And yet again, this development may have already reached the ears of the Unreal Tournament-faithful, but we'll be attempting to update the uninformed still waiting for Unreal Tournament III (Mac, PlayStation 3, Windows PC on DVD, Xbox 360). In a past interview with Game Informer, Epic Games' lead producer Jeff Morris said, "Your [AI] teammates are individuals, with their own personalities."

 

And ever since, some UT fans have been whispering about the possible return of a few memorable bot "personalities" from Unreal Tournament classic. Alas, this news may dampen such lively spirits, for Morris' statement has been clarified in another interview with Australia's Gameplayer:

Unlike previous UTs, in single player youÂ?re controlling a distinct character, with his own personality, quirks, and likes/dislikes. Your team is also comprised of these fleshed out characters and their antics, both in-game and in the cinematics, help ground the over the top action that UT is known for into a strong narrative.

So rather, like Unreal Tournament classic, bot statistics will definitely come into play. But for Unreal Tournament III, that aspect has been improved considerably to 'flesh out' your chosen character and your teammates. This time, background ties down each of your companion's personality and their combat actions.

And because most UT-fans have been content to play offline with AI rather than online with cheaters, Morris states that Epic Games has created considerable content for those types of gamers. "This time around theyÂ?ve got a huge campaign to sink their teeth into," said Morris.

Although hopes that ace-gunner Tamerlane, counterpart ace-gunner Tamara, sharpshooting Loque, or bunny-hopping Kragoth may return have dimmed somewhat, suggesting their return to the Unreal Tournament limelight might be helpful. Who knows? Maybe Epic will listen. Besides, who wouldn't want to have ol' buddy Tamerlane watching your back?

Although not especially high in Epic Games' priority list, interconnected multiplayer sessions between PC mouse-twitchers and PlayStation 3 analog-fumblers may be more than a probability now. Next Generation has reported that IGN's GameSpy has just signed a licensing agreement with Epic Games.

 

As a result, GameSpy's online multiplayer technology will now be incorporated into Unreal Engine 3, permitting the connectivity of PC (and therefore, also Mac) gaming's online infrastructure with that of the PlayStation 3's open network infrastructure. Along with the interconnectivity features, additional online helper applications, which include communication, statistical, and competition tools, will follow.

But more importantly, the licensing of GameSpy tech will now allow all other UE3 licensees to cross the Mac-PC-PlayStation 3 gap. That's a list that includes Codemasters' Turning Point: Fall of Liberty and Ubisoft's Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway.

GameSpy now joins a slew of other companies in Epic Games' Integrated Partners Program, while offering the quick solution to Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 networking capabilities. Director Todd Northcutt of GameSpy Technologies told Next Generation that Epic decided not to develop the engine's networking technology and searched for a third-party solution instead.

And yet the interconnectivity scenario continues to broaden. Despite the fact that Midway's Unreal Tournament III (Mac, PlayStation 3, Windows PC on DVD, Xbox 360) will not be supporting Microsoft's Live Anywhere initiative, GameSpy added that it would offer its own solution to bridge the Xbox 360, PC, Mac, and PlayStation 3 gap.

"We're huge believers in cross-platform play. It's something gamers would love to see, to be able to play with one unified community no matter what platform they're on. We certainly have the technology to make that happen," said Northcutt.

Now the only hurdle left is whether Sony and Microsoft would even agree to such a move.

In a recent interview conducted by community fansite BeyondUnreal, Steve Polge sat down down with BU's hal to finalize the first of many details as Unreal Tournament III preps for an all-out invasion on the PlayStation 3, Windows PC, Mac and Xbox 360. We know start of the story, and we know what enemies we'll face, but what we still don't know, Epic Games' Polge helped single out.

 

Unreal Tournament first debuted on the PC, and in honor of that tradition the PC version has been engineered to accept low-level hardware rig setups, while allowing monster machines to take full advantage of Unreal Engine 3.  Enthusiasts will have another title to gauge their systems' performance, but budget performance PCs won't be left in the dust.

In fact, Polge mentioned low level hardware performance was a focus for UT3. "Visually, the game scales very well to a wide variety of hardware," added Polge. But it didn't turn out well for the next generation consoles: although Unreal Engine 3 has been optimized for each platform, as Epic claimed, it won't be running like liquid mercury on the Xenon-based Xbox 360 or even the CELL-packing PlayStation 3.

"The game plays a bit slower on the console versions. ... Of course, the user interface will be significantly different on PC to take advantage of mouse and keyboard input, as well as PC monitor resolution," said Polge, but he maintained that every version will be completely identical to each other in content, albeit not in features.

Epic did announce previously that PC mods can be utilized over PlayStation 3, but cross-platform multiplayer is still a question that has yet to be addressed. Polge said, "There is some aiming help [on consoles] (although the system weÂ?ve developed, while very effective, feels quite subtle)," which probably means while Epic is considering the idea, it's unlikely to push through without additional time consumed for a control balancing act.

There has been no mention of a demo yet as of press time, but we'll be keeping tabs on that.