Unreal Championship 2

At last...

It's here...

The newest attempt at console-based LAN-parties...

Altogether, this seems to be a healthily grown; nay, matured product. It may seem merely a new spin-off from an old, possibly aging, franchise. Occasionally; I for one can't help but wonder if they've actually found something (dare I say it) "new" to out the critcs from baying for too much blood, and keep the die-hards buying the game...

Thusly it comes as a gentle, but satisfying, surprise to find out that there is - in fact - something developed from the older incarnations (when developed is underlined), but has been sufficiently "messed with" to warrant some notice. For starters; the publisher has decided to extend it's bloody mitts toward this new "arena" of theirs to show off just how far they're prepared to take the previously stated (brand-security vs. user-interest) issue by introducing one of their own characters into the mix.

Noting that Midway is the publisher; they have made none other than Raiden the Thunder God heavily involved in the plot. He's probably a playable character...

Following on from such story-based examples as Halo and Timesplitters, the campaign or "story" mode has been made a principle part of this Championship flavour of Unreal. À la RPG's, there are no less than seven playable character-classes to choose from, with each having more than one character inside. It's fair a bet that there'll be a few to choose from at the start, but let's not forget that one of Midway's special-moves is to have characters as "Unlockables"...

Blatantly Raiden you have to look for; or it's cheat only; or you don't get him for ages...

The afore-mentioned die-hards will be pleased to know there's been the standard (nay, usual?) "weapons upgrades" since the last encounter.

1. The Rocket Launcher now has a "drunken" fire-mode (ROTT, anyone?);
2. The Ripper/Ripjack's ammo can now explode in mid-air, on command;
3. The Shock-rifle's secondary-fire can now be frozen in mid-air;
4. Each character class has at least one melée weapon;
5. <ahem> "They're not actually that bad." (thought I'd get it over and done with)

It's also been much banded around on a few of the links (below) that thanks to the much increased range of close-quarters weaponry, a "combo system" has been implemented! Whether this will adversely or positively affect frags is yet to be seen...