Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict, also known as Unreal Championship 2, The Liandri Conflict, and UC2, was Epic Games first console-exclusive title developed specifically by them. The game is available exclusively for the Xbox, though Microsoft has developed a backwards compatibility update for the Xbox 360 in order to play it there. The game was released on April 18, 2005 and published by Midway Games as part of a three-game publishing deal.
Synopsis[]
The Liandri Corporation is proud to announce that this competition is being held in concert with the Nakhti Ascension Rites. This ancient tradition is a battle to the death, where Nakhti warriors meet to choose the strongest among them to be their new Emperor. And more importantly, they get a chance to compete in the Grand Tournament! It's all the primitive bloodlust you've been craving. So tune in, and maybe the tournament rookie you see winning today will be tomorrow's Malcolm or Xan!
But wait... the Liandri Mining Corporation thinks you deserve even more. So we're giving it to you!
For the first time in tournament history, we have a full selection of melee weapons. Watch competitors get up close and personal, and slice and tear each other to pieces!
And there are all new melee moves! Watch a half-ton of armored Skaarj warrior knife through the air and pounce on opponents from across the arena! Boo as cowardly competitors camp with their sniper rifles or hide behind their shields. Then cheer as a brave sword-wielding fighter reflects the shot right back at that overconfident sniper!
You asked for more mobility and you've got it! The Liandri spent years and billions of credits to upgrade classic tournament armor, boosting agility to incredible levels. Watch competitors dodge bullets, hover in mid-air, or even bounce up sheer walls!"
Overview[]
Unreal Championship 2 features 14 different characters from the Unreal universe, plus extra characters released in a bonus pack via Xbox Live. Other additions include the new gametypes Overdose and Nali Slaughter, new weapons including melee weapons, and more adrenaline combos than in previous games.
The game's use of third-person perspective when using a melee weapon affords the player greater control in combat. Unreal Championship 2 attempts to combine the genres of first-person shooter with third-person fighting games like Soul Calibur. To aid in this attempt at combined gameplay, the Thunder God Raiden from the popular fighting game series Mortal Kombat is available as a secret character.
Players can use melee weapons only in third-person mode, but can switch between first- and third-person mode on the fly while using firearms.
Before a multiplayer game starts, the host can change gravity, regenerate health, and otherwise modify gameplay with "mutators" as is common in the rest of the series. The game also features, in addition to the classic multiplayer, a single player system.
There's also a weight class system where heavy characters are stronger at the expense of some agility, and light characters are agiler at the expense of some firepower. Unlike other Unreal games, players have to choose two weapons (one explosive and one energy) to use. Ammo for each of these weapons is spread throughout the battlefield.
The game also had cutscenes, story-specific missions, and tournament ladders for each character in the game.
Development history[]
Unreal Championship 2 began development in 2003 after Unreal Tournament 2003 was released, and was a planned sequel titled UT2005. When fans of UT started clamoring after improvements to 2003, Epic decided to move UT2005 to consoles and began work on Unreal Tournament 2004. UT2005 eventually became Unreal Championship 2, and was the first of a three-game contract between Midway Games and Epic Games.
The game was marketed as a sequel to Unreal Championship, even though, for the most part, it has nothing to do with that game whatsoever. The game was developed using a modified version of the Unreal Engine which later became it's own licensable product.
According to Joe Graf, a vehicle-based gametype was created[2], with even specialized maps[3], but they clashed with the core mechanics of the game, so it didn't make the cut for the game. The game would also have shipped with twice the maps it did in the final version (among them remakes of Unreal's DmElSinore, Unreal Tournament's DM-Conveyor and Unreal Championship's DM-Aqua_Mortis), including two gametypes that weren't featurd in the final game, either Domination or Double Domination, and a race-based mode called Death Race. Also cut from the final game are the items "Large Energy Ammo", "Large Explosive Ammo", "Large Armor", "Super Armor", "Large Shield Booster" and "Super Shield Booster", as well as pickupable versions of the non-starting weapons.
This game is the last in the Unreal series using Unreal Engine 2.x, as well as the final Unreal game to be released as an Xbox exclusive. Being an Xbox exclusive title, the contents, including the timeline of the game, were oblivious to non-Xbox gamers, who were made to frogleap from UT2004 to UT3.
