Some familiar faces do return from the original masterpiece, most notably the Skaarj, though their not quite as lithe this time around, which is a shame in my opinion. The overall style of the game is obviously inspired by the original Unreal too, the dark spaceship Atlantis, and the lush alien planets providing stunning examples of what original design can do with technology as advanced as Unreal 2 enjoys. This really is one of the best looking games ever, in fact – I think it might be the most eye-pleasing game ever.

One of the flaws levelled against the original Unreal was the disappointing weapons, and these have improved under Legend’s guidance. The shotgun is reminiscent of Doom, and is a very satisfying weapon to use, as is the machine gun. The flame-thrower produces the most impressive visual effects, though isn’t as useful as one might imagine beyond this. The grenade launcher does however come in handy, as does the alien shock lance, which despite the name, seems oddly familiar.

Not a lot new then, but better than the original certainly. Not that the game doesn’t have it’s set-piece moments of excellence. Like when our hero John Dalton meets the devious marines comes a sequence of the highest order, and there’s a few others like being chased by a giant monster you’ve awoken that I won’t spoil for you. Ultimately, however, Unreal 2 sticks very much to the safe tried and tested formula.

Indeed, the game’s most impressive aspect by a very long way is in the graphics department, more specifically the glorious special effects of explosions and debris, the incredible detail of enemy characters, and most of all, the shear scale and richness of the environments. In fact it is this last point that marks Unreal 2’s closest alliance with it’s predecessor, having departed in almost every other sense. The environments are beautiful, and Legend have clearly spent an awfully long time perfecting them, and adding more layers of detail. The water effects are lovely, the draw-distances staggering, and in short, you’ll most certainly stop frequently to admire the view. There’s genuine diversity here as well, from snow-capped outcrops, to space-ships, lush alien planets to the ubiquitous underground research facilities the design is outstanding.

So that’s that then. There’s no multiplayer, as this was left out to be focussed on in Unreal Tournament 2003. The sound and is good, but not outstanding – though does help to build atmosphere. A word of warning, as with a few games out early this year, this game shows a lot of progress on the technical front and will therefore be requiring a good to enjoy it at it’s best. Closer to 2ghz on the processor front and a top-end graphics card should have you thinking along the right lines, though things can get a tad jerky when there’s lots of on-screen. Thankfully, you can adjust the level of detail, so you should be able to find a suitable configuration okay.

Unreal 2: The Awakening isn’t, as you’ve probably already guessed, as ground-breaking as the original game, and I guess this it is to be expected in a genre that demands things be kept simple. If you like first-person shooters, you’ll probably love Unreal 2, especially given the astonishingly good design effort behind everything you see. That said, however, the plot is a disappointment and the whole gameplay side of things decidedly unoriginal – exactly the same as every other released of late.

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By Luke Guttridge