Easily the best multiplayer FPS on the market, even 6 years after its release.
Obviously, the most attractive feature of Unreal Tournament is the online multiplayer gameplay. Fast-paced. Check. Action-packed. Check. Addictive. Double check.
What really makes UT stand apart from its predecessors and even the imitators that have tried, and failed, to emulate since its release, are the weapons and the dodging system. By double-tapping a direction button, your player will dodge in that direction adding velocity to your movement as well as a nice animation to "juke" your enemies out of their shoes. The dodging system adds a whole new dynamic and flow to the old Quake formula of simply strafing back and forth. But the game designers didn't stop there; They also revolutionized the weapons with the invention of the shock rifle and the translocator.
The shock rifle is one of the most original and versatile weapons in first-person shooter history. With the ability to produce a "shock combo" by combining the alt and primary fires, players have the ability to effectively attack enemies from almost any angle and with any combination of dodging/strafing. New players will often be using "stand-still combos" as they are often referred to, but advanced players will find the possibilities infinite with the shock combo.
The third and final key to Unreal Tournament's greatness is the translocator. The "trans" is mainly used in the Capture the Flag mod for UT, allows players to shoot a disc to any location and "translocate" to the disc's location. Once again, players can really get creative and downright surgical with the translocator, even using it as a weapon to disintegrate their opponents if they are allowed to get close enough.
Once you add these revolutionary gameplay elements together, and throw in some great maps, you are left with easily the best multiplayer FPS on the market, even 6 years after its release. I still play UT to this day, which is a true testament to this game's longevity and replay value.