Second Chance Glance 07.20.06: Unreal Championship 2 - The Liandri Conflict

Posted by Derrick Seabrook on 07.20.2006

We kick things off with a look back at Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict for the Xbox...

I would like to introduce myself to the readers of 411 Games. My name is Derrick Seabrook and I consider myself to be a hardcore video game player. Hardcore because I really love video games and if it was conceivable to play all day, every day, I would do it gladly. I really think that video games as a medium of entertainment can do things that other forms of media cannot do because of its interactivity. The purpose of this column is not to force my views on the gaming community at large. This column is designed to turn gamers onto some great games that may have missed due to lackluster marketing, bad timing, or general apathy from gamers. Nonetheless, I hope to introduce you to titles you may have never tried before and hopefully save you some money in the process. With that in mind, I would like to thank you for reading this article and welcome to the 1st installment of 2nd Chance Glance.

2nd Chance Glance #1
Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
-Developer: Epic Games
-Publisher: Midway Games
-System: Microsoft Xbox
-Release Date: April 18, 2005

This game came out a day before my birthday, but that is not the reason why this game was chosen for the first issue. Sometimes gamers say that they want originality out of their games, but the truth is what sells the most copies year after year is the same old stuff. This game is a prime example of that theory at work. Microsoft's Xbox eventually became a successful video game console thanks to hits like Mechwarrior, Ninja Gaiden, and a little known game named Halo: Combat Evolved. But because of Halo's success, the Xbox became flooded with random bad first-person-shooters and people were becoming tired of them. Epic Games released Unreal Championship in the year 2000 to decent success so naturally a sequel was forth coming. The developers, instead of making a typical by the numbers sequel, they redesigned the game from the ground up to take advantage of the overwhelming number of first-person-shooters (FPS) on the platform and try to stand out in a crowded market.

Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict attempted to change the game with its dual focus on firearms in addition to well implemented melee action. By combining elements of fighting games, platformers, with the popular Unreal franchise, Epic Games forced players to use more strategic thinking while playing. You picked from 15 characters, each with different special abilities and attributes. Then you went to the armory and picked your combination of 2 weapons then went into battle. Once the battle started you then went to work on your opponents. You start out with your basic dual pistols and your character's melee weapon and as you progressed, you found universal ammunition for whatever weapon you picked. The game was designed to be played in either first person perspective similar to Halo: Combat Evolved or third person perspective like Ratchet and Clank and your view could be adapted to suit your preferences for each weapon. Characters gained Adrenaline similar to how fighting games worked and you could use the Adrenaline to perform special maneuvers like teleporting, becoming invisible or self destructing.

If you chose to play in first person mode, you got a solid engine similar to what was used in Unreal Championship. The third person mode that you had to use for melee combat was the game's major innovation. Switching to your character's melee weapon enabled you to do damage up close and block or reflect your opponent's shots. Two evenly matched opponents reflecting rocket launcher shots back and forth at each other was a sight to see especially in mid game. You also had increased mobility in this mode so you could jump back and forth off walls making matches exciting and fast paced as skilled players dodged shots and reflected them back at you while getting sniped from afar by the player with the sniper rifle hiding in the corner.

Single player modes were plentiful in this game, anchored by an Instant Action setting which matched you up against Bots that were challenging and made sure that all the games you played were competitive and fun. When you lost to one of the game's computer controlled bots, you never felt like you were cheated. There is a story mode in the game focusing on the character Anubis and several tournament ladders with the other characters in the game.

However, those modes are all filler to get to the meat and potatoes of this great game. Multiplayer elevates this game to another level much like Halo: Combat Evolved did. Even though there is a maximum of eight players for multiplayer games, the selection of the game modes and characters are more than enough to make every match different. Unreal Championship 2 contains FPS standards like Capture the Flag and Deathmatch as well as introduces new game types like the king of the mountain inspired Survival. Xbox Live play is seamless but because hardly anyone bought this game sometimes it can be hard to find players. I recommend you convince your Friend List on Xbox Live to buy a copy and they will be converts too.

The graphics and music are both very good throughout the game. Arenas are varied and the level design enables players to use their favorite tactics regardless of what they like to do. Character design is pretty standard but you can easily overlook that because of the tactical variety of all 15 characters. The music is probably the weakest point of the game, but once you get into the heat of the battle it is not a big deal. Above all else, the voice acting in this game is good. It seemed to me like the voice actors tried to play the part unlike some other games.

The bottom line is that if you are like me and like some thinking in your twitch games, Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict is totally up your alley. If you are unsure that you will like it, I recommend that you hit up youtube.com or Google Video and look for some game play videos. Because so few gamers bought it, you can find this in most game stores for less than $20. At that price there is no reason for new players not to pick it up and give it another shot. If you look at this game's merits by themselves, you will not be disappointed.

I want to thank everyone for reading and if you have any feedback, praise, or disses, please drop me an email at [e-mail].