UNREAL II: THE AWAKENING
Developer: Legend Entertainment
Publisher: Infogrames
Game Type: First Person Shooter
Game Genre: Action

Date: 3/7/2003
By: Rice

Note: Screenshots courtesy of GameSpot.com

The Unreal franchise is undeniably a venerable one. But when you get down to it, there's really only been one story-driven game released for it, which was the original Unreal. The general consensus was that it had snazzy graphics, but beyond the initial levels, the gameplay dragged. That's why I can't understand the hype behind Unreal II. The original Unreal never enjoyed the wide acclaim of its multiplayer bretheren Unreal Tournament, so why is there such a clamor over its sequel?

Unreal II is not a bad game in general. Its problem is the same been-there, done-that factor suffered also by Soldier of Fortune II. The game utilizes the familiar formulas of sci-fi FPS's down to the letter. Levels are linear, bad guys stream constantly at you, whom you dispense of with the same core arsenel of weapons such as machine guns, shotguns, and rocket launchers.

Pretty graphics.

The story itself has nothing to do with the first Unreal. You play as space marshal John Dalton of the ship Atlantis. On a routine distress investigation on some planet XYZ, you discover an artifact. And so it goes, planet after planet, artifact after artifact. It's mind-numbingly forgettable.

The levels themselves are quite beautiful. I can't remember any of their names, nor exactly what they look like, except they're the traditional sci-fi exotic type. Some have icy landscapes, some bubbly organic, and some super alien high tech. They're good looking enough to wow you the first time around, but none leave you with any long lasting memory to distinguish uniqueness. The latest Unreal engine is truly worthy of the next generation tag. It's unfortunate Unreal II was unable to flesh out its full potential.

More pretty graphics.

Controlling the character also feels clumsy and sluggish. The weapons, even the more powerful ones, don't give off the oomph of something capable of mass destruction. Since the game is billed in the action genre, I must dock off major points in this category. Another shame, really, because Unreal II has occasional scenarios where you must defend an area for a certain amount of time while enemies pour at you from all openings. You even get to set up perimeter defenses with turrets and laser fences, but when the gunfights break out, it just doesn't generate the level of excitement simply because it doesn't feel smooth. I'm having trouble describing what I mean in words, but if you play UT2003 in comparison, it just FEELS more adrenaline inducing.

One bright spot is the enemy AI. At the normal difficulty level, they're challenging enough to warrent a handful of quickloads each mission. If there's one thing the original Unreal carried over, it's the Skaarj--a particularly badass race of enemies. They're big, fast, and jump around like Frogger when you try to take aim at them.

Cold, foggy area.

I can't but help think that the game would have escaped the more scathing reviews if the developers didn't try so hard to integrate a Hollywood-esque storyline into the game. The voice acting is way off the scale of unintentional comedy--every character sounds way over the top. Even an alien who speaks English in a bad grammer, monotonic manner, manages to seem campy. Think bad B-movie quality. Bad enough for you to laugh at it as long as you didn't expect it to be Oscar caliber in the first place.

Despite a relatively negative review throughout, Unreal II was fun enough for me to finish. The game takes no risk with implementing new features, but instead stick to the tried and true formulas. In the gaming industry, it's not as easy to get away with that as it is in Hollywood. Gamers demand more for their money... spit 'n shine polish won't go the distance anymore. So, with that said, if you are in want of a quick FPS fix and know someone willing to share their copy, go for it. But worth anything more than $15, Unreal II is not.

These sluts are hard to kill.

Final Grade: C
Summary: If I had to review Unreal II by an action and one word, it would be a single, nonchalant shrug and the word OK.