Unreal II: The Awakening

aka: Unreal 2
Moby ID: 8377
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

Some years after the Strider Wars, humanity has resumed its expansion into space. On the rough frontier, it falls to the Terran Colonial Authority to maintain peace and order among the outlying colonies and outposts. TCA Marshal John Dalton and the crew of his ship, the Atlantis, patrol this dangerous sector of space when several distress calls lead to the discovery of alien artifacts with unique properties. Soon, the hunt for these artifacts is on between several alien factions as well as human corporations and their mercenary forces, with the TCA and their allies caught in the middle.

The first-person shooter Unreal II, while a sequel to Unreal, has no direct connection to the first game except being set in the same universe (with the Skaarj from Unreal and the Liandri Corporation from Unreal Tournament being major enemy factions). The player controls John Dalton through a dozen missions, taking place in such locations as the dense jungle of a tropical planet, a research facility on a frozen moon, the insides of a planet-sized living organism, the home world of an insectoid machine civilization, as well as a huge starship.

The weapon arsenal consists of more than a dozen guns. Standard types include pistols, an assault rifle, shotgun, and sniper rifle. Some heavier ones are a flame thrower, as well as rocket and grenade launchers, with the grenade launcher being able to use six different ammunition types, including fragmentation, EMP and smoke grenades. Available in later missions are weapons adapted from alien technologies. These include various energy guns, a biological weapon that creates living spiders that attack enemies, and an autonomous floating orb that either seeks out and attacks enemies or circles around the player in point defense. As in other Unreal titles, each weapon has two different firing modes.

Missions are usually of the run-and-gun type, but there are exceptions. Several levels include defense assignments where either a position must be held for a certain time or a character be kept alive. These levels usually include additional tools such as energy barriers and automated turrets that can be placed by the player in any location. Sometimes, AI-controlled characters will be there to help out the player as well. In that case they can be given orders on which sector to defend or patrol, for example.

The story of the game is told through a variety of means: besides in-engine cutscenes, there is a lot of radio chatter during a mission; in fact, it's not unusual for mission objectives to completely change due to story developments. Between missions, Dalton can wander freely about the Atlantis and chat with his crew, going into their personal backstories as well as more details about the main plot.

Spellings

  • 虚幻II:觉醒 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

227 People (207 developers, 20 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 79% (based on 43 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.3 out of 5 (based on 108 ratings with 12 reviews)

A pretty, entertaining shooter that requires little investment

The Good
It goes without saying that, just as with the original, the graphics are the most standout component of this game. Weapon effects, monster animations, lush landscapes and creepy flora and fauna all come to vivid life with the latest incarnation of the Unreal engine.

The gameplay is enjoyably straightforward with virtually no learning curve. You play as the captain of patrol ship in a Star Trek-esque universe, answering distress calls and fetching artifacts while uncovering an intriguing if trite sci-fi plot.

The supporting cast, including a feisty buxom first mate; a cigar-chomping, jaded weapons expert; and a lovably inept amorphous alien pilot make add immensely to the sense of story and consistency. The away-mission-based structure makes the game feel more open-ended than it actually is, which is good given how linear it actually is.

The arsenal, while outrageous, is eclectic and entertaining, and the bad guys range from humanoid to tremendously scary. Helpfully expendable NPCs littered throughout each level provide hints on how to solve the level in just the nick of time, as well as occasional radio transmissions with your crew.

Movable turrets, portable forcefields, and commandable troops add a level of strategy and a lot of fun to certain portions of the game. I only wish there were more of these moments.

The Bad
The game is very limited in depth and scope. While levels are fully explorable and beautiful to look at, there is little interactivity or ability to stray from the main path.

The difficulty balance is perplexing. Most enemies are appallingly easy, compensated for with sheer quantity. Not since Serious Sam have I been so annoyed by an unwarranted polygonal invasion of my screen. Even optimal systems can get bogged down by the game's massive environments and reptilian hordes.

Although the player encounters a pretty varied arsenal of weapons (each with an alternate fire mode), including an awesome fire-and-forget weapon that unleashes a black hole on your opponents, I found that I ended up using my basic assault rifle for a good 80% of the game.

The story itself is a pretty weak premise, and the characters outside of your crew are pretty forgettable. Even your crew's personalities and back stories are under-developed, despite a valiant attempt in the game's relatively short span.

While certain missions show promise, there is virtually no deviation in gameplay. Almost every level consists of starting outside of a complex; blasting your way through the complex; grabbing a secured item; and backtracking your way back to your ship. The all-too-brief strategic moments are few and far between, and usually end the same regardless of how you approach them.

And, although it's a relatively minor gripe, I found it pretty disappointing that Unreal 2 had pretty much nothing to do with the original other than the title and an overlapping bad guy (the iconic Skaarj).

