Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict

The action's a teenage fan boy's wet dream, all leering lizard-men and sneering, scantily clad vixens who exchange gunplay and close-range combat moves like speed freaks in a slap fight.

Not only redefines our perception of multiplayer games, it raises the bar of the deathmatch genre to new heights and will become the benchmark by which all future online combat games are measured.

Does a great job of blending classic FPS action with some third-person platforming elements and brings the Unreal series to a whole new level. The gameplay modes are plentiful, online and off, and the AI is very smart and puts up a good fight.

Combining the proven play of the Unreal franchise with the mechanics of a fighting game, Unreal Championship 2 elevates the first person shooter genre to a completely new level.

In a few years, people will look back and recognize this as the game that drove the fast-paced shooters that followed.

What is easily one of the coolest things about Unreal Championship 2 is the ability to deflect ranged shots back at your enemies.

A remarkable exercise in innovation, smart design, and excellent technology. If you like to fight, whether it's via first-person shooters or through fighting games, you've got to play this.

It blends meticulous fragging action with invigoratingly new brawling elements that, in the end, makes for a completely enthralling experience.

Undoubtedly one of the most intense and frenzied arena combat games I've ever played. [Apr 2005, p.136]

Almost the definition of a triple-A title. It's got everthing - good online play, amazingly fun and addictive action, options up the wazoo, a graphics engine that will make your eyes well up - and it's all polished to a glistening shine... It's a spectacle to behold. [March 2005, p.32]

Not just a little bit better than the original; it's a LOT better. And I don't mean it to say that the original Unreal Champ was bad. It was great. But this is on another level.

The melee combat adds such a difference it almost feels like you're playing a new genre of game.

What makes this title so special? Well, let's see: you can use both third and first-person views; hand-to-hand melee combat; beautiful graphics; and amazing online multiplayer.

The mixture of first and third-person gaming has been done in a slick enough manner so that melee and projectile combat blend together nearly seamlessly.

An ambitious and largely successful attempt to meld the accuracy of traditional firstperson battling with the extra spatial agility and awareness afforded by thirdperson movement. It does feel slightly overdone, but not to the point of obscuring its offering of intensity and flighty action. [May 2005, p.90]

If you want something fresh, with almost endless replay value (so long as you have Live or some friends nearby) then I can do nothing but strongly recommend this title.

The sequel to Unreal comes up tops with solid gameplay, beautiful visuals and super-addictive online play.

While the concept of a first-person shooter going behind the back may sound a little strange at first, Unreal Championship 2 pulls it off with ease and, at the same time, provides a fantastic new twist on an old favorite.

It won't be for everyone - but the melee combat brings something fresh to the genre and the online games are absolutely cracking. [Xbox World]

Blending melee combat with first-person shooting may have been done before but it's never been done like this... It features a deep control system that once learned, will take you places that the original Unreal Championship could only dream of.

Online, the game is a solid gem. One of the best controller internet games ever. My only gripe is offline. The bots, as smart as they may be, still don't compare to humans.

This new shooter in town didn't just impress us, it blew us away with its gorgeous looks, balanced weaponry and unbelievably fun gameplay. We're now scarred by this illicit encounter, and no FPS experience will ever be the same again. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

We were haters at first, but the new P.O.V. started to grow on us. Watching our character cartwheel through the air like a T.J. Hooker stunt double makes for some heady moments.

With all of the added single player goodness of a Story Mode, Tournaments, Challenges, the new/classic game types, and the inclusion of Xbox Live play (which is a rule for Unreal) Unreal Championship 2 has the highest replay value of any 2005 release yet, and every minute, online or off, is just damn fun.

The game boasts some great graphics and tremendous gameplay fun for a fantastic overall gaming experience.

Whether it's offline or online, Unreal Championship 2 will never fail to please, because with so much to do, unlock, edit, shoot, taunt, and blow up…the action almost never stops.

The melee action has changed the strategy of the game quite a bit making it much easier to play for a lengthy period of time.