Demo[]
A demo was released in OXM on March 1, 2005. It was also available at retailers such as Best Buy as a standalone disc. Often the requirement to get this copy was to either pre-order the game or purchase some other game. The demo contained the maps DM-Deadbolt, DM-Praxis, DM-Remnant, CTF-Emperor and CTF-ViperPit and the characters Anubis, Lauren and Szalor. Only half of the weapons were available, including Rocket Launcher, RipJack, Sniper Rifle and Stinger.
Release dates[]
- April 18, 2005 - The game was released to stores, published by Midway Games.
Game content[]
Gamemodes[]
There are three single-player modes, Botmatches aside, for UC2: the Ascension Rites, the Individual Ladders, and the Challenges. Each of them make use of the game's extensive maplist, mutatorlist and gametypelist. Many characters, bots, and mutators can only be unlocked through playing the single-player modes. The gametypes found in the game are Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture The Flag, Overdose, Nali Slaughter and Survival. While Overdose and CTF use their own set of maps each, the rest of the gametypes make use of the Deathmatch mappool.
| Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict Deathmatch maps |
|---|
| DM-AcidRain • DM-Apex • DM-Ascension • DM-AxonCompressor • DM-Azure • DM-ColdFusion • DM-Deadbolt • DM-Decay • DM-DeepCore • DM-Eternal • DM-Fury • DM-Horizon • DM-Legacy • DM-Meridian • DM-Morbias3 • DM-Nexus • DM-Phoenix • DM-Praxis • DM-Remnant • DM-SolarFlare • DM-Sovereign • DM-Tempest • DM-Undertow • DM-Whisper Bonus Pack maps: DM-EvilHands • DM-Sever |
| Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict Capture the Flag maps |
|---|
| CTF-Aqueduct • CTF-ChemicalDawn • CTF-Downfall • CTF-Emperor • CTF-Gauntlet][ • CTF-Judgment • CTF-Octane • CTF-Recoil • CTF-SkyReach • CTF-TotalControl • CTF-Transistor • CTF-Turmoil • CTF-ViperPit Bonus Pack maps: CTF-Monoxide |
| Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict Overdose maps |
|---|
| OD-Azure • OD-Cancer • OD-Echo • OD-Falls • OD-Obelisk • OD-Overflow • OD-Prism • OD-Sovereign • OD-Zenith Bonus Pack maps: OD-Ascension |
Characters[]
The game shipped with 14 playable characters, between selectables and unlockables. The Bonus Pack brought another 10 characters. With 8 remaining characters appearing as just bots, the game boosts a grand total of 32 characters.
Weapons[]
There are four types of weapons. Energy weapons which are powered by Tarydium crystals (or waste, in the case of the Bio Rifle), explosive weapons use explosive ammo, pistols with varying alternate firing modes depending on character race, and lastly, Melee weapons.
Usually, Melee and Starting weapons are tied to a specific character or race.
Melee weapons[]
- Main article: Melee weapons in Unreal Championship 2
|
Starting weapons[]
- Nakhti Scorpions (Anubis, Apophis, Darius, Hyena, Memphis, Mirage, Nepthys, Ra, Selket, Sobek)
- Skaarj Razik (Garek, Korig, Kraag, Szalor, Torgr)
- Liandri Rivet Gun (Corrosion, Devastation, Raptor, Syzygy)
- Lightning Bolts (Raiden)
- Dual Enforcers (Human) (Malcolm, Sapphire)
- Dual Enforcers (Juggernaut) (Arclite, Gorge, Jackhammer)
- Dual Enforcers (Necris) (Brock, Calypso, Judas, Lauren, Lilith, Necris Selket)
Energy weapons[]
Explosive weapons[]
Items[]
- Small Health Pack
- Medium Health Pack
- Adrenaline
- Energy Ammo: provides ammo for Energy weapons.
- Explosive Ammo: provides ammo for the Explosive weapons.
