Rating: 
Summary: Sluggy Slugfest Non-Action-o-Rama
Review: I really loved Unreal. I'm also really impressed by Unreal Tournament 2003. But I cannot believe what a poor product Unreal II: the Awakening is. While I can see that they needed to give you more storyline than previous FPS games, I simply find the characters boring, the dialogue pretty trite--yes, even for a macho First-Person Shooter--and the gameplay terrible. The animated cutscenes, while pretty, tend to go on too long and usually involve a long shot of a ship landing or docking, or someone walking up a staircase.It's really like UT2003 and Unreal II were built on 2 different engines: they play like night & day on my system, a pretty decent PIV 2.0GHz, 400MHz FSB, with 1GB of RAM. Movement is sluggish, weapons work so-so, and although Unreal II gives you the ability to "vault up" onto those crates and boxes that are so hard to negotiate in other FPS games, you still feel like you're wearing weights on your ankles. I can play at any resolution or level of settings and the gameplay is the same. There's also bad cropping of the map - I've run across "invisible walls" that are in the middle of walkways, enemy combatants that get wedged into the landscape and jog in place, and objects that look as realistic as any 4-year-old FPS from the days when PIII was cutting-edge. I'd suggest you consider Unreal Tournament 2003 (and playing as one player with a lot of bots if you want a single-player game) instead of trying to slog through the poor performance of this game. The only reason I'm giving it 2 stars instead of 4 is that teams of AI bots tend to behave better than the bots in the original Unreal. This doesn't redeem the game, but it makes me see that they tried to bring something to the sequel.
Rating: 
Summary: Simply Great Fun!
Review: Ive been playing the Demo for the last 2 weeks and CANT wait for my very own Retail Copy of the full Game to get here:)
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but lacking... until XMP.
Review: Other reviewers have called this game to task for linear gameplay. They're right. Still others have praised it for its wonderful graphics and atmosphere. They're right, too. I played this game with great relish at the beginning, which gradually diminished as I found the AI to be sorely lacking. I was most disappointed that they all seemed to fall for the "hide around a corner" trick that players learned in Doom. Did Legend learn nothing from Half-Life? I'm also no fan of bosses, so that was, for me, a distraction. I will say, though, that the zero-gravity end level was a big pain in the [...]- it took me forever to move around on the doomed spaceship- but it was novel, and I appreciated that. However... if you're a fan of multiplayer, there is a Special Edition out now. BUY IT. Or buy this one out of the bargain bin, and download the free XMP (Expanded Multiplayer) add-on. It's well worth it. XMP is, perhaps, the best CTF-style game I've ever had the pleasure of playing. Get this title, and it may be the best CTF you've ever played, too.
Rating: 
Summary: Unreal 2 marches to the beat of a different drummer...
Review: Although I salute the late Legend Entertainment for offering a departure title in the Unreal franchise, I must admit I am disappointed by the offering. Unreal had a successful, enjoyable formula. If that formula could have somehow been infused with the beautiful graphics/music and fun combat system featured in Unreal 2, Legend would have had a runaway hit. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Unreal 2 felt too much like it's own, unique deal... which, I suppose would have been fine, had the game not been promising a SEQUEL to Unreal. This is what happens when you have an ambitious developer handle a popular franchise with a publisher imposed deadline under the burden of thousands of fans' grand expectations. I bought Unreal 2 and I was glad I did, but I'm anxiously awaiting Unreal 3 to give me some satisfaction... the Unreal way.
Rating:
Summary: We need a true sequel!
Review: I've been a big fan of the Unreal games since I first started playing Unreal in 1999. I absolutely loved it, and I'm still playing the single-player campaign (I must have played through it 25 times or more). I was very pleased to see that Return to Na Pali did a great job of extending the Unreal adventure without ruining it. Unreal Tournament was a blast to play as well even though it didn't include a single-player campaign. So with all this Unreal software that made me so happy you can imagine how I felt when I heard that Unreal II was in the works. But as they all say, "Don't believe the hype." Unreal II was hyped up all-right, and a prominent PC games magazine said, "It's gonna change computer gaming as we know it." How ironic considering that Unreal II has very little new to offer except for the graphics which almost a year later may still be the best out there. It's a good game, but it has very little to thrill me. More than anything else, I must take Legend to task for taking so much out of the game that should have been left in. Unreal had great monsters as well as great levels to battle them on. Legend, for some strange reason, only left the Skaarj in, and even the Skaarj in Unreal II arent't as great as the original Skaarj. Unreal II, however, does get a few other things right. Some of the new weapons are good. The shotgun is very effective, and the grenade launcher which can fire different kinds of grenades is cool. Perhaps the best new weapon is the flame thrower. It spouts a very effective and attractive flame, and I must wonder why the older Unreal games didn't include a flame thrower. After playing Unreal II, I soon realized that a REAL sequel to the first game is in order. Bring back all the elements that made Unreal so great but with state of the art graphics and sound. Sure, add new gameplay characteristics, but don't throw the baby out with the bath water. That is, don't call a game "Unreal" while making it unreal to its fantastic pedegree. Epic Games, do you hear me???