The Bottom Line
Just like it's forebear, Unreal 2 is a visual treat, worth a playthrough for the eye candy alone. Just don't expect too much depth and you'll be pleasantly surprised. The game had some great ideas, but if you're looking for a game that accomplishes its design goals more thoroughly, check out Elite Force or Red Faction.

Windows · by jTrippy (58) · 2008

An impressive tech demo thinly disguised as a game.

The Good
After the impressive track record of the somewhat predictable but hugely entertaining Unreal series of games one can only assume that Unreal 2 is going to be utterly huge and while in a couple of ways it is, that assumption is largely a mistake. The latest version of the Unreal Warfare engine drives this game and it's looking better than ever with unprecedented detail on all counts. Grass waves, each little metal bolt and rivet actually sticks out rather than just being a texture and shadows bend convincingly over the surroundings. The best feature of Unreal 2 by far is the level editor. With a strong basis to create mods and scenarios, an ambitious team could do wonders with this and designers are given some real power to play around with. Best of all since the game is based on Unreal Technology if you've ever had any prior experince editing an Unreal game then you'll feel right at home here. Unfortunately the other good points of the game aren't really that great. There are some fun scenarios such as defending a base and leading a squad of marines as well as some nice, if a little generic weaponry but...

The Bad
sadly these things are not enough to take the game to the same level as the graphics engine. The sad attempt at a story is sloppily put together and as thin as water. Even the attempt at interactive conversation trees is unfounded because at no point can the conversation be taken in new directions. All the player can do is simply exhaust all possible options until the characters shut up. The gameplay is very generic and strangely unplayable largely due to ridiculous accuracy from some enemies coupled with slow sluggish movement. Your character also has the (dis)ability to jump-dodge with a double tap of a direction key which sounds good but more often than not it results in him performing an unnerving leap to certain death over a cliff because you were trying to strafe in bursts.

The Bottom Line
This game is a senseless waste of technology. What could have been a ground breaking and stunningly well realised game has turned out to be nothing more than a glorified tech demo covered in a thin shooter wrapping. Mod authours will no doubt take full advantage of the engine and create add-ons that far outstrip the original but until then we're left with a very meger offering indeed.

Windows · by Sycada (177) · 2003

A little disappointment

The Good
I liked the graphics and the huge in depth spaces.
Cool weapons
Mysterious environment

The Bad
I didn't like the story behind this game.
The game is too short.

The Bottom Line
Unreal 2 is a sci-fi first person shooter like most others. But, if you have a strong pc, something like 256MB memory with at least GeForce 4 you will enjoy a blasting eye graphics.

The main disappointment for me is the story behind this game. It wasn't an interesting adventure like Unreal 1 and the game is too short.

I don't know but Unreal 1 was a mystery shrouded game, but if you haven't played it you will like Unreal 2.

Windows · by Shalom Raz (55) · 2003

[ View all 12 player reviews ]

Trivia

German version

In the German version, all blood and gore effects were removed. Also some corpses in the levels were replaced or removed. The later released Special Edition is not affected.

John Dalton

The main character's last name, Dalton, was based on Scott Dalton, one of Unreal II's game designers. The developers tried to avoid the name collision for a while, but in the end "Dalton" just seemed to work best for the game and was used in the final product.

Multiplayer

A patch to this game adds multiplayer, vehicles and new weapons. It is called Expanded Multiplayer or Unreal II XMP.

References

  • Coincidence...or not? The player you control in the game, sometimes appreviated as "U2," is named John Dalton. In the late 80's, the Irish rock group U2 would sometimes dress up as a country western band and open for their own shows. The name of the group?: The Dalton Brothers.
  • An NPC in the tutorial area muses about getting himself two flags and conducting a some kind of tournament. An obvious reference to the Unreal Tournament series of games.

Seagoat

The Seagoat, the alien, bunny-like pet that shows up on the player's ship during mid-game, was created very early on in development and originally thought to be a huge, bovine creature that could inhabit one of the alien worlds in the game. During development, the name "Seagoat" started to stick for the creature, and it was greatly reduced in size and given the role of cute, slightly weird pet.

Voice acting

Even though all other voices for the game were performed by professional actors, Ne'Ban, the ship's alien pilot, is voiced by one of the developers (Grant Roberts).

Awards

  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 04/2009 - One of the "10 Most Terrible Sequels" ( It is a good game in its own right but forgettable and far from being as groundbreaking as Unreal. The technical potential goes to waste because the player mostly walks through illogical and linear levels instead of being outdoors.)
  • PC Powerplay (Germany)
    • Issue 03/2005 - #6 Biggest Disappointment

Information also contributed by Matthias Worch, St. Martyne and STU2

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Riley Beckham.

Xbox added by Kartanym.

Additional contributors: KSlayer, Unicorn Lynx, Rebelteen, Sciere, Patrick Bregger.

Game added February 9, 2003. Last modified March 13, 2024.