- Super Health
- Super Adrenaline
- UDamage
- Invisibility
Mutators[]
- Main article: Mutator
Soundtrack[]
- Main article: Music#Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
The soundtrack for the game contains 23 different tracks composed by Kevin Riepl. Many of the tracks were named after the map they appear in.
| Title & Author(s) | Duration | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| "Unreal Tournament Theme (Redux)" by Kevin Riepl | 01:57 | |
| "Abydos" by Kevin Riepl (M_Abydos.xwb) |
02:22 | CTF-Aqueduct, CTF-Downfall, DM-Remnant, OD-Falls |
| "Acid Rain" by Kevin Riepl (M_AcidRain.xwb) |
02:30 | DM-AcidRain |
| "Adoratrice" by Kevin Riepl (M_Adoratrice.xwb) |
02:06 | CTF-SkyReach, DM-Meridian |
| "Arctic Decay" by Kevin Riepl (M_ArcticDecay.xwb) |
02:37 | DM-Decay, DM-EvilHands, OD-Echo, TUT-AdvMovement |
| "Ascension Conclusion" by Kevin Riepl | 02:12 | |
| "Axon" by Kevin Riepl (M_Axon.xwb) |
02:26 | DM-AxonCompressor, DM-Morbias3 |
| "Bakhu Ruins" by Kevin Riepl (M_BakhuRuins.xwb) |
02:19 | ACT-BarrensAmbush, DM-Apex, DM-Azure, DM-Phoenix, OD-Azure, TUT-Combat |
| "Cancer" by Kevin Riepl (M_Cancer.xwb) |
02:46 | DM-Fury, OD-Cancer |
| "Cenotaph" by Kevin Riepl (M_Cenotaph.xwb) |
02:24 | CTF-Turmoil, DM-Undertow, OD-Obelisk |
| "Cold Fusion" by Kevin Riepl (M_ColdFusion.xwb) |
02:20 | DM-ColdFusion, OD-Overflow |
| "Columns" by Kevin Riepl (M_Columns.xwb) |
02:07 | DM-Nexus, DM-SolarFlare |
| "Deep Core" by Kevin Riepl (M_DeepCore.xwb) |
02:24 | DM-DeepCore |
| "Descension" by Kevin Riepl (M_Descension.xwb) |
03:34 | ACT-HallwayAmbush, CTF-Monoxide, CTF-Octane |
| "Gauntlet" by Kevin Riepl (M_Gauntlet.xwb) |
02:17 | CTF-Gauntlet][ |
| "Khepri" by Kevin Riepl (M_Khepri.xwb) |
02:08 | DM-Horizon, DM-Sever |
| "Legacy (Anubis Fights Selket)" by Kevin Riepl (M_Legacy.xwb) |
02:29 | ACT-SelketCheats, DM-Legacy, DM-Tempest |
| "Nakhti Ruins" by Kevin Riepl (M_NakhtiRuins.xwb) |
02:38 | DM-Eternal, DM-Whisper |
| "Nakhti Temple" by Kevin Riepl (M_NakhtiTemple.xwb) |
02:01 | DM-Ascension, DM-Sovereign, OD-Ascension, OD-Prism, OD-Sovereign |
| "Nu Battle" by Kevin Riepl (M_NuBattle.xwb) |
02:26 | ACT-AnubisCheats |
| "Recoil" by Kevin Riepl (M_Recoil.xwb) |
02:31 | CTF-ChemicalDawn, CTF-TotalControl, DM-Deadbolt |
| "Temple Udjat" by Kevin Riepl (M_TempleUdjat.xwb) |
02:06 | CTF-Emperor, CTF-Judgment, CTF-ViperPit, DM-Praxis |
| "Transistor" by Kevin Riepl (M_Transistor.xwb) |
02:37 | CTF-Recoil, CTF-Transistor |
Reception[]
The game was received very well by reviewers, with the average score being somewhere around 90% on most sites. It also gained favor among many gamers, however interest in the game died off after a short time and only a small cult following is left surrounding the game. Many people's complaints centered around the game simply being too difficult to master, which was true when compared with games like Halo that had overly simple controls as well as auto aim.
