Unreal II: The Awakening | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Legend Entertainment |
Publisher(s) |
Infogrames (Under the Atari brand name) (PC) Atari (Xbox) Epic Games (Current) |
Distributor(s) | Epic Games |
Director(s) | Michael Verdu Glen Dahlgren |
Producer(s) | Michael Verdu Glen Dahlgren Mark Poesch |
Designer(s) | Michael Verdu Glen Dahlgren Matthias Worch Scott Dalton James Parkman Grayson Edge Aaron Leiby |
Writer(s) | Bob Bates |
Composer(s) | Jack Wall |
Series | Unreal |
Engine | Unreal Engine 2 |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Xbox |
Release date(s) |
Microsoft Windows Xbox |
Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Aggregator | Score |
GameRankings | (PC) 75.44 (Xbox) 64.38% |
Metacritic | (PC) 75/100 (Xbox) 64/100 |
Review scores | |
Publication | Score |
Eurogamer | (PC) 7/10 (Xbox) 5/10 |
GameSpot | (PC) 7.3/10 (Xbox) 6.1/10 |
GameSpy | (PC) |
IGN | (PC) 8.2/10 (Xbox) 7.8/10 |
Unreal II: The Awakening is a first-person shooter video game, part of the Unreal series. The game was developed by the now defunct Legend Entertainment, published by Atari and released for Microsoft Windows. It was later ported to Microsoft's Xbox. Initially designed only for a single-player campaign, the game has one expansion called eXpanded MultiPlayer (XMP), a multiplayer expansion that contains just one game mode that is similar to Capture the flag but requires more sophisticated tactics. The expansion was included in a special edition and later offered as a free download to those who already had the retail version of Unreal II.
The player controls a former Marine John Dalton, a Terran Colonial Authority Marshal whose job is to patrol remote areas of space far away from any real action. He is called back into service to retrieve seven pieces of an ancient artifact thought to make a powerful weapon when assembled.
The plot follows a pre-set linear path like many first-person shooters, with the character going to various planets in search of the artifacts. Level design at each location is also linear, with a certain amount of puzzle solving and key finding.
Environments on each planet are quite diverse, ranging from tropical to desert, bunkers and industrial installations, and alien cities and even inside the bodies of aliens. During several missions the player must hold a location against waves of incoming enemies, in some cases using NPCs and equipment (such as sentry guns) as support.
Unreal II: eXpanded MultiPlayer was developed by Legend Entertainment for Atari to deliver on the original promise to extend the original single player game Unreal II with a multiplayer functionality. The first playable version was released and made available for download on December 9, 2003. Almost nearing completion, the development of the game was suddenly halted by the unexpected close-down of Legend Entertainment on January 16, 2004.