hile Epic has officially transferred Unreal publishing rights from Atari to Midway, Atari still has one more Unreal property to showcase, Unreal Tournament 2004 – Editors Choice Edition.  The version is called the Editors Choice Edition due to all of the accolades the title has received since its release, but it’s more than just a repack of the same game.  Added to the fold are 3 completely new vehicles for Onslaught, 4-8 new Onslaught maps, 6 new and returning characters, and a heap of mods from the NVidia $1,000,000 Make Something Unreal Contest.  We got the opportunity to sit down with Epic’s Cliffy B to get the lowdown of what really matters.

There will be three new vehicles added to Onslaught, which also can be retrofitted for the original Onslaught maps.  The three new vehicles include:

Self Propelled Mobile Artillery (SPMA) – A truck type vehicle with a howitzer styled weapon mounted on the back.  The alternate fire launches a camera into the air which you can control.  As you move the camera around, the viewpoint changes into a sort of RTS viewpoint of the battlefield, which you can tweak to your liking.  You then launch your shot which explodes, taking out anything your camera’s reticule is pointed at.  While this all sounds sweet as candy,.you’re completely vulnerable while your messing with the camera, so speed is a concern. 

The Verdict: This is going to be a great way to slaughter those pesky campers, as well as take out people who are too busy screwing around with their cameras.

Cicada – A two-person flying vehicle which is heavier than a raptor that specializes in vertical take-offs and landings.  The primary fire is missiles that drop out from the side and take off where ever you’re pointing.  With Secondary fire you target an enemy, lock onto them, and then unload multiple missiles, and then dive behind some cover.  The second passenger gets a ball turret and chaff grenades.

The Verdict:  Missiles always rule, and chaff protection from locked-on missiles from enemies will help on the battlefield.  A sort of peanut butter meets chocolate taste sensation combination.  We dig it.

Paladin -  A beefy tank which has a primary attack of a super shock rifle combo.  The alternate fire is a shield (Paladin – get it?  Shield?).  Using the shield emits a purple-ish type web which infantry can walk through it, and vehicles can drive through it – but all weapons can be defended.

The Verdict: It’ll be perfect against any attack, and if opponents get to close for comfort, light them up with the rifle.

Epic is still working out the number of new Onslaught maps that they’re planning on including, but we got a taste of one that was very unique, as well as looks like it’ll be just as much to rip around in, as it is to play Onslaught with – ONS Tricky.  Part SSX Tricky, part Unreal, Tricky is looking to be a total blast.  Picture a huge dirt filled arena with jumps, half pipes, accelerator pads, fire rings, fireworks, and vehicular tricks to boot and that’ll give you a gist of the landscape that awaits you.   It’ll be interesting to see if anyone actually plays Onslaught while this map is loaded on the server, instead of just screwing around and pulling off wicked maneuvers.  But that is if Electronic Arts doesn’t get a little upset about the name.  Other maps were not unveiled to us.

Still in progress but winding down is the NVidia $1,000,000 Make Something Unreal Contest, and some chosen modification will also be added to the package.  If you want to test out some of these mods, step on over to the Unreal Tournament 2004 website.  While nothing has been finalized at this point, Cliff did give me a sort of unofficial list that are some serious contenders, which include:

Red Orchestra

UnWheel

Air Buccaneers

Chaos UT2 Evolution

Clone Bandits

Deathball

Rocketeer

Alien Swarm

Jailbreak

Frags Ops

Domain 2049

Newcomers to the series can get all these new additions plus the original game for $39.99.  For those of you who have already dropped the coin to purchase the original or special edition, don’t fret (unless you’re a collector and need the new packaging).  All these additions will be available to download for free, which is a nice bonus.  Overall, we would have liked to see more maps for some of the other mods as well, and possibly some new weapons, but these additions should mix up the game of Onslaught quite a bit.