Rating: 
Summary: XMP
Review: i actually consider this a breakthrough game utilizing the latest technology. For $30 this game provides great fun and now that multiplayer is coming im sure more people will play.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun, but way too short
Review: Unreal 2 isn't much different from its predecessor in most ways. In fact, there's really only three good changes: the adaptation of Half-Life style weapons selection, the addition of a story with characters and dialogue, and the new engine. On the other hand, there are several negative changes, most notably the very short duration of the game, the lack of multiplayer, and a far more restrictive style of play. As far as plot-driven games go, Unreal 2 isn't going to win any awards. The story is something a 12 year old sci-fi buff could pull out of their pants, and there's really no surprises to speak of. Simply put, this isn't much of an RPG, even though there's a dialogue tree. In an attempt to make the game flow with the story, the developers added mission objectives to be accomplished. This does work, but it constrains the player so much that you really don't do any exploration. The result is the exact opposite of the original Unreal (in which your sole objective is to get to the exit, killing everything in between) and I honestly can't say which was better. There is definitely less customization in this game. Most importantly, there's no multiplayer- it seems Atari expects you to get Unreal Tournament 2003 if you want that. All right, fine, but I would really have liked to put some of those new weapons to work on my friends. At the least they could have put in some sort of bot deathmatch to vent frustration and afford some replay value. As for the game itself, you're Marshal John Dalton. If you don't like that, too bad- he's all the player there is. The mission plot is linear, and you probably won't play it more than once. There are cutscenes between missions, where you go back to your ship and chat with the crew. That's fine, but there should be a way to skip them. Instead of collecting arms and ammo as you go, your health, shields, weapons, and ammo are all reset every level. I guess this might help out folks that can't aim or dodge, but I found it generally irritating. That said, there are a lot of mission objectives that are fun to do. Some allow you to command marines or place turrets to mow down enemies. Sadly, there's not much use for the sniper rifle, save for one objective on the second-last level. The locations you visit are varied, interesting, and exquisitely detailed. You also see many different types of enemies (and friends as well), not just a bunch of Skaarj as in Unreal. The highlight of the game has got to be the graphics- it really looks great, and fire effects in particular are amazingly well done. The weapons you get often have spectacular destructive capabilities (but beware- enemies will have these too) and are a pleasure to put to work. There's really no particular advantage in picking one weapon over another (except for running out of ammo) but the look and feel of the different guns makes it worth switching around. The AI, as before, is superb. Enemies won't just charge at you, or at least not unless they think they're going to win. They'll dodge your rockets and take cover, popping out to tap you on the melon before ducking back down. The handful of boss characters you encounter also have unique behavior, which is sometimes quite irritating. Each of the varied races behaves in a different manner, some of which might be familiar to Unreal players. However, despite the fact that I made it all the way through the first Unreal, the new bullet-deflecting Skaarj did mop the floor with me a few times. As far as game physics go, you do move a bit slow (must be all that armor) but you're also tougher than you were in the old Unreal. You can pick up shield and health charges, recharge at stations, or scavenge shields off dead enemies. The shields don't work like they do in games like Dark Forces, in that you still take health damage when you get shot. In fact, it won't be uncommon for you to die with a lot of shields left, so health is still the key factor. There's some interaction with the environment, but it's largely good old switch-pushing. Some puzzles are scattered throughout the play, but nothing particularly stupefying. In all, Unreal 2 is a shorter version of Unreal with updated graphics and a better (but not by much) story. If it hits the bargain bin, I'd definitely recommend it just for the looks. Otherwise, this one's only for folks that just can't get enough of Unreal.
Rating:
Summary: Whimper
Review: The action isn't bad but the unseen sidekick (guiding you through the levels only verbally through the speakers) who sounds like one of the developers...HINT: Not a professional voiceover actor...is just plain annoying. You can't turn him off! The levels and graphics aren't anything to blow you away but die-hard fans may get a kick out of it.
Rating: 
Summary: An Utter Disappointment
Review: I bought this game right when it came out for full pop, expecting the rich storyline, innovative gameplay and mindblowing graphics innovations of the first one. What I got was a poorly written jumble of FPS cliches tied together with a pretty attractive gaming engine. The game felt like it wanted to be Halo without the talented writing and edge of your seat gameplay. The single replay value I found in the game was the level where you are defending against an onslaught of enemies, and get to plan your defense. That was not only fun and challenging, but offered multiple paths to success. If only the the developers had focused on that sort of gameplay instead of rehashing every bad FPS cliche from all the game of the past 5 years, this might have been a game worthy of the kind of replay the first Unreal has seen (I've played through it over a dozen times, usually when I upgraded my machine). As it stands Unreal II will fade into the past as not a terrible game (Daikatana stands at the top of that heap, or perhaps its bottom) but as a mediocre game that could have been great.
Rating: 
Summary: Unreal II is a major disappointment :(
Review: Okay, first of all, I've got to say that I love the graphics in the game, but that is probably its only redeeming quality as far as I'm concerned. I have listed my multiple beefs with Unreal II as follows...
