring the HAZMATs!
13/08/2014 at 22:39 hennedo says:
does it support my joystick?
14/08/2014 at 03:03 The Great Lord Xenu says:
Go away, peasant.
14/08/2014 at 13:32 lordcooper says:
Does it support wiimote?
14/08/2014 at 13:37 rpsKman says:
I love you guys.
14/08/2014 at 19:01 Dave Tosser says:
They sell things called consoles that offer 100% controller support. You might like one.
13/08/2014 at 18:22 kael13 says:
So I still play UT3 from time to time against bots and I just downloaded this and managed third place two games out of two. I have renewed faith in my ability!
On top that, the UT4 aesthetic is a thousand times better already. No grainy, crappy textures and the lighting engine is gorgeous.
It’s still buggy and there’s almost no UI to speak of yet but I have high hopes!
13/08/2014 at 19:25 rb2610 says:
Also, if you’re at all interested in Game Development, be it coding or art, if you get Unreal Engine 4 ($19 subscription) you can get full access to the game’s code on Github.
This means you can either just play around with it for your own amusement, or you can contribute code and features to the game itself, and submit it for potential inclusion in the game
14/08/2014 at 10:19 LionsPhil says:
“You can pay to work on Epic’s codebase for them.”
Hahaha no.
14/08/2014 at 19:38 rb2610 says:
You pay to use the engine to develop your own games of course, it’s just a bonus.
Clearly you aren’t the target market for their development tools, but for people who are interested, how often do you actually get to have involvement in producing big title like that without working as a full time developer?
13/08/2014 at 23:42 DelrueOfDetroit says:
The minute that I watched reminded me so much of UT2K3. Right down to the useless blob gun.
14/08/2014 at 00:36 hamburger_cheesedoodle says:
Bio is actually pretty powerful in this game (and UT3). The players are a lot larger and the blob has a hit radius, plus the trajectory is significantly less useless. Does a lot of damage, and is pretty useful.
14/08/2014 at 03:09 Kaeoschassis says:
Yeah the snotgun in UT3 was surprisingly worthwhile. Not to mention it got a frankly beautiful art upgrade turning it from a glorified water-pistol into some kind of murderous alien robot spider monster thing.
14/08/2014 at 10:49 The First Door says:
The bio gun was pretty damn useful in most of the UT games to be honest. If you charged a blob up and then hit someone with it, they just vanished. I used it like a grenade launcher and loved it!
14/08/2014 at 04:22 Smoky_the_Bear says:
Damn, not seen Fatal1ty for a while. The move away from twitchy arena shooters must have hurt his pro gaming earnings. Wonder what he’s been up to.
14/08/2014 at 09:35 Crainey says:
Sitting on his small fortune made from products sold and winnings, as it would seem from Twitter. He has started attending events (as a spectator), mingling with the new (and old) folk in eSports and has even done a few small showmatches (“hey I’m still here”). I’m sure he is going to get involved again at some capacity, just probably not competing.
14/08/2014 at 21:08 zeep says:
Quake mechanics are still better than this. You can build up speed and maintain that momentum, it adds so much depth / dynamic to the gameplay. I hope they add some of this player movement inertia to UT this time.