Unreal Tournament 2004
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 24 first-person shooters by recommenders
Fast arena shooter with strong bots, big maps, easy custom maps and replayability. Caveat: unbalanced maps and few new players.
Fast arena shooter with strong bots, big maps, easy custom maps and replayability. Caveat: unbalanced maps and few new players.
63 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 51
- criticize it
- 12
- approval share
- 81%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 51 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Addictive, hours-consuming gameplay
“I lost waaaaay too many hours to the Monster Hunt mod back in the day”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back” “I was so addicted to this back in the day”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is now available for free thanks to its fan community” “Still my favorite FPS of all time.”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back” - Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back”
- Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back”
Varied modes, replayable, fun CTF
“it really increased replayability by changing things up”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back” “UT2004 was the peak, with all its different game modes”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back” “So happy to play facing worlds instagib CTF. Godlike!”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back” - Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back”
Native Linux support that works
“it was one of the very few games that had an official native Linux version”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back” “installing ut2k4 on my linux box and having it Just Work”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back” “had it working without issues from Steam”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back” - Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back”
Runs well on old hardware
“It actually worked on period hardware and many would argue it looks better.”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back” “That game ran flawlessly on a 10 year old laptop with no dGPU.”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “The Forgotten Art of the LAN Party (2023)” “UT2K3 and UT2K4 were just about the only games I could run”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Failed to attract new players
“All three were great games (regardless of how nit-picky the players might be), and all three failed at attracting and maintaining new players.”
Comment from 6 Aug 2026 in “Quake – 30th Anniversary Update” “all three failed at attracting and maintaining new players”
Comment from 6 Aug 2026 in “Quake – 30th Anniversary Update” UT3 sluggish and poorly received
“UT3 felt sluggish at the time. Both in gameplay and graphics performance.”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back” “UT3 was a dismal failure both critically and commercially”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back” “UT3 was definitely not a great game by anyone's measure”
Comment from 6 Aug 2026 in “Quake – 30th Anniversary Update” Later versions locked or removed
“The current locked-box 'as the developers intended' version sucks in comparison.”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Unreal Tournament 2004 is back” “I can't play it because Epic removed it from the Epic game store.”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls”
Other first-person shooters people recommend
The four most recommended other first-person shooters, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quake | 118 | 29 | 80% | 12 | 28 yrs8 owners | Approved |
| Doom by id Software | 102 | 24 | 81% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Unreal Tournament 2004This page | 51 | 12 | 81% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Quake III Arena | 49 | 3 | 94% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Half-Life | 42 | 7 | 86% | 10 | — | Approved |
What people said
40 of the 71 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I was so addicted to this back in the day”
“UT4 was a free tech demo for Unreal Engine 4 that never got completed”
“UT3 was definitely not a great game by anyone's measure”
“all three failed at attracting and maintaining new players”
“All three were great games (regardless of how nit-picky the players might be), and all three failed at attracting and maintaining new players.”
“That game ran flawlessly on a 10 year old laptop with no dGPU.”
“I can't play it because Epic removed it from the Epic game store.”
“Back in ye goode olde UT2004 times, there was no random matchmaking”
“Unreal Tournament was one of the first franchises to have bot behavior that was well thought out”
“I lost so many hours to this game.”
“The current locked-box 'as the developers intended' version sucks in comparison.”
“Kills your fingers and you can’t ignore it because dodging seems to be the primary mode of skill expression”
“I liked getting to the other side of that map by telepunting”
“So happy to play facing worlds instagib CTF. Godlike!”
“Facing Worlds was really something. Getting absurd streaks mowing down bots wasn't particularly challenging but it sure felt good.”
“I lost waaaaay too many hours to the Monster Hunt mod back in the day”
“how cool was that the translocator could be used as a weapon”
“Modding Unreal games was always a great time considering the technology back then.”
“It's not a well-balanced map gameplay-wise, but the grand scale of it back in the day was very awe-inspiring.”
“towards the end of life they made it die that much quicker”
“had it working without issues from Steam”
“UT2003 was the first online multiplayer game I ever played, and I played it a lot”
“So, so many fond memories of both.”
“UT3 felt sluggish at the time. Both in gameplay and graphics performance.”
“It actually worked on period hardware and many would argue it looks better.”
“Still my favorite FPS of all time.”
“UT2004 was the peak, with all its different game modes”
“Wow, this is great! I wonder if there is support for ray tracing and other modern tech”
“UT3 was a dismal failure both critically and commercially”
“it actually ran better in Linux for me”
“One of the last good multiplayer FPS games before Epic lost its way.”
“UT2K3 and UT2K4 were just about the only games I could run”
“installing ut2k4 on my linux box and having it Just Work”
“it was one of the very few games that had an official native Linux version”
“Capture the flag is something else in this game!”
“They made it really easy to build and play your own maps.”
“I remember playing this for the first time at a Wizards of the Coast in the mall.”
“it really increased replayability by changing things up”
“Older ports, such as UT2004, still work but a few upgrades give a much better experience”
“UT2003 - there it is getting hard, unmaintained since ca. 2003.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.