Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict

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.



History
Unreal Championship 2 began development in 2003 after UT2003 was released and was a planned sequel titled UT2005. When fans of UT started clamoring after improvements to UT2003, Epic decided to move UT2005 to consoles and began work on UT2004. 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.

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 Details

 * April 18, 2005 - The game was released to stores, published by Midway Games.

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. Also, most Xbox Live subscribers were still engrossed in Halo 2 at the time.

Music
Contained 23 different tracks composed by Kevin Riepl.

Single Player

 * Ascension Rites
 * Follow Anubis to the crown of champion and the heart of Selket.
 * Tournaments
 * Select a character and bring him through each level of play.
 * Challenges
 * Select challenges to perform. Challenges include playing different scenarios of each gametype.

Multi Player

 * Deathmatch
 * Team Deathmatch
 * Capture the Flag
 * Overdose
 * Nali Slaughter
 * Survival

Pickups

 * Health: Health pack appears in small and medium varieties.
 * Adrenaline: Fulfills the players need for their special abilities.
 * Energy Ammo: or "Tarydium", gives ammo for the Sniper Rifle, Shock Rifle, Bio Rifle, and Stinger.
 * Explosive Ammo: gives ammo for the Rocket Launcher, Flak Cannon, Grenade Launcher and Ripjack.
 * Super Health: Gives the player full health.
 * Super Adrenaline: Gives the player full adrenaline
 * UDamage: Changes the color of the character and projectiles to purple, and makes a loud noise with every shot. The ability gives the player's weapons twice as much damage and twice the firepower
 * Invisibility: Makes the player partial invisible.

Weapons
There are four types of weapons. Energy weapons which are powered by Tarydium crystal (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. Primary fire fires bullets, a aitscan weapon Alternate fire either rapidly fires all the ammo in the clip (Juggernaut), or either shoots a freezing burt (Humans|human) or a Draining burst(Necris)
 * Pistols:
 * Dual Enforcers

Primary fire shoots red hot rivets Alternate fire melts the rivets into a rod which can nail players to walls
 * Liandri Rivet Gun

Primary fire shoots small energy balls, similair to the Dispersion Pistol. Alternate fire sends a Freeze burst like the human's Enforcer
 * Nakhti Scorpions/Lightning (Raiden's weapons)

Primary fires double energy projectiles alt fire fires a charged poison shot
 * Skaarj Razik


 * Energy:
 * Sniper Rifle Normally used to shoot from long distance, when used un-scoped it shoots three shots in a "W" shape. When scoped in it shoots one powerful shot that have the ability to get head shots. One of two weapons that can obtain headshots
 * Shock Rifle An Unreal classic weapon. Used like in other games, it can shoot a lightning or a ball. If/when a lightning meets a ball it explodes.
 * Bio-Rifle Can shoot single small balls or be charged up for one big ball. The big ball kills the enemy in one strike, the ball could also be turned into a cloud of poison while it is in the air.
 * Stinger The new version for the mini-gun. The secondary fire shoots slow Tarydium crystal projectiles that home in on the enemy when locked on. Like in UT3, the alt fire function of the stinger was going to pin dead players to walls, but it was removed along with the removal of ragdoll physics.


 * Explosive:
 * Rocket Launcher The original Unreal weapon. The Rocket Launcher can shoot up to three rockets when charged up or even split into six when activated in mid-air.
 * Flak Cannon A shot gun with ammo that can bounce of walls. Its secondary shoots a single ball that explodes on impact.
 * Grenade Launcher Shoots small balls that bounce around for a few seconds and explode when touched. Its secondary shoots a mine that is remote triggered.
 * Ripjack Descendent of the Ripper and Razorjack. The Ripjack shoots thin razorblades that can bounce of walls, floors, and ceilings. Its secondary attack shoots an explosive razor. One of two weapons that are capable of head-shots.
 * Melee:
 * Cryo Staff
 * Cryo Swords
 * Dark Staff
 * Juggernaut Fists
 * Legion Sword
 * Liandri Hammers (Fists)
 * Molten Kama
 * Nakhti Axe
 * Nakhti Staff
 * Nakhti Swords
 * Necris Swords
 * Skaarj Blades
 * Thunder Staff

Races

 * Nakhti
 * Humans
 * Juggernauts
 * Skaarj
 * Necris
 * Liandri
 * Raiden (Elder Gods)

Characters
The choice of character would only effect your agility, strength of the sword, and health. Light are quick and agile but weak with melee strikes with low health while Heavy are slow but powerful high health.


 * Light:

Name - Species
 * Selket - Nakhti
 * Sapphire - Human
 * Lauren - Necris
 * Devastation - Liandri


 * Medium
 * Anubis - Nakhti
 * Sobek - Nakhti
 * Malcolm - Human
 * Brock - Necris
 * Torgr - Skaarj
 * Raiden - Ancient


 * Heavy
 * Arclite - Juggernaut
 * Gorge - Juggernaut
 * Szalor - Skaarj
 * Raptor - Liandri


 * Updated Characters


 * Apophis
 * Calypso
 * Garek
 * Jackhammer
 * Judas
 * Kraag
 * Lilith
 * Merc Anubis
 * Necris Selket
 * Syzygy