Credits[]
| Credits of Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict | |
|---|---|
| Epic Games | |
| Lead Designer | Dr. Michael Capps |
| Producer | Matt Norton |
| Lead Programmer | Joe Graf |
| Programmers | Ray Davis, Matt Oelfke, Ron Prestenback, Steve Superville, Per Vognsen & Sam Zamani |
| Additional Programmers | Josh Adams, Dr. Michael Capps, Laurent Delayen, James Golding, Brian Ladd, Steve Polge & Daniel Vogel |
| Art Direction | Jeremiah O'Flaherty |
| Artists | Mike Buck, Lee Dotson, Matt Hancy, Jay Hawkins, Pete Hayes, Aaron Herzog, Jay Hosfelt, Kevin Johnstone, Paul Jones, Maury Mountain, Chad Schoonover, John Sheffield, Aaron Smith & Kendall Tucker |
| Additional Artwork | Alan Cruz, Steve Garofalo, Anthony Pereira, Chris Perna, Lee Perry & Alan Willard |
| Lead Level Designer | Jim Brown |
| Level Designers | Ryan Brucks, Phil Cole, Grayson Edge, Cedric Fiorentino, Stuart Fitzsimmons & David Spalinski |
| Additional Level Design | Cliff Bleszinski, Ed Duke-Cox & Jean Rochefort |
| Audio Direction | Mike Larson & Jim Brown |
| Quality Assurance | Scott Bigwood |
| System Administrator | Warren Schultz |
| Biz | Tim Sweeney, CEO, Dr. Michael Capps, President, Mark Rein, VP & Jay Wilbur, VP |
| Office Manager | Anne Oube |
| Special Thanks | Chris Berg, Nate Brown, Rich Eastwood, Wayne Moorefield, Jack Porter, Jon Rihan, Martin Robaszewski & Greg Schultz |
| Contractors - Concept Artwork | Thomas A. Szakolczay & Vance Kovacs |
| Music | Kevin Riepl |
| Audio | Frank Bry, Joey Kuras, Jonathan Wall & Immersive Sound |
| Voice Production | Jamey Scott, Audiogodz, Dallas Audio Post & Dan Forden |
| Voice Actors | Anubis - Dameon Clarke Selket, Devastation - Stephanie Young Sobek - Brazos MacDonald Szalor, organizer, commentator - Ric Spiegel Sapphire, Lauren - Tanika Cato Apophis - Jim Foronda Malcolm - Patrick Amos Female announcer - Lani Minella Male announcer - Howle Castle Raiden - Chase Ashbaker MK announcer - Herman Sanchez |
| Plot Consultation | Richard Gaubert, Charles Cox & Eric Raymond |
| Additional Cinematics Work | Serious Robots & Sharon Marcussen |
| Motion Capture Actors | Game motions - Alan Cruz, Chris Flumara, Marty Garner, William Happer, Andrew Lematt & Steve Superville; Cinematic motions - Chris Flumara, Michael Goodwin, Jay Hawkins, Aaron Herzog, Jay Hosfelt, Leigh Pittard, Brandon Russell & Chad Schoonover |
| Midway Cinematic Team | Editing and Cameras - Marty Stoltz; Studio/Cinematic - Management - Jon McClenahan, Martin Murphy & James Gentile; Cinematic Animation - Fredy Palma, Rick Chase & Steve Bowler |
| Midway Games, Inc. | |
| 3rd. Party Production | Scot Lane, Nathan Rose, Matthew Vella & Regan Kerwin |
| Marketing and PR | Steve Allison, Mona Hamilton, Reilly Brennan, Randy Severin, Tim DaRosa, Greg Mucha & Jill Kogut |
| Print Design & Production | Midway Creative Services - San Diego, Ca. |
| Creative Media | Christa Woss, Beth Smukowski, Rigo Cortes, Larry Wotman, Max Crawford & Chris Skrundz |
| Legal | Debbie Fulton, Rob Gustafson, Nancy Fuller, Cory Halpern & Mike Burke |
