I remember on January 2003, I got an early copy of Unreal 2 at Hastings, I'm guessing they had a review copy or something like that. Anyways, I remember playing it, liking it, but then again, I was 9 when I played it.

Now years later went by and I'm an adult now, is Unreal 2 as good as I remember it?

HELL NO.

Let's get the positives out of the way first, the graphics of Unreal 2 are good and weapons are unique just like the environments, from a gun that shoots spiders to a grenade launcher with multiple ammo types, the guns are good.

But that's about it.

Unreal 2's story has nothing in correlation with it's predecessor, Unreal 1 and RTNP. In fact, the only thing that Unreal 1 and 2 have in common is the fact there's Skarrj, and that's about it. U2 does try to add Liandri, Izanagi and Unreal Tournament references in there, but it goes over the head like the comedy.

Characters are nice, but bland.

And then there's the gameplay.

U2 is single-player only (unless you get the XMP pack of the net), and while the environments are nice looking and unique, it doesn't help that each mission is about the same; go in, kill a bunch of dudes and aliens, solve a puzzle and get the artifact.

In between missions, you can talk to your crew aboard the USS Enter... I mean Atlantis, to get briefed about your next mission, learn about your weapons and learn about the backstory of the crew, that's it. It serves it's purpose.

But sometimes when normal missions aren't enough, U2 likes to throw a curve ball in the form of defense missions.. and these can BURN. IN. HELL.

Defense missions asks you to defend an area or a person for a certain amount of time, using force fields and turrets and Marines with Derpy AI to guard the objective from waves of enemies. The problem is that not only do they break the boring flow, but some of them are a pain, be it the derpy AI marines, the derpy targeting system of the Turrets, the fact that it takes little time for the enemy to plow through your defense with ease or all three.

And let's not forget that one DICKWAD on Janus named Meyer... The biggest ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ in U2 who constantly ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about everything. EVERYTHING.

With all these things combined, I cannot recommend Unreal 2: The Awakening to anyone, from veterans on Unreal to new players.

I remember on January 2003, I got an early copy of Unreal 2 at Hastings, I'm guessing they had a review copy or something like that. Anyways, I remember playing it, liking it, but then again, I was 9 when I played it. Now years later went by and I'm an adult now, is Unreal 2 as good as I remember it? HELL NO. Let's get the positives out of the way first, the graphics of Unreal 2 are good and weapons are unique just like the environments, from a gun that shoots spiders to a grenade launcher with multiple ammo types, the guns are good. But that's about it. Unreal 2's story has nothing in correlation with it's predecessor, Unreal 1 and RTNP. In fact, the only thing that Unreal 1 and 2 have in common is the fact there's Skarrj, and that's about it. U2 does try to add Liandri, Izanagi and Unreal Tournament references in there, but it goes over the head like the comedy. Characters are nice, but bland. And then there's the gameplay. U2 is single-player only (unless you get the XMP pack of the net), and while the environments are nice looking and unique, it doesn't help that each mission is about the same; go in, kill a bunch of dudes and aliens, solve a puzzle and get the artifact. In between missions, you can talk to your crew aboard the USS Enter... I mean Atlantis, to get briefed about your next mission, learn about your weapons and learn about the backstory of the crew, that's it. It serves it's purpose. But sometimes when normal missions aren't enough, U2 likes to throw a curve ball in the form of defense missions.. and these can BURN. IN. HELL. Defense missions asks you to defend an area or a person for a certain amount of time, using force fields and turrets and Marines with Derpy AI to guard the objective from waves of enemies. The problem is that not only do they break the boring flow, but some of them are a pain, be it the derpy AI marines, the derpy targeting system of the Turrets, the fact that it takes little time for the enemy to plow through your defense with ease or all three. And let's not forget that one DICKWAD on Janus named Meyer... The biggest asshole in U2 who constantly bitches about everything. EVERYTHING. With all these things combined, I cannot recommend Unreal 2: The Awakening to anyone, from veterans on Unreal to new players.