For years the Unreal franchise has been pushing the envelope for online FPS multiplayer excellence. The first game to appear on Xbox®, Unreal Championship, introduced Xbox gamers to the intense action, extreme characters, hugely detailed arenas, and devastating weaponry that made the series so very popular on the PC. NowUnreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict changes or breaks all the rules regarding what you know about shooters and the Unreal franchise, delivering a totally new and positively mind-blowing experience.
Shoot 'em up old-school in first-person view.
Some things have not changed: The Unreal Championship is still the universe's premiere combat event that lets aliens, robots, and genetically enhanced humans tear into each other with some of the most vicious and destructive weapons ever created. Players still head out into one of the game's 40 spectacular arena environments and try to wipe out their opponents in classic game modes like deathmatch, team deathmatch, team capture the flag, and double domination. If you're familiar with the Unreal franchise at all, you'll be right at home with this game.
Virtually everything else has changed for the better. The graphics are exquisite, with a smooth and steady 60 frames per second; the single player campaign now features fully developed characters whose motivations drive the plot (yes, plot—this is oneUnreal game where the contestants have more than their egos or rage driving them to compete); each race's agility has improved so that the contestants can leap higher than ever and rebound off walls to stay out of their opponents' gun sights; even the weapons set has been retooled and rebalanced with tweaks to previous guns (replacing the Lightning Gun with a more traditional Sniper Rifle) as well as brand new tools of destruction (like the Ripjack, which fires flaming saw blades that can take a contestant's head clean off if you hit 'em right). The two new features that have the biggest impact on gameplay are the new third-person point-of-view that you can switch to any time you like, and the jaw-dropping new melee combat.
Third-person action on demand.
You can still play The Liandri Conflict as a traditional FPS with the familiar first-person perspective and have all the fun you can handle. However, for true dominance (and more wild joy than you would believe), you need to master the powerful new melee attacks and the third-person view that goes with them. Third-person view gives you a better sense of your surroundings and sets up some of the high-flying jumps you make to escape your enemies (or get the drop on them from above), but it's also the only way to use melee attacks. You can use third-person with any weapon at any time, but if you want to get up close and personal you're locked into the third-person view. Without a gun in hand, the face buttons become attack buttons that can chain together devastating combos, spelling doom for any opponent foolish enough to get close to you. The short-range melee weapons also hold their own against long-range projectile and energy weapons through the simple device of blocking the incoming shot … or, if you're savvy enough, by reflecting the shot back at the shooter.
The game's adrenaline powers have also been significantly overhauled. Now your adrenaline meter fills automatically when you are not taking damage, making it easier than ever to obtain enough juice for your character's most powerful abilities. For example, Szalor, a Skaarj (alien, reptilian behemoth), can unleash an offensive whirlwind of blades that circle around him like a cyclone, instantly slicing to ribbons anyone in range. He also has a defensive flurry of blades that protects him from damage, and can even temporarily boost his low jumping ability with the adrenaline power Nimble, which turns him into a low-gravity nightmare who can cover an entire map with a few powerful leaps. Other adrenaline powers let players cloak themselves, freeze opponents in place, or fry them with a bolt of lightning.
Combat like you've never seen before.
Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict marks a turning point for the franchise and perhaps for first-person shooters in general. By blending melee and ranged weapon attacks, offering a choice of views, and rewarding players for using all of the skills and weapons at their disposal, Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict creates an entirely new, entirely amazing shooter experience.
