'' is a First- / Third-person Shooter Video Game part of the Unreal Series of games. It was developed by Epic Games and published by Midway Games for an April 18 2005 release on the Xbox game console. It is a direct sequel to the 2002 game '' Unreal Championship '', which itself is a console version of its PC counterpart '' Unreal Tournament 2003 ''. ''Unreal Championship 2'', to a much larger degree than its predecessor, is specifically designed from the ground up for the Xbox console and takes full advantage of the Xbox Live gaming arena.
In the game, a Player can choose from fourteen different Characters from the ''Unreal'' universe. ''Unreal Championship 2'' features the new gametypes Overdose and Nali Slaughter, new weapons including the use of never-before seen melee weapons and more adrenaline Moves than ever before.
''Unreal Championship 2'' attempts to combine the genres of first-person shooter with third-person Fighting Game s like '' Soul Calibur ''. To aid in this new kind of combined Gameplay , a secret character is included in the game from '' Mortal Kombat '', another fighting game, specifically, the Thunder God Raiden .
Players can use Mêlée Weapon s only in third-person mode (choosing them will change the mode automatically), but can switch between first- and third-person mode on the fly while using Gun s. Many players learn to use guns in third person because of the extra sense of their surroundings it gives, as well as the ability to switch more easily to mêlée mode which can literally deflect bullets. In fact, one can redirect a rocket or sniper bullet directly back to the person who shot it.
The game also features, in addition to the classic Multiplayer , a Single Player story spiced up with Cut Scene s, story specific missions, and Tournament ladders for each character in the game. All of the characters have the adrenaline moves "Speed" and "Nimble", as well as race specific moves, started with a sequence similar to a Combo . The player can modify gameplay with mutators such as "High Speed Mode", "Low Grav", "Big Head", "Vampire" and others.
Throughout the ''Unreal'' Universe, several species from round the Universe come to Liandri to compete on a match, each with different skills type and race. Each character has a different fighting style, choosing from one of:
- '': Speed in movement & acrobatics but not very tough (loses health more rapidly).
- '': High in attacking but slow in movement and double jumping
- '': Medium attack rate, medium speed in movement and performing some acrobatic moves
There are three types of ranged weapons. Energy weapons, powered by tarydium crystal, Explosive weapons, powered by explosive ammo, and a set of unique pistols. Different characters have his/her own unique weapon depending on their race. For example, a Nakhti will use a set of small duel pistols while Robots which are made by Liandri Corp, will use a Rivet Gun.
The melee weapons each have similar moves and a special ability that varies with the character when performing their specific 'Coup de Grace'.
A melee weapon also has the ability to deflect projectiles approaching the wielder, and if timed correctly the projectile will reflect to the attacking character causing higher damage.
It can also be used has a shield which uses energy.
The Melee weapons are:
- '': A staff used by the Nahkti for centuries.
- '': A heavy sword used by the Imperial Legion.
- '': A pair of swords popular among the Nakhti.
- '': Raiden's main weapon.
- '': An axe used by Apophis.
- '': Pounding weapons used by Liandri Mining bots, used by Corrosion, Raptor, and Szygzy.
- '': Dual swords coated with nanoblack, used by Lilith, Lauren, and Calypso.
- '': Short-bladed knives designed by Liandri Corporation.
- '': A staff coated with a nanoblack, this is used by Judas & Brock.
- '': The hands of a Juggernaut, used by Gorge, Arclite, and Jackhammer.
- '': A pair of swords used by Sapphire, that can freeze an enemy.
- '': The traditional Skaarj weapon, can wound enemies with poison. It is used by Torgr, Szalor, Korig, Karrg, and Garek.
- '': A staff that freezes enemies, only available to Malcolm.
Pistol weapons can be used as normal projectile weapons, but can also freeze an opponent in alternative-fire mode.
- '': Energy-based pistols.
- '': A small weapon worn on the wrist. It is loaded with poisonous ammunition.
- '': A simple pair of pistols, these weapons may be used by Human, Juggernaut or Necris fighters. The Enforcers' alternative-fire mode will infect and damage the target over time for a Necris fighter but if used agaist a Necris fighter will recharge their health, while it simply fires faster when used by a Juggernaut. Used by a Human, it will freeze target temporarily.
- '' : A unique weapon available only to Raiden that fires lightning bolts and may shock the opponent.