1.) Storyline has nothing to do with the end of the first Unreal. 2.) John Dalton (your character) moves waayyyy too slow. It's almost like he tiptoes his way into battle. 3.) There are only about 8 or 9 levels altogether. The first Unreal had 39 levels (not including the intro and ending sequences). 4.) What happened to the rest of the enemies of Unreal 1? Most of the enemies in Unreal II are human (boring). I want my Krall, my Titan, my SkaarjGunner, my Brute, my Gasbag, my Devilfish, my SkaarjGunner, My SkaarjBerserker, my SkaarjWarrior, my Skaarj.... 5.) TOO MUCH BABYSITTING - I hate waiting for other characters in a game while they sit around doing their thing. 6.) There was no "Boss" which took about 70 or 80 rockets to kill, like in the first Unreal. Where's the sense of accomplishment? 7.) Where are my powerups? Why is that such a bad thing? 8.) Why did they even use the name, "Unreal" with this game? So there were a couple of Skaarj from the first game and the dispersion pistol (which cannot be upgraded - bummer) was available. Big deal. There is little resemblance to the original game. I know that the makers of the game wanted Unreal to "evolve" and to give it a different storyline, but they didn't have to ruin the game like this. 9.) You cannot skip the cinematics. Why can't you just hit the mouse button if you don't want to wait for people to finish talking? And why do you have to wait for Aida to take her sweet time to waltz from one computer to another? Why can't you just skip the debriefings altogether? Boy, what action this game has! Bottom line: If it weren't for the excellent graphics, I wouldn't even give this game 1 star. Here's to all the newest games with all your polygons and polident and whatever else it is that makes great graphics. I think I'll stick to the original Unreal which has been out for almost 6 years now, thank you very much.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty graphic, good story !
Review: I got this game for only 20 bucks. What can I say. This is a good game, pretty graphic and very organized cool story. You are the captain of TCA Atlantis, a space marshal to recover the order in the galaxy. The graphic is too pretty to describe in word. You have to see it to believe. I am using Geforce2 GTS 64Mb graphic card. Put the setting at 1024x768 32 bit and 85hz. All weapons are cool and useful. Now the price is almost below $20 bucks. Get it and play it. It worth! For a game under 20 bucks, what else can you say? Give this 5 stars
Rating:
Summary: dissapointing: zero replay value
Review: After playing the game all the way through, all puzzles are solved, all mysteries are revealed, all AI opponents strategies are cracked and countered. Pretty game, but ZERO replay value. Buy Unreal Tournament 2003 instead: when patched up to the most current patch level, it's a blast of a game with infinite replayability.
Rating:
Summary: did they run out of money?
Review: I don't play a lot of computer games, but I'm a fan of detailed, well-designed first person shooters. Games like Half-life, or Max Payne (technically third person) for example. Years ago, I played the original Unreal. It was and remains the longest (and I mean, LONG) shooter I've ever played, and it had gigantic levels that you had to explore thoroughly to get where you were going or accomplish your objective. I bring up the length of the first Unreal, as well as the size of the levels, because these are the things that are especially lacking in the sequel. Yes, Unreal II has good graphics. Not earth-shattering, but good. However, in stark contrast to the original, Unreal II is the shortest first person shooter I've ever played. In my mind I think way back to Half-life, Quake, Doom, heck, even Wolf 3D, and the generations of shooters surrounding each; all of these games are much longer than Unreal II. U2 is so short that it is not an exageration to say that I found myself wondering if the developers had simply run out of money, and tried to wrap the game up at the end of what should have been part 1 of 3 or 4. Anyone who plays these games knows that the Episode structure is as old as the genre - where is it in Unreal II? Nowhere. You play eight or nine levels, and just when you think some crucial twist in the plot is about to be revealed, it rolls to credits. One of the reviewers on this site said that you could beat this game in 10 hours or less the first time through. I would change that to seven or less. When I was playing through the game, I didn't take note of the relatively linear levels; I figured, "this game is just getting started, I'm sure later on I'll be tackling all sorts of crazy labyrinthine alien bases." Nope. There are a couple of alien bases, but they're pretty straightforward, and insufficiently explained or elaborated on in the plot. So on top of being a short game, the levels aren't very complex. They're not aggravatingly simple either - I enjoyed them - but they fall short of today's industry standard, and of the industry standard of six years ago. As for gameplay itself: cool weapons, and lots of them. Which makes me wonder again if perhaps the development wasn't simply cut off; you're never placed in situations that force you to explore the potential of the dozen or so guns at your disposal. As another reviewer said, you can easily complete nearly every level alternating between the sniper rifle and the shotgun, occasionaly changing to something else for variety, but certainly not out of necessity. Anything that is fun about this game is severely counteracted by its inexcusably short length. Might be worth ten bucks on the bargain rack, but not more than that. A huge disappointment that doesn't at all live up to the original and to the "Tournament" spinoffs.
Rating:
Summary: Feh.
Review: They tried real hard. Maybe too hard. Over-written commentary, over-polished graphics, and an occasionnal feeling that they forgot how incredible the first game was. It's pretty, and it has some wonderful elements. But, it just doesn't jump out at you and knock you over like the original did. I did have some fun with the game. It was just too formulaic. No replay value at all for me.
Rating:
Summary: Unreal 2 - the Boring
Review: I'll keep it short - very linear gameplay, predictable, and BORING. If you liked Unreal, which I did, this will most likely be a disappointment. I particulary object to the numerous arcade-style stand-there-and-shoot-the-little-things-coming-at-you scenes. Figuring out what to do next or where to go is trivial; you usually have no choices at all. Aside from the poor gameplay, I had several very annoying technical glitches, even though my hardware was on the 'approved' list and I was using the latest drivers (ATI Radeon). I spent hours fiddling with game rendering parameters until I found a set that worked consistently. In summary, sorry I bought it.
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