Unreal II: The Awakening

 PC
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 134 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 51 out of 134
  2. Mixed: 59 out of 134
  3. Negative: 24 out of 134
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Skizzzo63
    Dec 24, 2015
    2
    Wow. This was bad. It's one of the few games I left unfinished - and it happened at the beginning, no less!
    Ok, I loved Unreal (the first), I even liked the "Return to Na Pali" expansion (although way less good than Unreal), so maybe I had high expectations, but IMHO this is just plain awful: boring, uninspired, repetitive, soulless. I played user created maps/levels that were way more    Wow. This was bad. It's one of the few games I left unfinished - and it happened at the beginning, no less!
    Ok, I loved Unreal (the first), I even liked the "Return to Na Pali" expansion (although way less good than Unreal), so maybe I had high expectations, but IMHO this is just plain awful: boring, uninspired, repetitive, soulless. I played user created maps/levels that were way more fun and entertaining than this.
    There's no "awakening" here, the game is fast asleep, and most likely so will be you ;-)
    In the few hours I spent playing it, I had no fun at all: and for a game, that's the death knell.    … Expand
  2. DerekYu
    Sep 27, 2009
    0
    What a steaming turd. Unskippable cutscenes, obviously scripted events (including forced failed missions). Who the fuck takes 10 bullets with them to a fucking mission where you know you'll be doing sniping? Unnecessary bullshit levels. (One of which completed itself without player intervention) NPCs which I wished I could kill, strangle or otherwise silence. Fuck these guys.
  3. PithHelmet
    Jun 29, 2017
    3
    I gave this a play through again in 2017 and yeah...it's still pretty bad. It's disappointing because Legend Entertainment made Return to Na Pali, which I think took everything about Unreal and made it better. You can definitely tell they wanted to port this later to the Xbox because the level size and number of NPCs per map is extremely limited. My biggest complaint about the actualI gave this a play through again in 2017 and yeah...it's still pretty bad. It's disappointing because Legend Entertainment made Return to Na Pali, which I think took everything about Unreal and made it better. You can definitely tell they wanted to port this later to the Xbox because the level size and number of NPCs per map is extremely limited. My biggest complaint about the actual gameplay is movement speed, since by default it is excruciatingly slow compared to other Unreal games. Type "BeMyMonkey" and then "Setspeed 2" in the console to fix this.

    Gameplay aside I am most disappointed by the atmosphere. There is absolutely no sense of wonder anywhere like in the original Unreal. Not a single memorable music track, and often the maps will have no music playing and little to no environmental sounds.