- '': An advanced sniper rifle, firing a three-round burst. Alternative-fire mode activates the scope.
- '': A distinctive weapon of the series "ASMD", the Shock Rifle fires a Hitscan laser beam in primary fire while the alternate fire fires a slow-moving projectile that can freeze the target. The shock ball (alternate fire) can be ignited by the primary fire, creating a very damaging explosion.
- '': Another stock weapon of the series, the Bio Rifle rapidly fires dozens of small blobs of deadly green goo while alternate-fire loads many small globs into the chamber creating a large glob that will kill any opponent instantly upon a direct hit.
- '': An energy-based minigun that fires razor sharp tarydium crystal shards at a very high rate of fire. The alternate fire launches slower moving shards that home in on opponents.
- '': A powerful projectile weapon, the Rocket Launcher fires up to three rockets at a time, both of which may lock onto the target. A third firing mode fires six rockets in a 'drunken' pattern.
- '': A shotgun on steroids. This squat, huge-bore weapon fires a hail of molten metal shards capable of gibbing virtually any foe at close range. Particles of shot can also be deflected by narrowed walls.
- '': A relatively new addition to the series. The Grenade Launcher flicks small explosive ordnance a short range. These rounds may be detonated at any time by the player. Grenades can also be triggered in mid-air.
- '': The Rip Jack fires razor-thin Shuriken at the target, which bounce around the environment. Additionally, the blades shatter on impact when fired in alternative-fire mode. A third firing mode allows the player to charge up a razor disk and stick it to a hard surface. It then acts as a proximity mine, exploding whenever it detects a player nearby. It doesn't distinguish between friend or foe however, so watch your step!!
Just as with all other games in the series, ''Unreal Championship 2'' is primarily a first-person shooter. However, the game introduces a new third-person view, allowing the player to control their player from a third-person perspective allowing for a much better view of their environment.
The game's major new feature is its melee combat system. While armed with a melee weapon, the player's viewpoint switches to the aforementioned third-person view, allowing the players a much wider field of vision with which to track their opponents. Furthermore, the player may use a range of special attacks in melee mode:
- : This attack allows a character to pounce on their target with great force. It should be noted that this attack requires adrenaline to use.
- : Launches a more devastating version of the player's normal melee attack. However, the force of this strike is so great that the player is left momentarily unbalanced and slow, allowing the enemy to fight back easily for a few moments.
- '': When attacking a frozen opponent, the player may switch to melee mode to unleash a Coup de Grace attack. The game will display a brief sequence on the screen that must be repeated by the player, then will show a cutscene of the player performing a devastating finishing move against their opponent. Although the cutscene will not play to people who are not in the situation.
- : Deflect allows the player to deflect projectiles and bullets, if timed correctly, not only deflecting the rounds but even returning the rounds in the direction of the player that fired them. Shielding is every effective, it protects the player from taking damage from explosive, energy weapons, melee, pounce attacks and pistols. Note that this also consumes some energy from the energy pistols.
- : Dashing allows the player to move at a greatly increased speed, even damaging an opponent when used correctly.
- : New to Unreal Championship, wall-jumping allows the player to jump from wall to wall.
- Wall jumping
- Third-person view.
- Melee weapons.
- A melee combat system, allowing for powerup attacks such as shielding/deflection and Coup de Grace strikes.
- Character-specific Adrenaline combos.
- Survival and Nali Slaughter game modes.
- Mixture of Mortal Kombat theme and content.
- Modified Adrenaline system.
- Players may only carry three weapons at a time.
- Players select their weapons prior to the beginning of a match.
The game features a similar multiplayer mode to other Unreal titles and additions in the series, allowing players to compete over Xbox Live , across a Local Area Network or in Splitscreen mode.
- ''Nali Slaughter:'' Invented by the Skaarj, this game simply involves the players slaughtering as many Nali as they can for points.
- ''Overdose:'' An enhanced version of Bombing Run, using 2 sets of coloured ball white and gold. A player who holds the ball for a certain amount of time will be rewarded with an increase in weapon power, speed and will also become invisible for a short period of time upon reaching the goal.
- ''Survival:'' A 1 person vs 1 person deathmatch, in which the losing player of each round must wait in line with other players to return to the fight, while the winner remains. The winner is the first player to reach a predetermined score.
