Unreal II – The AwakeningBasic InformationSystem RequirementsOverviewStory LineInstallationUser InterfaceGame PlayScoringSpecial FeatureArt and SoundManualBugsReviewGoodBadComparesAudienceSummaryUnreal II – The AwakeningGame ReviewSteve BlossomCIS 487MaximBasic InformationTitle: Unreal II The AwakeningDeveloper: Legend Entertainment Publisher: Infogrames Game Type: Action, ShootersRelease Date: February 4, 2003 Release price: ~$40.00System RequirementsMinimal- Windows 98/2000/Me/XP- Pentium III or AMD Athlon 733Mhz- 256MB RAM- 3.0GB of free hard disk- 8X CD-ROM- 32MB NVIDIA GeForce2 MX- Windows compatible sound card- DirectX version 8.1Recommended- Pentium II or AMD Athlon 1.2Ghz- 384 MB RAM- 64 MB NVIDIA GeForce3 / ATI Radeon 8500- NVIDIA nForce or other motherboard/sound card containing the Dolby Digital Interactive Encoder. Sound Blaster Audigy series sound card recommendedOverviewUnreal II is the sequel to the original Unreal game from Epic, though the main character and maps are different than first game. The game utilizes the common shooter game narrative of lone individual who has come into the task of protecting the world from utter demise. The details of the story are given to the player via briefings, cut scenes and user controlled in-game dialog. The core of the game is in the missions that feature different tactical situations, including hostage rescue, civilian escort, assault on enemy bases with a squad of friendly troops, and defense of structures against attacking enemy waves. Afterevery mission, you return back to your ship in which more of the story line develops and the next mission is tasked out to you.Story Line“Eight years after the Strider Wars ended, Earth resumed its expansion into space. The central government grew weak, and power passed to the major corporations funding the exploration and exploitation of new planets. Each of these corporations maintained a private force of mercenary soldiers to enforce its will, and law became largely a matter of “Might Makes Right”As Unreal II – The Awakening opens, you are John Dalton, a Marshal in the Terran Colonial Authority. The TCA is an undermanned police force that patrols the outer reaches of space. Your job is similar to that of a Marshal in the Old West– you are the lone representative of governmental law and order, charged with keeping the peace in a vast and unruly territory.”(Unreal II – The Awakening Manual) “You patrol your sector in the creaky but serviceable starship Atlantis; a Spirit class patrol vessel built fifty years ago and retrofitted for civil government serviceafter the Military decommissioned her. You are accompanied by a support crew ofthree, Aida, Isaak and Ne’Ban.Unhappy with your lot “Patrolling the ass-end of nowhere,” your monotonous tour of duty is violently interrupted by a chilling distress signal, plunging you intoharsh combat situations against terrifying enemies.Violent turmoil among alien races and rival corporations has erupted on your watch. Thrust into a conflict that will determine the fate of the galaxy, you are humanity’s only hope for salvation.”(http://www.unreal2.com)InstallationThe installation processes is similar to most Windows based game or program installation. If AutoRun in enabled on the target computer when the ‘Installation’ CD-ROM is inserted it will bringup a splash screen (picturedhere). Clicking on the ‘Install’button on the splash screenlaunches a ‘InstallShield’ setup.The only input for installationprocess is the destination forthe source files to be copiedand where the shortcuts shouldbe placed in the user’s programmenu.The installation requires bothdisks that comes with the game,asking for the 2nd CD-ROM(‘Play Disk’) at 49% of acomplete installation. After the files are copied to the hard disk, setup then verifies that DirectX 8.1 or higher is installed. If this check fails, the installation process will then startthe installation process for DirectX 8.1 User InterfaceThe user interface is simple and shares many characteristics of standard first person shooter UIs.In the upper left corner are two bars that represent the available health and shield energy available. In the upper right hand corner are two more bars that represent the current number of ammunition loaded in the current gun and the amount of ammunition currently available in the player’s inventory. Under this is the UI for selecting weapons. Unlike the other player related gauges, the weapons UI only is displayed when the player presses the hotkey to switch weapons. It boasts features like displaying the available ammunition for weapons, and a quickly recognizable icon representation of the weapon. In the bottom left corner of the screen new objectives are displayed (not pictured) when they are assigned to the player. The current gun is always displayed in the lower right hand of the screen. A cross hair type object remains in the center of the screen to aid in shooting accuracy.Game PlayThough the base of this game is a shooter, the developers have extended the type of gameplay from just running around and shooting until you reach the end of a level. In order to complete a level you typically have to find your ways into rooms, through or around locked doors. Each level has a list of initial objectives which grows as the player encounters new parts of the level. Objectives are as numerous and diverse as; hostage rescue, civilian escort, assault on enemy bases with a squad of friendly troops, defense of structures against attacking enemy waves to locating certain rooms and objects.There are various ways to obtain items standard to the shooter type games. Health and shield power-ups are found in power-up items found on the map. Extra shield energy can be obtained by standing on top of a newly killed organic object (friendly or foe) while there is a blue cloud radiating from their body. Weapons are obtained by killing enemies that posses weapons. Unreal II adds an element of change by allowing the ships mechanic, Isaac, to reconfigure weapons found in the field, giving a more diverse spread of available weapons.For the basic game play, you control the player from a first person view, like all other firstperson shooters. You have at your hand, the ability to tell friendly AI players where to station themselves and what type of defense they should use. You can interact/place with designated items, such as sentry guns and force
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