UC2 is trying to create a fun, arcade sensibility and atmosphere that takes the franchise and the genre in a sporty, flamboyant, enjoyable new direction. In this it succeeds admirably.

The atmospheric design is as good as it gets, the multiplayer options are aplenty, and no matter which perspective you choose, first or third, you'll still find some of the best combat you can dish out on a console.

With the new melee action gameplay and a brute-force approach with dozens of arenas, characters, mutators, and options, there should be enough here for any online gunslingers to just go crazy with.

A stunning and beautiful game.

It has its problems, and it isn't the best Unreal game to be made (that would go to the excellent "Unreal Tournament 2004"), but it is the most original game in the series and your best choice on Xbox.

If fast-paced action and bandage-wrapped fingers are your cup of tea, Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict is the game for you.

As great a game as Unreal Championship 2 is for the Xbox though, anyone who has played the magnum opus of the series that inspired it will have an inescapable nagging feeling that somehow, something is missing.

If you find "Halo 2's" multiplayer a little slow, try Unreal... A return to the whiplash speed of "Quake," UC2 is deathmatch at its most claustrophobic and relentless. [May 2005, p.137]

Technically a very impressive FPS. The single-player game is dull, but the fast and high-flying Live games promise to more than make up for it. [May 05]

While Unreal Championship 2 is amazing on a technical level, it's short on creativity and personality. [May 2005, p.88]

With a decent solo campaign, The Liandri Conflict would be near unstoppable. As it is, Epic's latest is one of the best things to happen to online console blasting in years.

Nothing says "beware of oncoming plot" like an extraneous subtitle. [June 2005, p.92]

The melee mechanic works well for its first outing, and with a little tweaking it could really come into its own on the next generation. Bored of Halo? Get Unreal Championship 2.

While too many are dull head-to-head encounters, the solo missions sharpen your skills.

UC2 from my experience is full of teens that want nothing more then to humiliate anyone who dares try to give them any helpful advice and accuse you of cheating or being some kind of weapon whore if you score a frag.

One-on-one combat truly doesn't work here, but Unreal Championship 2 seems to delight in replaying this unpalatable scenario time and again - with each new stage requiring more kills, more wandering, more exposure to the incessant narrator's bleating until Unreal's reality bites becomes the great truth of the day. [Apr 2005, p.56]

A fine package, full of screaming weaponry and loads of options for players who live for this sort of thing, but I doubt that anyone who's not already into the big-caliber/big tits run-and-gun culture will find much to bring them into the fold.

With a bit more work on the weapons and little less emphasis on the melee combat, this mix of first and third person combat could be a real hit next time around. As it stands, it's still a very good game, but it falls a little short.

You should buy this game. It's a good one. But to me, the first "Unreal Championship" for the Xbox is in many ways a bigger -- as in larger -- hit.

Without a real single-player campaign and some equally progressive, detailed match types, this conflict is destined to be the biggest thing to almost happen to online gaming.

The game looks fantastic and is the ideal leap above its predecessor you would want in a sequel. Fourteen unique characters move and fight with such splendid animation, that you would be awestruck if you had the time to really see it between spawning.

Not much fun in single-player. Sure, it might make for good practice before taking your warrior online, but no-one is going to be buying it for Anubis' fight for corporate and religious ownership.

At my most charitable I felt like I was playing an experimental mod of a game I really love. All the time you're thinking 'well done chaps, nice work', but at the same time wanting to get back to the game you love.

The melee combat works well, and we're sure any future Unreal titles will feel lightweight without it-but as an experience, The Liandri Conflict is often a little too overwhelming.

Gives a very conflicting impression. Great graphics, smooth frame rate and almost lag free online play make it an ideal game for a night of fast-paced fps-action online. On the other hand, the emphasis on third-person melee combat and adrenalin tricks is quite a turn-off for the hardcore fragfest enthusiasts. The complete lack of personality hurts too. [May 2005, p.70]