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- Unreal II: The Awakening
Unreal II: The Awakening
- February 10, 2003 10:52 AM PST
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Legend Entertainment and Infogrames present a glimpse at what PC shooters should be.
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The original Unreal showed the entire gaming world the definition of sweet graphics, great gameplay, and topnotch game design?but that was years ago. Now Unreal II sets out to redefine PC gaming again, and it succeeds with flair?as long as you have the system to run it.
Hardware Heart Attack
Before you go much further into this review, take a look at the recommended system specs for the game. Chances are very good that they?re higher than what you have?they were higher than most of the systems in the GamePro offices. To truly get the Unreal II experience, you?ll want to upgrade.
Is it worth it? Unreal II is fantastic. While UII?s story is simple on the surface (go to various planets and retrieve an ancient artifact on each one), at its heart it?s a story of redemption, sacrifice, and finding the few people you can really trust. Unreal II has the deepest characters this side of an RPG, and if you take the time to get to know them, your experience will be that much better.
But couldn?t they have told that story without requiring a NORAD cast-off to run it? Sure, but you wouldn?t have the other aspect that makes Unreal II so awesome: its engine. The software that powers Unreal II flexes like old-school Hulk Hogan, churning out fantastic graphics, sweet sound, and wonderful controls that border on superhuman for the average PC. There?s no noticeable pop-up, texture-warping, errant shadows, or horrendous clipping. Legend?s level designers spared no expense taking Epic?s engine and creating a powerful world?and your system has to pay the price.
Here?s What You Get
In Unreal II, you play as Marshall John Dalton, a member of the Terran Colonial Authority responsible for keeping the peace in the far reaches of human space. The crew of your ship consists of Aida, the beautiful and brilliant strategic officer; Isaak, the recovering-alcoholic techie; and Ne?Ban, an alien being who could pilot the Death Star through a train tunnel. You get to know these folks in between missions in mini-segments aboard your ship, during which you?ll receive missions and learn about any new weapons Isaak may have developed for you.
As the game progresses over its 10 unique worlds, you?ll play out some of the most cleverly designed missions in FPS history. You?ll get objectives that ask you to clear the way so a scientist can follow you to an escape route, set up turrets and deploy soldiers to defend a technician as he transmits a distress call, or enter an alien world to learn about their experiments. It?s as if the designers said, ?What do games do that only annoys players, and how can we avoid that?? Take note, FPS designers?thanks to Unreal II, you now have to work a lot harder.
The Art of Picking Nits
There are three main complaints about Unreal II, and they?re valid. The first is, of course, the sheer system-hoggery. The designers decided to go all out with a super-powerful engine, sacrificing the chance to appeal to a large audience of gamers who don?t have the specs to run the game. The second complaint is that the game is short?about 10 to 15 hours from beginning to end?and unless you just want to experience it again, there?s no real replay value. The third problem is the lack of a multiplayer mode. Legend scrapped multiplayer action to concentrate on the story, but some FPS fans might see that as a poor trade.
Awakening a Genre
Those problems aside, Unreal II is a benchmark in the FPS genre and an example of what those games should be. If you?ve been waiting since Half-Life to find a game worth playing, your wait is over.
