While partially agree with u largo, i wouldn't go quite as far as to compare ut assault without launches or jumps to 2k4 assault...
In ut1, if u'd remove all launching, most maps would become full time spam maps. To this there are two reasons: the weapons are much better to spam with in ut1: bigger blast radiuses, rl loads more projectiles etc, and the moving; ut2k4 moving actually gives you the ability to get trough in different ways than in ut1... (faster, longer jumps etc)
In ut1, if u'd remove all launching, most maps would become full time spam maps. To this there are two reasons: the weapons are much better to spam with in ut1: bigger blast radiuses, rl loads more projectiles etc, and the moving; ut2k4 moving actually gives you the ability to get trough in different ways than in ut1... (faster, longer jumps etc)