Unreal Tournament 3 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows)

From the moment you start UNREAL TOURNAMENT 3, it's clear the multiplayer element is king. A single-player campaign seems like a warm-up for the more robust multiplayer modes. In it, you work as a mercenary seeking revenge against an alien race who wiped out your colony. All battles within that campaign are a series of offline matches on a wide selection of maps.

Most battles follow the standard format, like Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. Warfare is perhaps the game's best option. You must overtake a series of small nodes that link to your enemy's power source; once linked, that core is vulnerable to attack. The first team to destroy their enemy's core wins.

Epic Games, the company behind Gears of War, makes a frenetic debut on the PS3 with the gory shooter Unreal Tournament 3. The atmosphere is intense and incredibly fast-paced, arguably the fastest shooter on any console. The game also boasts impressive customization options that have bolstered a fan base cultivated in prior PC releases.

At times, the campaigns feel repetitive. However, Unreal Tournament 3 quells those concerns with a unique set of weapons, multiple maps, and challenging opponents. An intriguing feature is the ability to create maps and other modifications on the game's PC version and transfer them onto the PlayStation 3. However, one drawback is you'll need to own both the PC and PS3 versions of the game to take advantage.