The Titan Pack’s downloadable content includes the gametypes Greed and Betrayal, the namesake Titan mutator, 19 maps, the Link Station and X-Ray Field deployables, the Stinger Turret and Eradicator Cannon weapons, the Stealthbender vehicle, the Slow Field power-up, and characters Kana and Nova.

Speaking of Greed, our guys are having a blast with this addictive new gametype. Greed is a fast-paced, “tug of war” style mode in which you swipe the skulls of fallen players and unload them at the enemy base to score points. Silver skulls are worth a point, gold skulls represent five points, and red skulls are 20 points.

It’s common to see players fighting over huge hoards of skulls as the clock winds down. Each team always tries desperately to stop the other from scoring while, at the same time, fighting to survive en route to the enemy base with their own stockpile. It’s a complete frenzy, but no lead is insurmountable, and there is always hope for a comeback at the last second.

For an interesting twist, you can play Greed with the Titan mutator activated. In this scenario, the goals are the same except you can transform into a 15-foot Titan, which is handy for sowing mass destruction on opponents while protecting skull-toting teammates. To trigger the metamorphosis, simply fill your meter by killing enemies, capturing flags or nodes, and completing other game objectives.

UT3 players can already enjoy the title update portion of the Titan Pack for PS3, which incorporates a long list of enhancements, including split-screen support, an integrated mod browser, 57 Trophies, major visual and menu flow upgrades, significant A.I. improvements, overhauled networking performance, and better mod support.

Happy hunting!

I’ve been asked to talk about one of my favorite Unreal Tournament 3 Vehicle Capture the Flag (vCTF) maps – Suspense. There are so many good nooks and crannies in this map that I had to highlight a few!

If you haven’t played Suspense – this map is a giant suspension bridge that has a flag base at each end. You can set up killing zones by using the towers as blockers, snipe or infiltrate the base by using the suspension bridge itself or use the various power ups to do flag runs. I’ll go into each one of those below and give a couple random tips at the end.

The main weapon on the map is the Goliath Tank – most people just drive it down the bridge and it usually gets blown up by an AVRiL, but there is a way to maximize your firepower. If you take the tank from its starting position and drive it diagonally across the street to the right to the first large bridge support pillar – then you can use the pillar as a barricade against AVRiLs and tank fire. By poking your turret out around the corner of the pillar and rocking back and forth to avoid incoming fire you can control the whole street and take out snipers on the far side by the SPMA. However, crafty people usually try to flank you in the Manta or by jumping to the building behind you – so be vigilant! If you get good at this maneuver you usually can easily get a Rampage every time.

Next – the bridge suspension cables provide access to the upper reaches of the bridge. To access this area you run up the cables, use your hoverboard to skate up the cables (kind of tricky!), or have a Raptor pilot drop you off on the top platform. Before you journey up to the top – take a Sniper Rifle or the AVRiL! If you want to snipe – on each suspension bridge tower is a UDamage (for a total of two… which you can easily grab one and then the other in a loop using a narrow walkway). The only way people can reach you on the top platforms are the same ways you got up there (which isn’t easy), and you can have some fun while they scramble to reach you. By using the suspension cables to facilitate your getaway is a fast way to get the flag and escape quickly. Usually people are looking on the ground for the stolen flag/flag carrier – not in the air!

When you are doing your flag runs remember to power up using the Body Armor and the Jump Boots (to help you escape). These are located in the “middle” of each bridge support (between the ground and the AVRiL platform). The Body Armor is on the on the right side as you look down the bridge from the base and the Jump Boots are on the left. Once you grab these items you will have a good chance at grabbing that flag and making it back to your base alive.

Finally, some random tips:

· When the Redeemer under the bridge appears, the manhole covers in the center of the bridge open – providing easy access to this weapon.

· Use the “lock on” function with the Rocket Launcher to kill any Mantas or Raptors strafing your base – too many people use the Stinger against aircraft and the results are much more effective with the Rocket Launcher.

· Crouch while grappling to a vehicle on the hoverboard – this keeps you steady, closer to the back end of the vehicle to avoid incoming fire, and doesn’t bounce you around as much.

That’s it for me – have fun and I’ll see you on the battlefield in Unreal Tournament 3!

Fast forward to 2006, and I’d received a job offer for an Associate Producer position at Epic Games to work on the exact franchise that had fascinated me almost exactly 10 years earlier. AHAHAHA OMGNUTS!! I mean, yeah – in this generation, growing up as a gamer, and then getting the opportunity to work at a company that epitomizes the games that you’ve loved for a big part of your life; it’s just nuts.

So anyways, 10 years later, and what’s changed? The series is still going strong with Unreal Tournament 3 and all of the great gameplay that UT fans love, but there is a big feature that we had been wanting to bring to the console platform for some time. Since a good portion of UT3’s development team got their game industry start in mod making; it only made sense that we would bring to PLAYSTATION 3 what PC owners have known for years with mod support. Mods, or modifications (to the original game they were based off of) can include new weapons or characters, models, meshes, maps, mutators; or they can even be entirely new games themselves using the editing tools, game assets, and code base.

You, my PS3-loving friends reading this, have the opportunity to reshape the distribution and development of user created content and game making. In a generation where making a game for a console is becoming restricted almost exclusively for larger companies due to cost, this is your opportunity to bring your idea to Sony’s platform via UnrealEngine3’s tool set.

But HOW you say?! You’re not a coder, and you haven’t modeled anything in your life?! Well, first step would be to watch some of the tutorial videos made by our talented LDs to get familiarized with the toolset. Next would be to get the PC version on your system and use the level editor tools to create a level while experimenting with UT3’s existing assets.

When you get more advanced, you could use the scripting language UnrealScript, Kismet (a visual based scripting system, so no coding knowledge required); or even your own 3D models to make something completely unique. When you’ve finished, just use UnrealFrontEnd (or ‘UFE’ – it’s included with the PS3 mod tools), a program that will automatically format your project into PS3-optimal packages. Just name your mod something cool, select your removable media, plug it into your PS3, import the mod, and you’re ready to play. By the magic of the programming team, any new maps or mutators will be automatically recognized in the menus. Important to note that if you’re not one of those creative types, you’re more than welcome to download any of this new content from a friend onto media and enjoy the mod revolution that way as well.

Right now, this tech is only available on the PS3 console, so this is my challenge to you, PS3 owners! Create the next big thing! Completely change the world of gaming as we know it! We can’t wait to see what you come up with.