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Unreal II: The Awakening pc Game Reviews
Unreal II: The Awakening
Critic Score
Metascore: 75 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
5.7 out of 10
based on 30 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 34 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game

As a Terran Colonial Authority Marshall, you're patrolling a sector of the frontier with three crew members when an interstellar war erupts about you! Rumors of powerful and ancient alien artifacts have driven rival factions to war in an attempt to find and control the objects. You must locate these artifacts, determine their purpose and restore order to the sector - before it's too late. [Infogrames]

PUBLISHER: Infogrames
DEVELOPER: Legend Entertainment
GENRE(S): First-Person Shooter, Action
PLAYERS: 1
ESRB RATING: M (Mature)
RELEASE DATE: February 4, 2003

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
GamePro
It speaks like no other game in the genre, loud and with feeling, and tells a story worth telling among all the explosions.
Read Full Review
95
Game Informer
Never before have I seen this level of detail in a PC game. Unreal II blows the lid off the graphical standards we as PC gamers have set, and elevates the playing field to an unprecedented level. [Mar 2003, p.90]
88
Cincinnati Enquirer
A 3-D shooter that pays as much attention to a compelling single-player storyline as it does blasting enemies with futuristic weaponry.
Read Full Review
87
Armchair Empire
Only the lack of a rich multi-player section and some odd design decisions keep Unreal 2 from being one of the best FPS’s in recent memory.
Read Full Review
83
Games Radar UK (Pre-2006)
It's so predictable that a player will find himself quickly out-thinking the designers. [PC Gamer UK]
Read Full Review
82
PC Gameworld
Amazingly beautiful, yet totally vacant in practically every other respect. It is certainly something fun to behold, but its lackluster showing in many other ways makes it tedious.
Read Full Review
82
IGN
While the title does make some significant breakthroughs these are largely confined to a technical realm and offer little in the way of new gameplay.
Read Full Review
82
AtomicGamer
For anyone who is looking for an old-school action FPS experience with solid production values and lots of explosions, this is your game.
Read Full Review
80
Maxim Online
The first Unreal made its name on, well, its unreal visuals, but we had no idea how saucy a first-person shooter could look until we tried the sequel.
Read Full Review
80
Computer Gaming World
While the game starts off strong, its personality steadily dribbles away, leaving you feeling you've played enough of it and never need to play it again. [Apr 2003, p.102]
80
GMR Magazine
Definitely delivers cool effects and dishes up some really amazing moments, but technical issues, a cornball story, and weak voice acting add up to a slight disappointment overall. [Apr 2003, p.66]
78
Game Over Online
It is impressive. Since the five-year hiatus, however, there have been others that were more so than it.
Read Full Review
76
Electric Playground
Long enough to last you a few intense game sessions, and you'll easily polish it off over the weekend.
Read Full Review
76
GameSpy
Sorry, it's been an epic wait for the tech upgrade... It's a good game, but too often resorts to recycling a number of first-person shooter clichés instead of breaking new ground.
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75
ActionTrip
The stupid and uninspiring storyline, coupled with some EAX related problems never got me hooked on this one. Unreal 2 is still an entertaining game, but it's way too simplistic and "old school" to live up to today's single player FPS standards.
Read Full Review
75
Four Fat Chicks
To sum up, Unreal II is disappointing, not so much in terms of what it is as in terms of what we expected, what it hints at, and what it might have been.
Read Full Review
73
GameSpot
It has the look and polish of a great shooter, but the gameplay of a merely good one. It's also a fairly short game with no multiplayer support to speak of.
Read Full Review
72
PC Gamer
Introduces so many cool new weapons - like the blistering flamethrower, an incendiary alt-fire on the shotgun, and seeker orbs - that you feel cheated not getting to play with them against others online. [Apr 2003, p.112]
72
Gamezilla!
A generic, rest on your laurels title from developer Epic that, while beautiful to look at, is a bloated (3GB mandatory install), largely plotless shooter that is disappointing given the pleasant surprise that the original "Unreal" was.
Read Full Review
71
PC Format
Forward-looking tech, backwards-looking gaming.
Read Full Review
70
Eurogamer
A flawed masterpiece. There's so much that's done well but so much which counters it to its doom - like the weapons. At about 15 in total there are simply too many, and they claw to convention like a headcrab.
Read Full Review
70
Total Video Games
If you’ve got a new graphics card and want something to show it off, Unreal II: The Awakening is the perfect solution, but don’t go expecting a true next-generation experience; our advise would be to rent it as you’ll likely complete it in no time at all.
Read Full Review
70
Cheat Code Central
Just about everything is good quality in this game but make sure you're computer is loaded or you're going to be playing a slideshow.
70
My Gamer
It looks good, it sounds good, yet, while it has a few interesting moments, it doesn’t impress or break new ground the way the original did.
Read Full Review
67
Entertainment Weekly
Unreal II, for all its technical pizzazz, lacks a similar let's-pile-on-the-scares inventiveness... Awakening, we have to say, is anything but. [28 Feb 2003, p.86]
60
G4 TV
Doesn't fail to impress us with its high-quality, inventive visuals, but the gameplay is no match for its presentation.
Read Full Review
60
Computer Games Magazine
The AI in the aging "Half-Life" was better; the sond in "Medal of Honor" blows this away; and the cut scenes and exposition in the "No One Lives Forever" series leave this in the dust. [Apr 2003, p.68]
60
Yahoo! Games
Roughly a third the size of its predecessor, meaning that you'll be able to go from eagerly installing the game to disappointingly removing it from your hard drive for good in just two or three nights.
Read Full Review
58
GameNow
A solid shooter with a slick look that offers little new to the genre. [Apr 2003, p.44]
51
FiringSquad
The bottom line is that Unreal 2 is saddled with unmemorable weapons and enemies, disappointing AI, a dull lead character, underdone level design, and a lack of technical polish, all wrapped around the same old stuff you’ve seen in so many first person shooters, most of which are better than this game.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this game is 5.7 (out of 10) based on 34 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Szilard B. gave it a3:
I'd loved it, if i hadn't played Unreal 1 before... nice graphics, but boring gameplay.