| San Diego Quality Assurance | QA Director - Paul Sterngold; QA Supervisor - Malcolm Scott & Jamie Bencia; QA Lead Analysts - Brian Dumlao & Ben Nicholas; Assistant QA Lead - Eric Chow & Josh Stacy; Technical Standard Analysts - Jason Jorgensen, Chanel Penley, Matt Staples & Jimmy Storey; Online Technical Standards Analysts - Rich Phim, Rommel Abalos & Jennifer Johnson; QA Team - Rogelio Aguilar, Mike Belair, Rick Blair, Peter Briones, Nick Buxton, Rick Carter, Karey Ryan Cole, Saleem Crawford, Kristian Foresca, Mike Hampton, Jon Hansen, Jeff Heidenreich, Michael Iguico, Ben Kwok, Thieny Nguyen, Frank Pruett, Shaun Robinson, Mack Shekarestan, Josh Stacy, Tommy Woo & Travis Zander. |
| Chicago Quality Assurance | QA Director - Loren Gold; Chicago QA Lead Analysts - Chris McFadden & Greg Ranz; Chicago Sr. Product Analysts - Warren Wilkes; Chicago Product Analysts - Reggie Bannks, Dave Bulvan, Adam Coriglione, Andy Hernandez, Tim Waller & Ki-Wolf Smith; Chicago QA Engineers - Richard Lathan & Richard Vrtis |
| Associate Producer of Localization | Ivan Glaze |
| Localization Coordinator | Clermont Matton |
| Localization Product Analysts | Sebastian Braun, Grace Sykorska, Rogelio Aguilar & Leonardo Capezzuto |
| Special Thanks | David Zucker, Mark Beaumont, Steve Crane, Jeremy Alrey & Darren Walker |
| Microsoft Game Studios | |
| Program Management | Gordon Hee |
| Testing | Adam Dare, Cory Alexander, Domenic Koeplin, Paul Skavian, Jeff Stephens, Jon Burns, Justin Robey, Kevin Meyer, Collin Moore, Julie Carpenter, Kyle Casperson, Michael McManus, Mitch Kaufman, Pedro Perez, Robin Vincent, Steve Lang, Ty Roberts, Val Miller & Wayne Moorefield |
| Design Support | Howard Phillips |
| Art Support | Bruce Sharp |
| User Experience | Dana Fos, Eric Nylund, Jason Groce, Cameron Crotty & Charles Cox |
| Business Development | Frank Pape, Alfred Tan & Jim Veevaert |
| Development Support | Aaron Nicholls & Michael Saladino |
| Documentation | Jeannie Volrin & Dana Ludwig |
| User Testing | Bill Fulton, Eric Schuh, Keith Steury, Marcos Nunes-Lleno & Kyle Drexel |
| Localization | Victoria Olson, Terry McManus, Greg Ward, Levente Vero, Redmond O'Hanlon & Joe Youn Kim |
| Marketing | Chris Ol Cesare, Peter Kingsley, Darren Trencher, John Dogelmans & Andrew Jenkins |
| PR | Charlie Scibetta, Annie Eckles & Ryan James |
| ATG | Sam Charchlan |
| Product Support | Steve Kastner |
| Studio Management | Phil Spencer, Bonnie Ross, Tim Znamenacek, Korey Krauskopf, Humberto Castaneda, Thomas Zuccotti, Kevin Brown, Tony Cox & Stacie Scattergood |
| Special Thanks | Rod Fergusson, Tom Edwards & Seonaldh Davenport |
Trivia[]
Gallery[]
- Main article: Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict/Gallery
Videos[]
External links and references[]
- ↑ "Unreal Engine 2X". Unreal Technology. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- ↑ "Let's design Unreal Championship 3 Seriously: Updated 2-9-07" @ Epic Forums
- ↑ "Let's design Unreal Championship 3 Seriously: Updated 2-9-07" @ Epic Forums
- Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict @ Wikipedia
- Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict (Video Game) @ TVTropes
See also[]
| Unreal (series) |
|---|
| Unreal series: Unreal • Return to Na Pali • Unreal II |
| Tournament series: Unreal Tournament • UT2003 • UT2004 • UT3 • UT4 |
| Championship series: Unreal Championship - Unreal Championship 2 |
| Books: Unreal: Hard Crash - Unreal: Prophet's Power - Escape to Na Pali: A Journey to the Unreal |