Rating: 
Summary: ugh
Review: what a linear snoozefest. first game i have EVER gotten the cheats for just because it was so damn boring. my intent was to finish the game as devoid of pleasure as i had experienced thus far, just to finish the freakin thing. couldn't do it- my tedium level breached i abandoned it completely. my apologies if the endgame is at all a payoff and i remain unenlightened. and now that i hear deus ex 2 is a disappointment as well i'm left to checking calender dates for thief 3 and half-life 2. i can only hope xbox compromises haven't shattered all creative integrity.
Rating:
Summary: Got a raw deal
Review: I wasn't expecting Unreal 2 to be great, but was interested in checking it out, and was pleasantly surprised - I had just completed Halo before I started Unreal 2, and have to say that I had more fun with the latter than the award winning former. The story is quite compelling, with actual character development (at the end of Halo I still didn't even know if the player character was even *human*, let alone why I was at war with these rather cute aliens). It's pretty cheesy and some of the dialogue is terrible, but that's forgiveable. The level designs were good and varied - a much greater variety of environments and gameplay than Halo provides. Best of all were the weapons, of which there a large number (Halo has what, 5?), all of which were interesting and well balanced. Better than the original Unreal in this respect, in fact. Also, the enemy AI was good - not necessarily smart, but fun (the original Unreal enemies had too much smarts which made the game much less fun to play). There was also a wide variety of enemy types - again an area where Halo is severely lacking. There's no question that Halo is much more polished - in fact, Unreal 2 is very rough around the edges (some of the art work is very amateurish, and there are a ton of problems with collision response). However, like a Hollywood blockbuster Halo is well oiled but insubstantial, whilst Unreal 2 is a bit roughed up but with real character. Oh well, since Legend went under this week I guess it's all a bit moot trying to suggest ways they could improve their next game, but hopefully we'll get more Unreal goodies that preserve the fun gameplay and engaging story of this one, whilst perhaps managing production values that give them a better chance with a shallow media + marketplace.
Rating:
Summary: Unreal II: The Awakening
Review: I loved the orginal Unreal and it's mission pack Return to Napali. They are one of the most beautifull games i ever played. Unreal 2 is a good game but not good enough for an Unreal sequel. The orginal Unreal deserves more than this. The gameplay is quite linear, a little short with no multiplayer. Ofcouse it has a good story while the previous game did not but the gameplay here is not that great. The weapons are large and look strange with not so great effects. It's the future, futuristic weapons should be smaller with better effects. Powered by the latest version of the unreal engine the graphics are great with beautifull skies but there are no mirrors or cool reflective surfaces. Fire effects and the flame thrower are really well done. Unreal had beautifull and large levels, Here the levels are very small not that well desinged. You will be watching the loading screen frequently. Unreal 2 is just an average shooter.
Rating:
Summary: You get what you pay for, usually...
Review: I really enjoyed the fast intense action of the original Unreal, but even more so Unreal Tournament. Now we have Unreal II: The Awakening, finally! The graphics are satisfactory and even pretty cool, but that's a given. I enjoy adventure games as well as 3d shooters, and I liked the original DOOM series because it at least followed some story that made sense. So does this game, which involves a few different types of quests and situations. There is minimal challenge except for a few parts, which are incredibly hard unless you turn the difficulty to the easiest rating. However, it is a sore dissapointment for fans of fast action and high-paced 3d shooter games. Also, if you are looking for anything particularly new or interesting here you won't find much with the exception of turrets and force fields that you can use to defend an emplacement from attacks. You are also given the ability to command a half dozen troops in a couple scenarios, which is more fun than the rest of the game IMO. Story seems pretty well thought-out for a 3d shooter storyline, but just doesn't hold my interest. I think the entire story is really a lame and depressing tale of a gullible space marine. There is no fast paced action. You can't even run very fast and the CPU's AI is strange. At some points you will get jumped upon (face-first, even) before you can respond.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it for XMP
Review: The free downloadable multiplayer portion of this game called XMP is worth twice as much as what they are asking. It's highly addictive and great fun. I haven't even bothered witht he single player yet. If you like mulitplayer this is a must have.
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