Unreal II: The Awakening

A large and varied weapons arsenal, as well as vehicular-based play, makes XMP fun to play; however, its apparent influence from other games limits its originality and future playability.

There are problems with speed and control, as well as graphic issues that I simply can’t explain, but I think the overall product is very well presented.

So somewhere in the middle of the isosceles triangle created by "Halo," "Brute Force" and "Mace Griffin" lies Unreal II. If you’re a sci-fi shooter junkie then say hello to your next adventure, otherwise Xbox fans don’t need to jump all over this one.

A definite shoot first ask questions later exercise. Hell, you can't even shoot the good guys and they don't get pissed at you for trying so just shoot everything that moves.

It's a shame that the really original firearms (including a cannon that shoots evil spiderlings) don't get introduced until the game's almost over, leaving you little time to enjoy them.

The XMP modes are outstanding and the gameplay is fast and furious, but no less challenging or problematic when you take the twitchy controls into consideration.

The XMP mode can be a ton of fun with at least 4-on-4, but with any less it seems rather slow and unsatisfying. The visuals are unimpressive, minus the nice weapon particle effects.

The game's first few hours are dreadfully boring, full of genre cliches and pointless firefights. [Apr 2004, p.84]

The bottom line is that the gameplay of this FPS is no different than what's gone before it. The new features are decent but if you don't feel like you're playing "Unreal Championship," then you've probably never played it before.

Unreal just doesn’t match the aura that "Unreal Championship" has.

It begins so poorly, in such spectacularly mediocre fashion, that were I not reviewing it, I'd have chucked it in a drawer until someone invented a way to retroactively make the first half interesting. [May 2004, p.98]

Lets hope for the next game they incorporate the vehicles and more of the tactical play into the story.

Disappointing.

The essence of a good FPS is there it just doesn’t have that old Unreal or Half-life polish. Don’t get us wrong, it has its enjoyable moments, but it’s more than a little lacking in polish.

Xbox owners will be underwhelmed with this version of Unreal II because it plays and feels like a watered-down port.

Blame it on bad porting if you will, but "Unreal" has yet to make a name for itself on Xbox, except as a graphics engine. And sadly, Unreal II won't do much to change that. [Apr 2004, p.73]

In some ways, the problem with Unreal II is that it tries to wear too many helmets. It's a sequel to the original title, and has a healthy multiplayer mode intact because of Unreal's highly popular tournament editions. In the end, it does both without excelling at either.

If you can play Unreal II on the PC, do. Otherwise, rent this for the Xbox only while you wait for the other first-person heavyweights to show up later in the year.

Unfortunately, the difficulty level and the enemy AI have been dumbed down, making the game feel even shorter on the Xbox than it did on the PC. With six hours of play for single players and iffy Xbox Live play, go buy "Rainbow Six 3" or wait for "Halo 2" to drop at the end of the year.

As a single-player experience, Unreal 2 is undoubtedly one of the more forgettable shooters on the Xbox; joining the likes of "Jedi Academy" and "Soldier of Fortune 2" in that club of below par PC ports that have been unceremoniously dumped on owners of this capable machine.

Ugly, jerky, and all round poorly presented characters culminate in cut scenes that you’d wish you could just skip right on.

Visually it fails to impress, and often it comes off as embarrassing, especially when it is being played on a console that we all know is capable of so much more. As I have said earlier, this game is dated, and it appears as if the developers have put little effort in giving this game the facelift it so sorely needs to stand toe to toe with the rest of today's Xbox offerings.

Unreal II's biggest fault is the lifeless visual design: the use of color is ugly at times, the enemies aren't appealing and movie clunkily, exhibiting spotty AI to add to the flaws. [Apr 2004, p.64]

The only thing unreal that awakened while playing this game was the uncontrollable urge to vomit. [May 2004, p.80]

Speaking of pain, whoever wrote this script really needs to make a public apology. Cliché piled on cliché is the only way to describe this story. I’m not even sure why they even bothered with a story to begin with. I think everyone would have just accepted the words “Go Shoot Bad Guys” appearing at the beginning and that being the end of it.