Unreal Championship

"A Game To Consider"

Intro
Unreal Championship is a First-Person Shooter that reminds me very much of the PC Fragfest known as Quake 3. You run around, pick up various weapons (including Miniguns, Rocket Launchers, and a teleportation device known as the Translocator). It's a very good title for the X-Box, and below, I'll give my detailed deconstruction.

Gameplay
Rating: 7/10
As mentioned before, Unreal is a First-Person Shooter. The game consists of 6 gameplay modes, Deathmatch/Team Deathmatch, Capture The Flag, Bombing Run, and Double Domination. All of them are very fun, Deathmatch and Capture The Flag being the best. The gameplay, not only is it very fast-paced and intense, but it has some RPG-like elements, which I found a pleasant surprise. In the single-player mode, you build a team of free-agented aliens, monsters, and robots, and pit them against other teams in the various modes. As you play the game, the members of your team increase in their different stats (Accuracy, agility, and tactics). You should pick your team carefully, because there are tons of different stats to consider. This adds much to the replay value of the game. Also, this game has X-Box Live support, which is a major plus.
Multiplayer is fun, yet hard to get to. The instruction booklet never mentions it, and I found it by accident. You can play all the modes of the game with 2-4 people, but you can't use your teams from single player, which would be a great feature.

Graphics/Sound
Rating: 8/10
The graphics in this game are superb, the weapons are very vivid, the levels are brilliantly designed, and all the characters look great. I haven't seen a flaw in the graphics yet.
However, the sound is another story. The soundtrack isn't very great, there's a few different tracks, none of them very memorable, but they don't get annoying. I just wish they were more upbeat like the rest of the game. It's sort of metal/techno style music, which is expected for this type of game. The weapon sounds and character voices are wonderful, and they add a lot to the game.

Replayability
Rating: 9/10
With all the RPG-like functions, 20+ characters to add to your team, X-Box Live support, and the stat increasing, this game has wonderful replay. It take a bit to increase stats, after beating two of the games modes, only two of my character's have received stat bonuses (ranging from 7%-14%).

Overall
Rating: 8/10
If you liked Quake 3, Doom, Halo, or any other first-person shooter, this is a must. Also, because of it's X-Box Live support, this is destined for replay. I recommend this game to all who have X-Box Live.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/27/02, Updated 12/27/02