The Unreal series returns with a new twist, making this a great spinoff FPS/Hack n Slash game.
The Unreal games were always known for its great multiplayer FPS gameplay. There were many innovative techniques used in the series that made them so popular on the PC. Now, Epic Games has made a spin-off Unreal game exclusively for the Xbox.
In Unreal Championship 2: Liandri Conflict, you are given multiple options of play. You'll have a story mode (which actually has a bit of story for once in the Unreal series), a tournament, Freeplay, and Xbox Live. In Story mode and Tournament, you basically go through a series of matches that involve ether Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Survival, and much more. In this Unreal game though, Epic Games has combined FPS with hack-n-slash technique. You'll have many choices as to how to customize your settings, such as what character to choose, what weapons they use, whether you'll go in 1st person view or 3rd person view, and how they use their adrenaline power. In UC2, your character will be given hand weapons such as swords, axes and claws. You'll be able to pull off many combos with them use special technique as well. If it isn't your thing, then you can always go to your guns...in ether a 1st person view or 3rd person view! No matter what view you choose, the gun use works very well. When you aren't being violent, you are gained with a lot of jumping and leaping abilities when in 3rd person view, such as wall jumping and airborne charge attacks. Remember how adrenalines worked in the Unreal series in the past? Well now it's better then even with many new abilities that vary from each character and bot. Speed, heal, power up, flash, invincibility...those are just a few of the 20 plus different types of adrenaline abilities. You'll get to use those abilities when you collect enough adrenaline capsules.
You can never go wrong with the level variety that an Unreal game offers. While UT2003 (aka, Unreal Championship) was a bit of a disappointment in the level department, UC2 makes up for it. There are 50 levels, and all are different. They all range from small arenas to large bases. There are even a couple remade levels from past Unreal games. With a big level variety as well as a big variety, but fun, gameplay, you might think of it as a complete package. Not quite yet, as the Xbox Live of UC2 is the real fun stuff. There almost seems to be non-stop fun when you play Live. All this sums up as an outstanding FPS/hack-n-slash gameplay setup.
Graphics:
Since UC2 is developed exclusively for the Xbox, we no longer have to suffer from the often times frame rate slowdowns that occur when Unreal games are ported from the PC. Everything is highly detailed here, from the bots to the large backgrounds. The light effects are great, and so are the creative level designs. The FMV cutscenes aren't quite as impressive as the gameplay graphics, but they get the job done. UC2 could very well be one of the most highly detailed Xbox games of its own kind made.
Sound:
The music is a mixture of military themes, orchestrated melodies, and techno. All of the songs give you the feel to hunt for action and blood. The voice acting is pretty good for the most part. They do a good job yelling out always-entertaining taunts during your matches. The sound effects are what they should sound like. This sums the audio presentation to be a traditional Unreal fare.
Conclusion:
With a big variety of characters, weapons, combos, levels, gameplay types, and of course Xbox Live, you got yourself an action packed treat if you're into that stuff. Unreal fans would be surprised to see that the new hack-n-slash techniques fit well into the series. Not only that, this game has a helluva lot of unlockables that will keep you hooked for a long time. So you'll definitely be playing this game for hours. However, UC2 isn't quite as revolutionary as Unreal Tournament was, and in terms of FPS standards (weapons, vehicles, levels, ect.) on today’s games, UC2 isn't on par in the FPS department, even if its suppose to actually be a mixture of many different gameplay genres. Regardless, if you're up for some great action-packed fun to play alone, with your friends, and compete on Xbox Live, you really can't go wrong with checking out Unreal Tournament 2: Liandri Conflict.
Pros:
-A new twist in the gameplay and it's welcoming
-Great graphics
-Big variety of choices in gameplay, and lots of unlockables
-long replay value
Cons:
-The arenas could've been a little more interesting