Unreal II: The Awakening
Score: 75% ESRB: Mature Publisher: Atari Developer: Tatanlus Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 12 Genre: First Person Shooter
Graphics & Sound: About a year after its debut on the PC, Unreal II: The Awakening finally makes its way to the Xbox. While the game's initial release was met with some disappointment, due to a lackluster single-player campaign and no multiplayer options (a cardinal sin in the FPS genre), the Xbox version attempts to capture some of the excitement the game failed to muster on its first time through. However, even the inclusion of the XMP mode, which was made available to PC gamers via a patch earlier this year, and a slightly tweaked single-player mode can't make up for what comes off as a watered-down port. The lack of visual prowess comes at something of a surprise when you take into account the long load times that accompany every mission. One of the selling points of the Xbox is the ease of porting high-end PC quality graphics to the machine. After taking a look at the Xbox version, that claim is a little hard to swallow. First off, Unreal II does not look that bad. The scenic vistas and unique architecture that made the PC version great are still here. Yet, at the same time everything feels very watered down and does not even come close to matching up to the PC version. A number of special effects, such as reflections and bump mapping, were lost on the way to the Xbox. The texture quality is pretty blurry and murky. This leads to flat looking characters that look almost like they were ripped from a poor-quality MPEG and placed in the game. Animations are also lackluster and animated about as smoothly as a Strongbad email (or other Flash cartoon). Consistent frame rates are also a roll of the dice as well. Sound is well-done, but doesn't stand out as something special. This is not a soundtrack I'll be adding to my collection anytime soon. The voice work is okay and does a good job of setting up characters. The young tech that leads you through the first level sounds as green as the characters make him out to be in their descriptions. At the same time, the voice acting just isn't there due to dialed-in performances.
Gameplay: Unreal II: The Awakening is a fairly straightforward FPS in the vein of Half-life or Halo. The entire game is story driven (as opposed to wandering corridors for no real reason) and revolves around John Dalton, a former marine and his crew of rejects. After investigating a distress call, Dalton becomes involved with a quest to find 7 artifacts. Along the way he'll square off with aliens and corporations -- all trying to get their hands on the artifacts. In a bit of a departure from the standard FPS fare, Unreal II: The Awakening offers a nice variety of missions to take part in. While it does feature its fair share of running around and gunning down anything that moves (thanks to an impressive arsenal of both human and alien weapons), Dalton will also be able to team up with squads of marines to attack bases and perform infiltration missions. Mission layouts remain unchanged from the PC version, but a lot of the fluff that was found in some missions has been removed. This makes for a quicker, more action-packed experience. In addition, you no longer have to walk around your ship to talk to crew members. While it does lead to some awkward, and sometimes jumbled, mission briefings it also allows you to get into the action that much quicker. The biggest addition to the Xbox edition of Unreal II is the XMP (expanded multiplayer) mode. This mode allows for up to 12 players to square off against each other on Xbox Live. The more noticeable difference in Unreal II's Multiplayer mode and those found in other FPS's is that it is not your typical Deathmatch offerings. XMP is a version of Capture the Flag where two teams try to capture 4 artifacts scattered on the map. The multiplayer option also offers three different classes for players to choose from as well as the option to get behind the wheel of vehicles.
Difficulty: One of the recurring themes with in the Xbox iteration of Unreal II: The Awakening is the watering down of things. Although three difficulty options are offered, the Easy mode is way too easy and Normal mode plays more like Easy mode from the PC version. Your best bet for some sort of challenge is to go straight for the Hard setting. Even here you're not likely to find too much challenge. To be perfectly honest, Unreal II: The Awakening certainly isn't a shining achievement in the realm of AI and lingers in that realm of intelligence somewhere between a bird and Jessica Simpson. Enemies will sometimes sneak up from behind and know to attack en masse, but beyond that it is simple-minded charge with guns blazing stuff.
Game Mechanics: The overall structure of the game is really good, though a tad short. With only 12 missions available, it's pretty easy to blow through the game in a weekend. The control layout is easy to pick up, even without going through the tutorial at the beginning of the game. Getting back to the theme of watering down things, XMP is not as robust as its PC counterpart. The biggest problem is that the XMP maps are made to accommodate more than 12 players at a time, leading to long, sometimes frustrating matches. Vehicles help you cover more ground quickly, but they're still way too big for the number of people playing. The same team-based strategies found in the PC version aren't found here. The online mode isn't the smoothest ride either and suffers from lag. Bottom-line, if you have really been itching to try out Unreal II: The Awakening, but don't have a PC that's up to par, you can't go too wrong with the Xbox version. The experience is diminished, but you're still getting a pretty decent game. However, if you can manage to get the PC version, then by all means go with that instead.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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