Capture The Flag

 * CTF-Aqueduct
 * CTF-ChemicalDawn
 * CTF-Downfall
 * CTF-Emperor
 * CTF-GauntletII
 * CTF-Judgment
 * CTF-Monoxide (Bonus Content)
 * CTF-Octane
 * CTF-Recoil
 * CTF-SkyReach
 * CTF-TotalControl
 * CTF-Transistor
 * CTF-Turmoil
 * CTF-ViperPit

Overdose

 * OD-Ascension (Bonus Content)
 * OD-Azure
 * OD-Cancer
 * OD-Echo
 * OD-Falls
 * OD-Obelisk
 * OD-Overflow
 * OD-Prism
 * OD-Sovereign
 * OD-Zenith

Deathmatch

 * DM-AcidRain
 * DM-Apex
 * DM-Ascension
 * DM-AxonCompressor
 * DM-Azure
 * DM-ColdFusion
 * DM-Deadbolt
 * DM-Decay
 * DM-DeepCore
 * DM-Eternal
 * DM-EvilHands (Bonus Content)
 * DM-Fury
 * DM-Horizon
 * DM-Legacy
 * DM-Meridian
 * DM-Morbias3
 * DM-Nexus
 * DM-Phoenix
 * DM-Praxis
 * DM-Remnant
 * DM-Sever (Bonus Content)
 * DM-SolarFlare
 * DM-Sovereign
 * DM-Tempest
 * DM-Undertow
 * DM-Whisper

Bonus Content
The official bonus content was already on the DVD, but could only be unlocked via XBox Live. It contained four maps and ten alternate characters:

Maps

 * CTF-Monoxide
 * DM-EvilHands
 * DM-Sever
 * OD-Ascension

Alternates

 * Apophis
 * Calypso
 * Garek
 * Jackhammer
 * Judas
 * Kraag
 * Lilith
 * Merc Anubis
 * Necris Selket
 * Syzygy

Unlockables

 * Bots


 * Apophis: defeat Ascension Rites.
 * Calypso: defeat Malcom Ladder.
 * Corrosion: defeat Anubis Ladder.
 * Darius: defeat Szalor Ladder.
 * Hyena: defeat Ascension Rites.
 * Jackhammer: defeat Arclite Ladder.
 * Judas: defeat Sapphire Ladder.
 * Korig: defeat Raptor Ladder.
 * Kraag: defeat Lauren Ladder.
 * Memphis: defeat Brock Ladder.
 * Mirage: defeat Sobek Ladder.
 * Nepthys: defeat Gorge Ladder.
 * Syzygy: defeat Devastation.


 * Mutators


 * Characters

In-Game Awards

 * Cavalier: Achieving 5 kills using melee weapons.
 * Samurai: Achieving 10 kills using melee weapons.
 * Rejected: Killing an enemy by deflecting a shot back (in melee mode).
 * Combo: Getting hit by a Necris freeze attack while being a Necris yourself. (it gives Necris characters health).
 * Flawless Victory: Winning a round without a single death or defeat.
 * First Blood: First player in a match to make a kill.
 * Headshot: Fragging a player by taking off his/her head.
 * Brain Surgeon: Achieving 5 headshots in one game.
 * Interception: Freezing an opponent in Overdose in order to steal the ball.
 * Jumpy Bitch: Awarded while killing an opponent through excessive jumping.
 * Smack Down: Reflecting an opponent's charged adrenaline fueled melee attack.
 * Wasted: Shooting a necris with a charged pistol shot or firing a poison Skaarj claw at another Skaarj.

Awarded for making a certain number of kills without dying throughout the match.
 * Killing Spree: 5 kills.
 * Massacre: 10 kills.
 * Rampage: 15 kills.
 * Dominating: 20 kills.
 * Unstoppable: 25 kills.
 * Godlike: 30+ kills.

Awarded for making the amount of kills within the allotted time.
 * Double Kill: 2 kills.
 * Multikill: 3 kills.
 * Mega Kill: 4 kills.
 * Monster Kill: 5 kills.
 * Ultra Kill: 6 kills.
 * Unholy: 7 kills.
 * Impossible: 8 kills.
 * Unpossible: 9 or more kills ( will continually announce "Unpossible!").

Awarded for getting the amount of kills with the said weapon.
 * Disc Jockey: 10 kills with Ripjack.
 * Eight Ball: 8 direct hits with Rocket Launcher.
 * Rocket Scientist: 20 kills with Rocket Launcher.
 * Biohazard: 7 kills with Bio-Rifle, or 5 kills using the Bio-Rifle's alternate-fire.
 * Goop God: 15 kills with Bio-Rifle.
 * Blue Streak: 10 kills with Stinger.
 * Shock Therapist: 10 kills with Shock Rifle.
 * Flak Monkey: 10 kills with Flak Cannon.
 * Landmine: 5 kills with Grenade Launcher's alternate-fire.
 * Sharp Shooter: 7 kills with the Sniper Rifle.

Gameplay Details
Epic installed a new melee system into the game where the heavy characters have a more power but at the lost of their agility while vista versa with light characters. Unlike other Unreals, players would have to choose two weapons (one explosive and one energy) to use where the ammo for each would spread throughout the battlefield.

Trivia

 * Unreal Championship 2 began development as UT2005 and was later renamed and made an Xbox exclusive.
 * As of 2007, Unreal Championship 2 is the latest game chronologically in the Unreal universe.