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Unreal II: The Awakening returns to the fascinating futuristic setting of Unreal, first visited in 1998. Since then we've had to content ourselves with the excellent Unreal Tournament multiplayer combat series. For this first true sequel Epic Games hired Legend Entertainment, who made a name for themselves with the Unreal: Return to Na Pali expansion pack and the woefully underrated Wheel of Time game (based on the books by Robert Jordan). The result is fun and frantic, if a bit too short-lived.
Unreal II's best feature is its lush graphics engine. It's state of the art. All the locations, which range from bizarre alien worlds to those based on the film Alien, exude dynamic realism. Human and alien characters are well-animated and rendered, but have a cartoonish exaggeration that clashes with the realism of the architecture. The designers were undoubtedly shooting for a comic-book look, which explains why the women look like blow-up dolls with bare midriffs and the men have hulking muscles. The monsters, too, ripple with strength and menace. This style will please some, but is less effective than the more realistic styles employed by similar titles--although at least the art direction is consistent throughout the game.
Unreal cast you as a prisoner who--through both good and bad luck--was freed from confinement, but marooned on an alien world. He goes on to become a sort of messiah figure to the four-armed natives, while other, scarier, natives want to kill him. It ends with a cliffhanger that this game does nothing to resolve. Now, you play as a new character who works for the Terran Colonial Authority. You're a space marshal on the ship Atlantis. You and your buxom partner, who looks more like an exotic dancer than a police woman, have to solve problems in a game only tenuously connected with the original Unreal.
Core gameplay and mission design are good, but uninspired. Legend has taken a conservative, almost minimalist approach. They've made a solid shooter that takes full advantage of Epic's state-of-the-art graphics engine, but did nothing to set the shooter apart from the crowd. One hopes that Unreal II: The Awakening awakens Epic to the fact that Unreal is a genuinely interesting franchise that deserves more. --Andrew S. Bub
Pros: Gorgeous graphics Decent gameplay
Cons: Amateurish if consistent art design Too short

Product Description

You'll need all the skill and courage you can muster as you engage in firefights, hostage rescue, enemy assault, stealth infiltration, search-and-destroy sorties and much more.

From the Manufacturer

Unreal II: The Awakening is the long awaited follow-up to Epic Games' groundbreaking single player opus Unreal. Unreal II incorporates the same absorbing story-driven gameplay, cunningly ferocious enemies, and nail-biting tension that made the original title the top choice for first-person action fans worldwide.
Developed by Infogrames' Legend Entertainment, Unreal II uses next-generation Unreal technology created by the masterminds at Epic to deliver intense life-or-death action in the most breathtaking scenery and environments ever displayed in a computer game.
In the game, players jump into the scarred combat boots of a grizzled lawman of the future, dispatched to more than 10 unique worlds to battle a torrent of bizarre alien creatures and hard-hitting enemy soldiers to stop a malevolent plot that seeks to awaken an ancient power. Between missions, players return to an orbiting ship where they can interact with their crew members, research items acquired during missions, and refresh their arsenal. Designed to challenge both the hardcore "fragger" and welcome those not yet introduced to the first-person shooter, Unreal II can be played fast and furious by the adrenaline junky or slowly to ease newer players into the fray.
Focusing on innovative gameplay, Unreal II poses unique tactical challenges in each mission, including the rescuing of hostages, assaulting enemy fortresses, escorting civilians, stealth infiltration, defending outposts, and more traditional search-and-destroy sorties. The game also includes elements of exploration and discovery in exotic new settings that range from stunningly realistic outdoor terrain and spine-chilling alien cities to archaeological dig sites and dark undersea bases., ISBN13: B00005Y4Q1 ISBN10: B00005Y4Q1 Material Type: