Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict (Xbox)

Very unimpressed by the first and somewhat "laggy" Unreal Championship for the Xbox I was extremely doubtful about a second installation. From the first few web reports I saw I'd heard it was going to be a third person shooter? Hardly pure classic UT quality, I asked myself, reminiscing of the previous two Unreal Tournament games for PC. But once I played my brothers copy of the game I was temporarily hooked.

The game is totally different from the Unreal games of the past, in fact forget all previous shooter games. This new addition takes your playing to a new level of gaming where you powers agility and maneuverability matter more than firepower. You still have all the classic guns that we all love, such as the lightning gun and rocket launcher, but the damage system is very much toned down from its predecessor. In place each chracter is given a melee weapon which is used very much like the energy sword in halo 2, only without the annoyance of one hit kills. You'll need quick reflexes to master melee combat and a well as a great deal of patients to try and retry key combinations, for special moves.

Often you'll find yourself doing matrix style wall running and the such like to just reach that energy upgrade, or perhaps suprise and enemy from behind? Which is a nice change from the "standard" isometric view of most shooting games, that we've all grown up playing on.

Although annoyingly only two can play with split screen multiplayer there is the option to use your system link or even xbox live to fight in a large arena for world ranking. You can even download a new content maps and weapons so you'll never get bored of playing(Apparently).

The main game itself is very much similar to UT2003. Fight various opponents on different scale matches, and gradually fight you way to the top and win. Although, it has to be the most boring and extensive singleplayer modes ever. I've played for about 20 hours and sadly have still only completed a minor fraction of the game. Its not even as if you unlock something major by doing so. Just a character with similar powers to everyone else.

In several ways, I can't help but feel this game is spectacular in many ways, not much has changed other than the view perspective. It would have been better suited to the PC. Its a damn shame that its almost "condemned" to Xbox. Its worth renting, but unless its cheap or your a die-hard fan, its not worth the £30.