Translocator - The translocator has changed significantly, both in look and in ability. The most interesting part about the new translocator is the new function of the beacon. It can now be dropped and used like a camera to view things you don't want to or can't get to close to. Of course, it can still be damaged and destroyed so there is a risk! I have heard that the beacon seems to fly a little farther. I could not determine that it was really that much different. The beacon does seem a little smaller and doesn't feel like it "floats" as much. The beacon does now leave a light "trail" as it flies through the air. Where the real changes lie in this device is in the fact that its use is now limited by a charge. At the bottom of your HUD you have a charge bar. Each use drains that charge a little and it increases when you are not using it. If you run out of charge you cannot fire your beacon again until it begins to fill. This doesn't prevent you from double (or even triple) translocating, but it does prevent you from teletraining. More than once I found myself without charge when I translocated more than 4 or 5 times in a row.
ShieldGun - The primary fire shoots a burst of green energy in front of you. It's very much like the Impact Hammer in that respect. The damage that it delivers is not excessive. I got into a ShieldHammer fight with a bot and both of us exchanged a good number of blows before he finally succumbed. The secondary fire implements a green energy shield directly in front of you. The shield absorbs most of the damage, using up its charge in the process, and it does reflect projectiles such as rockets. It cannot protect you from splash damage or from any other direction than directly in front of you, but it is much more easier to use than the ImpactHammer from UT.
BioRifle - Back by popular demand, and actually just implemented at about the time I tested this build. The weapon seems to work just like the old one, but that may be tweaked as it was just reintroduced.
ShockGun - One of the most used weapons, and a signature weapon of the Unreal series. The ShockGun (aka ShockRifle/ASMD) has undergone a small transformation. The primary is the same (other than color), but the secondary consists of a much slower firing, slower moving plasma ball. This makes it a little easier to hit combos and even moving combos, but the combo is slightly easier to avoid. The combo yields a beautifully animated explosion: a glowing, crackling purple vortex.
FlakCannon - Another extremely popular weapon has been tweaked to cut down on the "spam" factor. People used to complain that the Flak was a n00b weapon and that it was spammy because the shards bounced everywhere, dealing damage as they went. No more. The spread is a little tighter and bounces only once, then the glowing hot shards stick to whatever surface they land on. A close up shot, however, is just as deadly as before. The secondary fire still produces the arcing ball of metal that explodes on contact. The secondary shell can be shot for an explosive combo.
MiniGun - I didn't notice a whole lot of difference in this weapon from the last. It's still just as deadly when you've got someone in your sights. I'd heard a lot about the exploding rounds, but it really didn't make that big of a difference overall. The secondary fire did, however, violently shake the screen implying power. Very, very, cool but hopefully an option that can be turned off. If not, hey.. consider it a tactical trade-off.
AssaultRifle - The new default weapon. Love it. Not overpowering, but definitely effective. Pressing the primary will give you automatic fire at a damage rate of 5 points per round, while secondary will pop out grenades. The grenades don't bounce crazily like the RocketLauncher's alt-fire used to, but they are affected by momentum. Therefore, just pressing the button will more or less drop a grenade a few feet in front of you, while dodging forward and firing will really make the grenade sail. Holding down the secondary fire button longer before you release it will give the grenade a longer trajectory.
RocketLauncher - I thought I would hate the changes made to this weapon. But it all fits in the grand scheme of less spammy weaponry. Holding down the primary fire will load as many as three rockets before firing them simultaneously in a medium to tight spread. Holding your crosshairs on your target will allow you to "lock on" to your target. In the build I played, it seemed a little more difficult to "lock on". Secondary delivers single, instant Rockets. I loved being able to drop grenades in UT and Unreal, but having instant Rocket fire more than makes up for it. The rockets definitely seem to move faster in UT 2003 than in its predecessors.
LightningGun - This gun replaces the SniperRifle rather well. The primary fire delivers an instant hitscan lightning bolt to whatever is in your crosshairs. The secondary zooms in on your target. The zoom is a cross between the Unreal scope and UT's. You still get the full field of vision like in Unreal, but the screen has "scan lines" on all but the circular target area. In addition to using ammo, the LightningGun is regulated by a charge bar (much like the translocator charge bar). When the bar is full, it delivers a deadly shot, when the bar is not full it deals less damage. The recharge rate is rather quick (less than 2 seconds), but it should encourage players to shoot more reservedly.
LinkGun - The link gun behaves as the Pulse Gun from UT. The exception being that it can also be used as a team weapon. A player can fire their Link Gun at another team member using the LinkGun and it will not hurt them, instead it will act as an amplifier increasing that player's LinkGun damage to three times normal. A second team member can fire at that same player to increase the damage from 3x to 5x. This remains in effect as long as all players linked have ammo, and they all stay connected.
Redeemer - This weapon had not yet been implemented. It is being reworked to give it a new look. New to the 2003 version, the Redeemer missle will hover close to the ground.
There are other guns such as the Ion Cannon and the Lobster Gun that have been discussed, but neither of those were in any of the maps thatalftlayed. I think they're hoping to hold back a few surprises.