    Some actual good things about the game: The three cheesy members of the crew actually grew on me as time went on. The ending surprisingly actually stirred up a little bit of emotion. The "holdout" portions of gameplay were actually pretty fun. It is a bit like when you set up turrets from Half-Life 2, except more dynamic and strategy based. The story while basic has an interesting twist on the Dorian Grey.    … Expand
  4. Didacticus
    Oct 17, 2013
    2
    No, this game isn't short. I wish it was short. When I was playing this I only want the game to end. I really liked Unreal 1 because of the strange, beautiful and original atmosphere. No place in Unreal II has that atmosphere. It has no atmosphere! The levels are also very small.
  5. Jok`RdeMo
    Feb 12, 2003
    3
    Why so BIG weapons? Where tale from first unreal? What happened to that prisoner? In Awakening is just not enough scenario. Just 1st person shooter, which looks like console game, nothing more. After first UNREAL I am very disappointed.
  6. ParmsS.
    Feb 12, 2003
    0
    Nothing at all like its predessesor. It has completely no overlap with the unreal1. Why was such a good game used to market a crap game like unreal2. Very very disappointing.
  7. Jok`RdeMo
    Feb 12, 2003
    3
    Why so BIG weapons? Where tale from first unreal? What happened to that prisoner? In Awakening is just not enough scenario. Just 1st person shooter, which looks like console game, nothing more. After first UNREAL I am very disappointed.
  8. Jok`RdeMo
    Feb 12, 2003
    4
    Why so BIG weapons? Where tale from first unreal? What happened to that prisoner? In Awakening is just not enough scenario. Just 1st person shooter, which looks like console game, nothing more. After first UNREAL I am very disappointed.
  9. Draclif
    Feb 13, 2003
    0
    Wow...I'm very disappointed with this title. I am a huge fan of the other Unreal series titles including UT2003, but the system specs for this game border on deceptive practice. Simply, the system requirements on the box are outright wrong - they are way too low. I have the exact system in their 'recommended' settings and the game crawls from the very first firefight even Wow...I'm very disappointed with this title. I am a huge fan of the other Unreal series titles including UT2003, but the system specs for this game border on deceptive practice. Simply, the system requirements on the box are outright wrong - they are way too low. I have the exact system in their 'recommended' settings and the game crawls from the very first firefight even with the very lowest graphic and sound settings. It was simply unplayable. Other titles similar to this (Like UT2003, C&C Generals, Ghost Recon) work very well. I hope through high returns that Legend Entertainment is is in for an Awakening of its own.… Expand
  10. Draclif
    Feb 13, 2003
    0
    Wow...I'm very disappointed with this title. I am a huge fan of the other Unreal series titles including UT2003, but the system specs for this game border on deceptive practice. Simply, the system requirements on the box are outright wrong - they are way too low. I have the exact system in their 'recommended' settings and the game crawls from the very first firefight even Wow...I'm very disappointed with this title. I am a huge fan of the other Unreal series titles including UT2003, but the system specs for this game border on deceptive practice. Simply, the system requirements on the box are outright wrong - they are way too low. I have the exact system in their 'recommended' settings and the game crawls from the very first firefight even with the very lowest graphic and sound settings. It was simply unplayable. Other titles similar to this (Like UT2003, C&C Generals, Ghost Recon) work very well. I hope through high returns that Legend Entertainment is is in for an Awakening of its own.… Expand
  11. GlerkH.
    Mar 4, 2003
    2
    Short, expensive, pretty to look at, boring and the story was just awful. I finished this game quickly and found few challenges. I like the other games in the series and was addicted to UT but this is not worth the money. Save yourself some money and replay Half-life is my advice. It may not be as pretty but it tops this game in so many ways!
  12. AndrewH.
    Feb 23, 2003
    2
    I have played through a large chunk of this and not really enjoyed any of it, the only motive I have to continue is so I can complete it and get this colossus off my hard drive. If they had to ditch multiplayer to get it this good, I shudder to think what it would have been like otherwise.
  13. TylerDurden
    Mar 6, 2003
    3
    Ok the only good thing is the graphics. The story is lame, the overall game time is very short, at the start there is 3 "helpful" characters, which are really just a decoy and a little softcore porn to get you to stall and think that the game is longer than it is. The objectives are just find a artifact and return it. Very bad game.
  14. Ptaccho
    Mar 31, 2004
    3
    This is one of the most disappointing games I´ ve played. The visuals look nice, but the level design is so extremely linear and flat that it is almost insulting.
  15. ChrisS.
    Aug 7, 2004
    4
    Graphics are nice. voice acting is very, very bad. gameplay is annoyingly slugish, which is odd considering newer games like painkiller perform quite nicely on my system. overall an uninspiring and sad to say kinda of boring letdown.
  16. JB
    Apr 8, 2008
    3
    Slow load times after deaths. Caching anyone? Some levels were poorly designed. Got stuck and had to reload in numerous places. Very poor. The original Unreal was better.
  17. SzilardB.
    Aug 22, 2008
    3
    I'd loved it, if i hadn't played Unreal 1 before... nice graphics, but boring gameplay.

Awards & Rankings

84
#84 Best PC Game of 2003
30
#30 Most Discussed PC Game of 2003
67
#67 Most Shared PC Game of 2003

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. GameSpot
    73
    It has the look and polish of a great shooter, but the gameplay of a merely good one. It's also a fairly short game with no multiplayer support to speak of.
    Read full review
  2. Armchair Empire
    87
    Only the lack of a rich multi-player section and some odd design decisions keep Unreal 2 from being one of the best FPS’s in recent memory.
    Read full review
  3. GamePro
    100
    It speaks like no other game in the genre, loud and with feeling, and tells a story worth telling among all the explosions.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »