GameCore

Unreal Championship 2

By William Vitka

February 11, 2005 / 5:42 PM EST / CBS

GameCore is a weekly column by CBSNews.com's William Vitka that focuses on gamers and gaming.

"Bring A Knife To A Gunfight"

Sometimes, I like looking at the art for a game more than the screenshots. Why? Because it often seems like the artists who make the renders and draw their ideas decide to just do whatever they feel like.

This usually leads to lots of pictures of large weapons and entertainingly disproportionate characters. Case in point, the first image of this story.

Welcome to Unreal Championship 2.

The original Unreal Championship was, I thought, a bit lackluster, but the sequel looks promising. My worry lies in the balance between melee combat and long-range combat.

Recently, a lot of titles have started incorporating melee fighting into multiplayer and shooter gaming. I can't say if it's the popular rifle-butting that Halo included, or the Light saber dueling of Jedi Academy or even the simple "Oh Crap I'm Out Of Ammo I Have To Use My Fists" in Doom, but companies are starting to think that sticking a fat slogan along the lines of Now you can shoot people AND hit them with pointy things! on the box will boost sales.

Don't get me wrong, I love whacking people with my shotgun right before I put some buckshot in their tails, and I'm always glad to have more death-dealing options at my disposal, but it's got to be done correctly.

But hey, maybe I shouldn't be concerned. If Unreal Championship 2 can come somewhere close to the joys of Unreal Tournament I'll be a happy gamer.

From the company:

Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflictcontinues the Unreal franchise on the Xbox and introduces an evolutionary new gameplay style to the traditional FPS genre: acrobatic melee combat. This highly anticipated sequel also features new single-player and multiplayer gameplay, person camera mode and intense melee abilities. Unreal Championship fans can play as any one of 14 characters from the Unreal universe, each with spectacular new Adrenaline Powers that enable new offensive and defensive combos.

Bone-Crunching Melee Combat. For the first time in an Unreal game, battle it out with melee combat that's seamlessly melded with Unreal's trademark fast-paced shooter action.

Renowned Unreal Weaponry. Destroy your opponents with updated, classic weapons including the Rocket Launcher, Flak Cannon and Ripjack or utilize all-new hardware like the Grenade Launcher.

Unique Unreal Characters. Play as any one of 14 different characters from the Unreal universe, each with signature weapons, unique combat moves and spectacular new adrenaline abilities, for a new fighting experience every time you enter the arena.

Unprecedented Mobility. New third person perspective takes combat to a high-flying vertical level never seen before in an action shooter, allowing you to literally fly through levels and attack opponents using amazing acrobatic combo moves.

Unparalleled Multi-Player Action. Battle with up to 8 players online in Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture The Flag, plus new modes like Overdose and Nali Slaughter. Utilize System Link to play against others by directly linking Xbox consoles, or play with your Xbox Live account.

Intense Single-Player Tournament. Play as a variety of uniquely-skilled characters, or take on the role of Anubis as he fights to reclaim his people's Ascension Rites tournament from the omnipotent Liandri Corporation.

Built Exclusively for Xbox. Over 40 stunning environments and unique maps designed exclusively for Xbox and UC2's new mix of melee combat and traditional ranged weaponry.

Platform: Microsoft Xbox

By William Vitka

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