Unreal Championship

One of the most fragtastic of all PC deathmatch titles gets the Xbox Live treatment?but you probably don?t want to bother if you can?t get online.

And so it has come to pass that Xbox users with broadband and a subscription to Xbox Live shall learn what their PC-havin? friends have known for years: fragging strangers named g0ku_seph!r0th_87 is fuuuuun.

Yeah, but Is It Halo?
Unreal Championship is essentially the Xbox-tuned version of the PC game Unreal Tournament 2003 with all the same game modes (Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Double Domination, Capture the Flag, and the "football with guns" cult favorite Bombing Run), Mutator options, and weapons as in its PC counterpart. This is hyperchaotic multiplayer ammo-spewing at its most manic.

Unreal Championship is designed with multiplayer foremost in mind, meaning there?s a wide selection of thoughtfully designed arenas and stages tailor-made for their specific game types. UC?s deathmatch modes are a bit less tactical and a lot more fragtical than Halo?s. The weapons are messier than Master Chief?s, but the selection is more well balanced?there isn?t really a loser among them, nor is there a clear superweapon you?ll constantly want to sling at your side. The Lightning Gun (UC?s answer to the traditional sniper rifle), for example, doesn?t pack nearly the punch nor give you nearly the precision of the rifle in Halo.

Unfortunately, the story-free single-player mode seems tacked on: Just take a series of multiplayer matches, remove "real people" from the equation, and there ya go?instant afterthought.

How Do You Pronounce "R0xx0rz"?
The Xbox Live interface works simply, much like it does on a PC?just log into the network and search for games. You can hop into any number of existing "open" matches or hook up with some friends in a closed arena. New maps are available for download in the Content section, and individual player stats and rankings are immortalized for all to see in the grand Xbox Live archives.

For the Xbox Non-Live, the game also supports system link with up to four Xboxes and four players per machine, although the frame rate (already prone to dropping even in single-player mode) takes an additional hit, and some key information (namely, who fragged who) gets banished from the screen. The interface here is smartly designed, too; players can leave and join at will without halting a game-in-progress just by plugging in a controller and pressing start?the screen dynamically splits when someone joins, and un-splits if that player quits.

w00t
Unreal Championship easily ranks among the best of the Xbox Live launch titles, though as you play you can?t help thinking about how someday Master Chief will go Live. ?Til that magic day arrives: Frag away.

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