The original Unreal Championship hit XBoxes a few years back as a flagship title for XBox Live, but unfortunately turned out to be little more than a shoddy port of Unreal Tournament 2003. However, the crews at Midway and Epic Games decided to work from the ground up when it came to the sequel, Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict. This time around, the game has a (somewhat) cohesive storyline, excellent graphics, and a new focus on melee combat and third-person action. Even though it is an extreme departure from the original game, the sequel still stands as a marked improvement as well as a unique shooter experience.

The game’s basic storyline (as revealed through the single-player Ascension mode) follows Anubis as he fights to regain his respect after having dropped out of the tournament some ten years ago. He’s also out there to impress his girl, Selket, and save face for leaving the last time around. The storyline doesn’t appear to be great at a glance, but it has just enough subtlety to keep the game interesting without becoming too overbearing and cheesy. The game also has an extended cast of supporting characters to make things appealing, with fighters like Sobek and Hyena making appearances.

Unreal Championship 2 has a bunch of great new single-player modes aside from the Ascension mode. There’s also Tournament, which plays out much like an arcade mode, and Challenge, which is an extremely difficult, yet very rewarding series of battles where the odds are quite noticeably stacked against you.

First and foremost, the third-person melee combat marks the biggest departure for the series in terms of gameplay. Whenever you switch to a melee weapon, the game automatically switches to a behind the character third-person camera. You can block and reflect attacks, perform light and strong hits and even perform devastating finishing coup de grace moves in the heat of battle. The ranged weapons still feel pretty much the same as they do in other Unreal games, with favorites like the flak cannon and shock rifle making a return. The main difference is that now you can target enemies (though not as an auto-aim lock-on, but rather a way to pick out one opponent from the crowd) and switch between first and third-person view on the fly.

The controls are also focused a bit on the third-person action, shying away a bit from the standard FPS formula. You can perform jumps with some complexity to them, like double jumps and wall jumps, as well as airborne melee attacks. While these controls do take some getting used to at first, especially if you are more of an FPS gamer, they become second nature as you progress through the game. 

The AI is remarkably smart and attentive, making realistic moves and decisions. This makes the game extremely difficult. While there are five levels of difficulty, even the lowest setting will still give you a run for your money.

With the original Unreal Championship being one of the premier XBox Live titles, it’s reasonable to assume that the sequel would have a focus on multiplayer elements. While the game does have most of the familiar multiplayer modes, like deathmatch and capture the flag, the two new modes (Overdose and Nail Slaughter) are great and unique. In Overdose, you grab spheres and try to get them to the other side of the map before your opponents put you down, and Nail Slaughter is a game where you must kill as many little creatures as possible and rack up more points than your opponent.

Graphically, Unreal Championship 2 is gorgeous, pushing the XBox to its limits. The game is rife with bloom lighting effects and detailed textures, and great looking character models. The levels are teeming with atmosphere; with brilliant architectural design showcasing a classical look with Egyptian and Greek elements coupled with futuristic elements. Plus, all of the action unfolds at a smooth and fast framerate, keeping the intensity levels high. 

The sound is also very impressive. The gunfire is crisp and clean, resonating in Dolby Digital surround, and the industrial music score sets the mood very well. The voice acting is also fairly well done, although some of the announcing can be a little over-the-top.

Unreal Championship 2 is a great accomplishment, as it breathes new life into the franchise by reworking the gameplay from the ground up and creating a completely new and unique blend of fighting and FPS shooting. Fans of the genre should definitely check this one out.

Gameplay: 9.2
UC2 does a great job of blending classic FPS action with some third-person platforming elements and brings the Unreal series to a whole new level. The gameplay modes are plentiful, online and off, and the AI is very smart and puts up a good fight. The controls take some getting used to, but become second nature before too long.

Graphics: 9.7
UC2 is gorgeous. The game pushes the XBox to its limits, with advanced pixel shading, bloom lighting, anti-aliasing, the whole kit and caboodle. The level design is brilliant, combining the style and feel of ancient civilizations with high-tech, futuristic elements. The character models also look great and have high poly counts. Plus, all of this happens at a smooth and fast framerate.

Sound: 9.0
The sound effects are crisp and clean, resonating in great Dolby Digital. The industrial metal soundtrack does a great job of accentuating the overall mood of the gameplay. The voice acting is pretty good, although the announcing can get a little over the top at points.

Difficulty: Hard

Concept: 9.5 
UC2 takes the series to new ground by creating a blend of third-person fighting and great FPS action. It was certainly a ballsy move, but they pulled it off.

Multiplayer: 9.5 
There are some familiar favorites here, like Deathmatch and Capture the Flag as well as some innovative new modes, like the Overdose and Nail Slaughter modes, to keep things interesting.                                                                                                                

Overall: 9.5 
UC2 is a great concept that builds on the series and stands as a true innovation not just for the franchise, but also for the genre as a whole. Check it out if you are looking for your next great XBox Live experience.