Unreal II: The Awakening

"A Complete FPS Package"

“Unreal 2” is the latest game to bare the “Unreal” title for a console. Originally a PC game, released last year it has now made its way over to the Xbox, and much like “Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War”, this is another fantastic port of a PC game. That not only packs a lot of bang for its buck, but has plenty of sci-fi shooting action to should satisfy any FPS fan.

Set in the distant future, “Unreal 2” follows the journey of a group of soldiers sent to investigate a power plant where all contact has been lost. You soon come face to face with an army of vicious alien species who seek to uncover a mysterious artifact for their own devious deeds. The single player campaign is pretty standard fare as you travel from planet to planet in search of answers as to what the artifacts are used for, however the mission objectives have some nice twist to them. One level has you and a group of marines hold off advancing enemy forces until a drop-ship arrives. That level in particular is done very well, and the gunfights definitely get your juices flowing as you find yourself surrounded by swarms of enemies. There are more than enough foes in every level that provide a steady challenge. Some alien enemies can scale walls, while larger enemies can deflect bullets with blades on their wrist. You really are never sure what you’ll run into next, which is definitely a nice bonus.

You have a large arsenal of weapons at your disposal, and on the whole are all very well designed. From your standard pistol, to the assault rifle and flamethrower, there isn’t a bad weapon in “Unreal 2”, and that’s a rare thing. Every weapon has an alternate fire, just like “Unreal Championship”. The shotgun can fire incendiary rounds, where as the flamethrower can spew napalm on any surface and then be ignited to hold approaching enemies back.

The game supports a two player split-screen co-op mode that takes you through all the levels of the single player game. This is a bit rough in some areas as the frame-rate chugs up in places, but if you find a person who enjoys the campaign mode, this can be an absolute blast. The other multiplayer mode offered is “XMP”, which is the Xbox Live mode. XMP is a twist at on a capture the flag mode as two teams seek to capture two artifacts, from an enemy base and return them to theirs. The premise is simple, but XMP offers a huge variety of depth to it. The maps are huge, there are vehicles at your disposal (That handle very well) as well as gun turrets, mines and force fields you can place throughout your base; but using them requires power.

The only way to supply power is to take control of generators placed through-out the level than can be hacked by either team to power their base. Not to mention you cannot capture an item from the enemy unless your “node” is powered. There are plenty of gamers who won’t appreciate the depth and time it takes to learn the XMP mode, but I love it. This is the most heavily driven strategy Xbox Live game available and requires a lot of teamwork to win, so if that sounds like your thing, you’re in for something special. The multiplayer mode has only 4 maps, but they are very well designed, and some more are on their way through downloadable content.

Graphically the game looks solid. The levels and weapons can look great at times (The flamethrower and explosions are superb) and overall the frame-rate moves at a steady pace, but on the downside the enemy animations are pretty bad at times, luckily that doesn’t get in the way of things too much since the game is able to put a lot of enemies on the screen at once. The games sound is a mixed bag, all the weapons sound solid as do the environmental effects, yet the voices acting, although solid, is a bit scratchy and not as sharp as it should be.

In the end, I loved “Unreal 2”. The single player mode is a great experience as is the co-op, and the XMP mode is the best Live game I’ve played since “Wolfenstein”, (Yeah, you heard me Rainbow Six). The game does have some minor annoyance, but barring those complaints, it’s still a really fantastic game, and if you’re a FPS fan, you should definitely consider adding “Unreal 2” to your collection.

Pros:
+ Excellent gameplay engine
+ Well designed levels
+ Some excellent graphics at times
+ Great weaponry
+ Plenty of action
+ Co-op can be a blast
+ XMP mode is great
+ A complete FPS package for $40

Cons:
- Frame-rate takes hits in places
- Bad enemy animations
- Some lengthy loading times

Graphics- 8.0
Gameplay- 9.0
Sound- 7.5
Overall- 9.0

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/14/04