Unreal Tournament returns – in its classic form from 2004. The popular shooter will soon be playable again.
When a beloved game can no longer be played, it is always a sad thing. Much nostalgia hangs on games that were played back then at LAN parties or online, spending nights with friends. One of those games is “Unreal Tournament 2004,” which hasn’t been playable for a while. But that is about to change. A fan project has received the blessing from developer Epic Games – the legendary shooter is making its return.
Another shooter serves as a sort of spiritual successor to Unreal Tournament: Splitgate Arena Reloaded.
What is Unreal Tournament 2004? The game was the third installment in the series and is still fondly remembered by fans. This is due to many improvements and innovations compared to the two predecessors – there were nearly 100 different maps, new weapons, and for the first time in the series, vehicles. Moreover, the behavior of enemies (i.e., the AI of the bots) was considered quite advanced.
Especially the most popular game modes like Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, or Assault are modes many of you probably played at LAN parties in the 2000s – or at least had older siblings who always rave about them.
Unreal Tournament 2004 is, like all parts of the series, known for very fast and brutal action. There are basically no long waiting times, as you are constantly running towards your fellow players to send them to the digital afterlife with all sorts of (impossible) weapons. It is a classic arena shooter that many believe represented the peak of gaming back then.
Why was it no longer playable? In December 2022, Epic Games decided to take most of the “Unreal Tournament” series servers offline. Since then, Unreal Tournament 2004 has only been playable with some workarounds.
But that is set to change now.
Why is it returning now? The site “OldUnreal” has been trying for years to preserve and make playable the old games of the “Unreal Tournament” series and keep the community alive with various contents like patches, mods, or skin packs. Now it was announced on the Discord server of the project:
With the blessing of Epic and the help of some new team members, we are bringing Unreal Tournament 2024 (UT2004) back.
This means we will release an installation file that downloads an original image of the UT2004 DVD, installs the game, and applies patches. We will also release patches to modernize the game, making it compatible with Windows Vista and onwards (…)
Yes, you read that right. UT2004 will soon be available for download again. Free of charge.
While there isn’t a specific date for the re-release yet, they plan to invite the first testers within the next two months to address existing issues.
Anyone wanting to fully wrap themselves in nostalgia in the future should already mobilize friends and schoolmates from the past, only to bitterly realize that they no longer have the reflexes they once did – except for that one guy who still manages to pull off a “M-M-M-Monsterkill!” time and again. Each of you has that one friend, right?
If you’re more into modern shooting, we have the best shooters for PC, PS5, and Xbox for you.