Mike U. gave it a10:
What is so bad about this game? I don't get it. Yes it is linear, just like half-life 1 and 2, so stop thinking HL is so great, its linear too. I don't exactly see the cliche in the story, I thought it was very original and creative. The weapons were really fun and the voice acting was ok. some parts really scared me quite a few times. This game is probably really cheap now, so get it! But If you can get your hands on the special edition, get that. It has some great multiplayer. Underrated game!

J B gave it a3:
Slow load times after deaths. Caching anyone? Some levels were poorly designed. Got stuck and had to reload in numerous places. Very poor. The original Unreal was better.

Osckar gave it a7:
I like it because it take me into the game (it´s the best recreation i never saw of a marine with an armor with 40 or 60 kgs. fighting in the middle of a battle). By other hand it´s true that not have the quality of Unreal 1, and it´s absolutely linear, but others game are too, as Half Life (one of the best games for PC). I´m stay playing now with the offer of Steam platform, so I´m enjoy again!

Lane T. gave it an8:
Not the greatest game in the world, but has more positives than the reviews lead you to believe. For all the (deserved) praise Half-Life 2 received for keeping things fresh and constantly introducing new ways to interact with the world, Unreal 2 did the same a year prior. Nearly every mission introduces something new for the player to do or use. Graphics are fantastic, particularly now that today's PCs are capable of running it at full detail. My only complaints are that the load times are ridiculous, AI could definitely be better, and while the stories around the characters may be interesting, they are told in a very mundane way.

Leigh W. gave it a9:
I bought this about 2 weeks after it was released, based purely on the sucess of it's predecessor. I wasn't totally blown away, but I did find this to be noe of the more enjoyable FPSs I've played. Personally, I think it's very underrated. Storyline aside (I don't really care for them, but this at least had one that was mildly engaging), this is an excellent FPS with a lot of unique level concepts and weapon designs. If I were to describe how this game plays, I'd simply say it was 'fun'. It's enjoyable to play, simple as that. And with today's technology the graphics are still nice and run incredibly well. All you HL2 fanboys should realise that this game is no more or less linear than HL2, and there are more weapons and enemies. It's a good game.

Tim H. gave it a10:
Why is it that every game MUST break new ground in gameplay? Solid gameplay is solid gameplay, why must devolopers "reinvent the wheel" every time they produce a game? Do we expect novelty because of the high price we pay for games? Perhaps. Or do we expect more bang for our buck from larger developers? Whatever the case, Unreal II has a fine story, the graphics are simply extraordinary, and the gameplay is certainly on par with any game deserving of a 9 out of 10. Plus, I picked up a new copy for $2.75, it's a pretty sweet game on a 6800 Ultra for that price! Think I'll quit complaining and look for some extra levels for this bad boy.

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