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| Game: |
Unreal Championship 2 - Liandri Conflict |
| Genre: |
Shooters |
| Developer: |
Epic Games |
| Publisher: |
Midway |
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| Related Links: |
Coming Soon. |
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Unreal has a lot to answer for; as the name seems to be synonymous with so many titles over the last few years and beyond. With the Unreal engine being utilized as an excellent building block for many games and also the actual games that are titled Unreal there is really no avoiding the name.
Xbox has been no stranger to the Unreal games and with the popular Xbox Live title Unreal Championship being an early Xbox Live launch title, followed by the multifaceted Unreal 2 : The awakening that continued the series from the very first Unreal game that appeared on PC many years earlier. Now in 2005 Xbox owners can follow on where they left off, especially those that are into “fragging” others off or online, with the imminent arrival of Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict. Whilst its title might be a little bit of a mouthful Liandri Conflict aims to provide an equally intense playing experience to rival its peers.
Those familiar with the workings of previous Unreal titles will feel right at home when they begin play of this fast paced first person shooter. However what was only previously available during replays is now an integral part of the game; which is the inclusion of a third person viewpoint (being able to see your character as opposed to looking through the character’s eyes). This third person view is selectable at any time however its use is more suited to certain actions that the player can perform namely melee combat. As a new addition to the series, players can now perform a wide number of melee based attacks which might sound a little strange when you’re faced with rocket launcher wielding foes but actually works quite well on its own merit. If you also include the special abilities, which although were in the previous Unreal Championship are a lot more specialised this time round especially when combined with some of the new power ups available. These power ups or adrenaline moves allow players to do things like increase their speed, jumping ability and even leech of other opponents to name but a few. Unreal Championship 2 promises to up the ante when it comes to combat by offering a greater playing field all-round. Players will be able to take part in aerial based combat which seems to be an evolution of the high jumping battles seen in the first game. Combine this with the new combo system and melee attacks means that Unreal Championship 2 will offer something much more than just a set of maps with the same game play as the original.
The inclusion of a wide variety of male and female player skins make a welcome return where the choice of character will offer the chance for varying playing styles to be accommodated. For example the female characters will generally tend to be more nimble or acrobatic than the larger grunt type male characters. With a wide mixture of characters on offer, this heady mix of fighters will hopefully provide enough variety to keep players happy.
Unreal Championship 2 also promises a more in depth single player experience which lets face it, isn’t that hard, as the original simply offered a series of battles against bots. Whilst the premise might be the same here we are promised a story which sees hero Anubis fight to reclaim the people’s rite of ascension tournament from the omnipotent Liandri Corporation. Whilst I am not too sure of the actual details surrounding the story mode, you can guarantee that it will involve teaming up with other characters to do some serious fragging.
I managed to have a quick play of a multiplayer death match game of this forthcoming title and considering it has been well received on PC for quite some time now looks like it may be as widely accepted on Xbox. With intuitive controls and ease of switching from 1st to 3rd person views or weapons to melee at the touch of a button make the fast paced nature of the game even more intense indeed. The games graphics are looking varied and of a very high quality as is the intelligence of the bots which retain the high standard you come to expect from Unreal games.
Whilst my play time with this title was limited it will be interesting to see how Unreal Championship 2 will compare to the other games that are due or whether it can truly rival games such as Halo 2 online. From what I have seen it might just be able to do so if it gets the following it deserves; although I am not so sure whether it will be enough to sway those fans that live and breathe Halo 2 multiplayer. With the details being sketchy surrounding the single player component of the game and the fact that the first person genre is perhaps becoming saturated; Unreal Championship has its work cut out for it. That said, with the new additions to the game being vastly different to other similar titles means that it does stand a chance if people are willing to give it a try. With the rich heritage behind the game I’m sure Unreal Championship has enough fans to make this game a true contender, and one that stamps the mark of Unreal on 2005. Well worth a look when its released some time in the next few months.
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