This about wraps up our UT2K4 mod week. I'd like to send a shout-out to the Air Buccaneers and Unwheel mods for showing potential but having next to no server support, hopefully that will change in the future! We might revisit the mod scene once some more have come out and matured a bit more. Before we get to DemosthenesÂ' Neotokyo impressions, IÂ'm just going to list the games weÂ've covered this week for anyone who missed them:

Troopers: Dawn of Destiny
Fraghouse Invasion
Carball
Red Orchestra
Alien Swarm
Today: Neotokyo

There you have it! Read on for DemosthenesÂ' reader subbmitted impressions of the Neotokyo mod.

You know, I tend to look at other times and thing, Â"How cool would that be?Â" I mean, IÂ'm a history major so IÂ'm bound to like history. Watching the Last Samurai or Gladiator, I can only wish that I had been born there. And in my mind, the future is even better. Luckily, anime has supplied me with plenty of incredible, though unrealistic, expectations on how the human race will fight in the next few centuries. And while NeoTokyo doesnÂ't exactly let me do everything I might be able to in an anime movie, it still makes me feel like IÂ'm in one. IÂ've just got to get used to being one of the grunts that canÂ't do a million flips and take out fifty people on my own.

To start off with, yes, Neotokyo is an anime inspired mod. It is also still in its alpha stage of development. This shouldnÂ't push anyone away though; this is a very interesting mod that has more style than the average episode of Cowboy Bebop. The game is essentially a remixed Double Domination mod. Throw in some incredible models, class-based team play and a few twists to the rules and youÂ've got what could be an incredible mod for UT2K4.

The rules are a little more complicated than Double Domination and encourage teamwork, coordination and a good mix of both defensive and offensive playing. Players are choose from two factions (the Jinrai or the NSF) and then one of three available classes: Scout, Assault, and Heavy. Scout and Assault classes both receive stealth suits as to even them up with the overpowering strength of the Heavy class. Each map has two command points that must be taken by a single team. After a team controls both points, they must then continue to hold them while they eliminate all remaining players on the opposing team to score a point. For each point scored, the winning team is awarded new weapons for each of their classes.

Combat between command points is limited to the use of automatic rifles, handguns, shotguns and a few different types of grenades. Sadly, the shotgun rules the day as it is incredibly overpowered. With the greatest power and an incredible refire rate, it towers over the rifles in a way that unbalances the game completely. This problem is then magnified when the medium classes have both shotguns and the stealth technology, giving a huge advantage to the team that obtains it first. The rest of the weapons are pretty well balanced against each other, though I did miss having any sort of melee weapon or sniper rifle to use with my stealth.

The look of NeoTokyo is simply amazing. The levels so far have a very interesting feel, like some sort of post-apocalyptic (or at least post-bombing) blend of traditional and modern Japan. Mix in the usual urban settings of warehouses and alleys, and youÂ've got a good idea of what youÂ'll be fighting in. And with the models running around either fully armored as the Jinrai or in the more relaxed NSF gear, and youÂ've got one hectic, but still visually appealing mod.

As it stands now, NeoTokyo is pretty good, if not a little rough around the edges. Given time, some balancing fixes, more content and a few more servers this mod could really stand out as something unique.

- Demosthenes