Epic unleashes new Unreal Tournament concept art, development podcast

Epic Games has posted more than a dozen pieces of concept art from its upcoming FPS Unreal Tournament. It's all very early-stage stuff, but the images give us a glimpse of who we'll be shooting at, with what, and where.

The new Unreal Tournament was announced in May as a collaborative effort between "Epic, UT fans and UE4 developers." But while the promised inclusiveness may have been meant as a new approach to development, the goal sounds an awful lot like the old UT we know and love, and "the plan" actually says the game "will be true to its roots as a competitive FPS."

Based on the concept art released today, it really doesn't look like Epic intends to stray very from the familiar formula.

This looks like a bad spot to be without a flak cannon.

This first batch of character concepts shows that the new game's player models resemble the ones used in previous games (possibly with less meaty necks for the men).

Female player characters will also be available. Here's our first look at a few concepts.

Unreal Tournament is known for non-human player models, and the new reboot will have them, too.

The Shock Rifle still looks like a Shock Rifle.

Weapons in Unreal Tournament will presumably have primary and alternate firing modes. Here's hoping this one also fires instagib blasts.

Based on the concept art released today, it really doesn't look like Epic intends to stray very from the familiar formula.

It is, as mentioned, still very early in the process, but even so I can't say that my socks have been knocked off, or even more than a little bit loose.

Along with the gallery of concept art, Epic also released a new podcast with Art Director Chris Perna and Senior Environmental Artist Rock Kohler discussing the concept art, while Senior Designer Jim Brown and Cognitive Psychologist Celia Hodent talk about the "user experience." Brown and Hodent will also be answering questions in a new user experience forum at UnrealTournament.com.