Home

 › 

Articles

 › 

Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict: 5 Reasons to Buy

Box art for Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict

Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict: 5 Reasons to Buy

Blending melee combat with first-person shooting may have been done before, but it’s never been done like this. Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict is a fully realized hybrid that plays like a good PC game, though this is not a port. It features a deep control system that, once learned, will take you places that the original Unreal Championship could only dream of.


New and Improved Modes for Online and Solo Play


Unreal Championship 2 offers both single- and multiplayer games, which each feature a variety of modes. The online modes are the prime focus of this title. Single-player is a good training mode and not easy by any stretch (there are five difficulty settings), but an Xbox Live account is highly recommended for full enjoyment of the game.

Story, Tournament, and Challenges comprise the single-player experience. All of the modes will give you a good workout and help to prepare you for online play. There are lots of control commands to get used to, but not in the classic, fighting-style console tradition of confusing face button combinations. Using a PC-style command system, there are simply more control facets which are actually very simple when broken down individually, but when combined create a fully rounded control scheme that offers lots of options and freedom.


Enhanced Controls for Combat and Traversal


You will begin with a few melee attacks and a couple of weapons. Basically, they amount to a few punches and the ability to shoot. This may seem easy to control, but there is also an interface to consult when implementing other ingredients such as adrenaline, which acts as a powerup for such attributes as increased speed, power boosts, and invisibility, to name a few. Jumps, double jumps, and jump attacks come in handy for defensive and offensive moves. The jump attack allows you to literally soar through the air and tackle an opponent on the other side of the screen. You can use these jumps to climb walls or shimmy up the sides of buildings by jumping from wall to wall.

A targeting system allows you to focus on a specific opponent so that the camera follows them around while you do battle. It’s not a physical tether that allows you to pull them or swing them around, nor does it increase the accuracy of your aim. It just cuts down on the confusion by focusing on one character when you may be facing a half-dozen or so enemies at once. Pressing the L button allows you to reflect or deflect an enemy’s attack, allowing you time to get in a better position when under heavy fire. With a little bit of practice, you can reflect the attack back at the enemy with such accuracy that you can destroy them without using any of your own weapons or melee moves. The enemy can also reflect attacks, and you could find yourself in the middle of a volley of them.

Shock rifles, rocket launchers, grenade launchers, stingers, and ripjacks make up some of the weapons. They come in two categories, energy and explosive, and each will have primary and secondary firing functions (although some have as many as four). You can’t change from energy to explosive weapons on the fly but you can pick up a dead opponent’s weapon and use it.


Single-Player Modes for Extra Practice


The story mode sets the tone and pace for the rest of the game. You won’t have to wade through lots of detail, narration, or overacting. The story gets to the point quickly and lets you get on with the action. This is a fighting game, not a Shakespearean play, and the developers realize that.The tournament is essentially an arcade mode where you can choose your opponent and have it out with him or her. The most difficult mode of all is the Challenges mode, where you will have to take on enemies that are clearly superior to you in every way. The AI is exceptional here. It’s a great training mode for online play and if you complete it you’ll unlock a very special character that comes equipped with a lot of great moves and skills. 


New Modes and Over 40 Maps Give the Game Plenty of Replayability


Up to eight players can take part in the latest and greatest frag fest online. Modes include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Survival as well as a few new ones, Overdose and Nali Slaughter. In Overdose, you will have to collect continuously generated spheres and return them to your base as quickly as possible. Nali Slaughter puts you in another race of sorts, to kill more innocent creatures than your opponents within a given time limit. Expect a lot of replay value online as there isn’t a throwaway mode in the batch.

Although the maps aren’t huge, they are plentiful. There are 40 medium-sized maps available with more to come. Bottomless pits are scattered throughout the environments to restrict random jump attacks. To keep things fair players will not be credited for kills of lower-ranked players. At the same time, if you get killed by a lower-ranked player you will lose your higher ranking. This should encourage players to seek out opponents of a similar skill level. Some of the waits can be long just to get into a game. There is a little bit of lag online that you can feel from time to time, but nothing too severe.


Improved Graphics and Sound Enhance Player Immersion


The game shines graphically. The panoramic view of the background, though not interactive, is breathtakingly realistic. Textures are clean, crisp, and complex and have that “lived-in” look. Character models are well-detailed and come apart nicely when diced and sliced. You’ll see lots of flesh and blood – here’s hoping that most of it isn’t yours. The explosions sound powerful and will give your woofers a sound of shaking. Musically the soundtrack fits the situations perfectly, alternating between haunting melodies and military-inspired combat music. The voice acting can get a little hammy at times, but the dialogue is colorful.


Lasting Fun on Xbox Live


Unreal Championship 2 may have a bit of a learning curve, but as long as you’re patient and don’t expect to go online for a number of days (or even weeks) while you’re training in the single-player modes, you’ll be rewarded with one of the best games of its kind.

To top