- ''Deathmatch''
- ''Team Deathmatch''
- ''Capture the Flag''
Ascension Rites is a single player Campaign mode for ''Unreal Championship 2'', in which combatants of many races and types fight within the Liandri sponsored Grand Tournament. In the particular game year featured, the Grand Tournament is held in concert with the Nakhti Ascension rites. Ascension Rites take place on the Nakhti World, where the strongest fighter will be crowned Emperor. The main character is Anubis, players will only be able to use Anubis throughout this campaign mode.
Anubis is featured in the Ascension Rites storyline as the main character. Anubis ran away from an older tournament taking place during some time ago, and also abandoned the woman he was to marry, Selket. For ten years, he has served and trained in an isolated military outpost. Now he returns to the capital and to the Grand Tournament. He had no choice but to participate on the Liandri tournament, because Selket was to be made emperor if she wins the Ascension Rites, her family only wants the sceptor but not the duty of the throne.
Tournament mode is just like Ascension Rites, albeit without videos or cutscenes. This mode allows the player use any character, provided that it has been unlocked by succeeding with another character in previous Tournaments. The tournament storyline takes place after the Acsension Rites.
Challenges take place inbetween the tournament, inviting the player to take part in more difficult games than are otherwise available. The character the player can choose are already decided, this is the only option to unlock Raiden.
As in other ''Unreal'' titles, players are rewarded for performing certain features in each round. Awards like for suriving for a period of time and killing multiple enemies at once.
- ''Cavalier'': Killing an opponent using the Dash attack.
- ''Combo'': Rejecting Lauren's freeze attack.
- ''Flawless'': Winning a round without a single death or defeat.
- ''First Blood'': First player in a match to make a kill.
- ''Headshot'': Fragging a player by taking off his/her head.
- ''Interception'': Freezing an opponent in ''Overdose'' in order to steal the ball.
- ''Jumpy Bitch'': Jumping excessively around the map.
- ''Rejection'': Deflecting a shot back at the person who fired it.
- ''Samurai'': Using a samurai skill to frag an opponent.
- ''Smack Down'': Reflecting an opponent's charged adrenaline fueled melee attack.
- ''Wasted'': Missing an opponent with a charged melee attack, or firing a poison Skaarj claw at another Skaarj.
As in other ''Unreal Tournament'' games, the player is awarded a Kill Rating for making a certain number of kills without dying.
- ''Killingspree'': 2 kills.
- ''Rampage'': 3 kills.
- ''Massacre'': 4 kills.
- ''Dominating'': 5 kills.
- ''Unstoppable'': 6 kills.
- ''Godlike'': 7 or more kills.
Furthermore, the player is awarded an additional Rating if they kill a certain number of enemies within the space of just a few seconds.
- ''Double Kill'' : 2 kills.
- ''Multikill'' : 3 kills.
- ''Mega Kill'' : 4 kills.
- ''Monster Kill'': 5 kills.
- ''Ultra Kill'' : 6 kills.
- ''Unholy'' : 7 kills.
- ''Impossible'' : 8 kills.
- ''Unpossible'' : 9 or more kills.
Critics of the game have pointed out that it suffers from many common imbalances found in other first-person shoots, such as the ability of players to commit suicide (and simultaneously kill their opponent) by launching a rocket at point-blank range. Furthermore, the game suffers from many other perceived problems in gameplay that relate to its unique features, such as:
- The inability for a player to protect themselves from rockets fired at the environment around them, since only shots fired directly at the player can be deflected.
- Players are able to abuse the game's powerful melee system to aggravate others.
- Certain characters in the game have much greater melee ability than others, unbalancing them significantly.
- Locked-on shots are inordinately difficult to avoid, making weapons with the ability to lock to their target very difficult to overcome.
- The game's ''Coup de Grace'' move is a reference to the ''Fatality'' move in Mortal Kombat .
- When frozen, the player must repeatedly hit the buttons on their controller to escape - a reference to Mortal Kombat's mini game test, ''Test Your might''.
- The game refers to gaming culture in its use of the word " N00b ".
- The player may choose between the normal Unreal announcer and Mortal Kombat's announcer Shao Khan .
- Because of the significant changes in this title, it is evident that Unreal Tournament and Unreal Championship are not the same. Some gamers and fans do believe that Unreal Championship was supposed to be Unreal Tournament 2005 however, many believe that Unreal Championship is the console 'cousin' of Unreal Tournament but that is where the similarities end.
|
