Hardcore FPS fans would be best advised to check out Unreal Championship. However, it definitely has a share of problems
Unreal Championship is actually Unreal Tournament 2003 from the PC. It's actually the 2nd game in the Unreal Series, with the first one being Unreal Tournament. The Unreal series mostly focuses on multiplayer action in the FPS genre, and most of the time; the games have been successful at making memorable multiplayer actions and unique game modes. However, with Unreal Championship, being the 2nd game in the series, it isn't quite as grand as Unreal Tournament.
You start out Unreal Championship playing as bulky sarge, and you have the option to choose any character in UC to be on your team. You can even customize what types of action should your team member use, such as defenses, offenses or freelance. The single player mode has these groups called ladders. Each ladder has a specific game mode and each has 7 battles. At first, you are given the Deathmatch ladder, which is where you and your team members battle in FPS arenas for points. After you beat the 2nd battle in each ladder in UC, you will unlock another ladder with a different game mode. You may choose to beat each ladder in any order. Other then the Deathmatch ladder, the other ladders include Double Domination ladder, Capture the Flag ladder, and Bombing Run ladder. The Double Domination ladder is similar to Domination in Unreal Tournament, but with a different twist. This time, each Double Domination arena contains only 2 bases. You and your team members must keep both bases guarded at the same time for 10 seconds. After 10 seconds, you score a point. But this can be a challenging game mode, simply because your enemies can attack each base and take over it. This ladder can be fun and challenging, but it doesn't really live up to the fun that Domination was in Unreal Tournament. The Capture the Flag ladder is one of Unreal Championship's key game modes. Like any FPS capture the flag game, you go into your enemy's base to take their flag and bring it back to your base. Each arena for this game mode is wide and well made. The last ladder, Bombing Run ladder, is a brand new game mode in the Unreal series, and its well fitting. Bombing Run is where you go into the center of the arena, pick up a yellow ball, and take to your enemy’s base to score a point. This isn't quite as easy as it sounds. Don't be surprised if many times your enemy kills you and ends up taking your ball to your base. The good thing is that you can kill enemies when you don't have the ball, but you when you have the ball, you can't attack your enemies. Still, Bombing Run is a fun game mode and suits well to the Unreal series.
After you finish all the ladders, you finished the game. Now you can go to Instant Action and have fun with all the ladders with yourself or your friends. The Unreal series has always been most fun with multiplayer action. While the action is still fun here, it isn't really as deep and enjoyable as Unreal Tournament. When it comes to arenas, Unreal Championship offers about 30 of them, each divided only for a specific game mode. Thankfully, Unreal Championship does offer Xbox Live support, so there is still some more fun to be had in the game. UC also has downloadable content, so you can download 4 more levels for both your online and offline plays. Overall Unreal Championship offers some new ideas, but doesn't revolutionize the FPS genre much.
Graphics:
The graphics, for the most part, are good. The guns, the characters and arenas have solid details and sometimes look amazing. The light sourcing and other special effects look great in UC. While the details are good, the frame rate is another thing. Most of the time it's at a solid speed, but when you get to intense conditions, it does chunk down a little. But fortunately, it doesn't affect the gameplay too much. While some better details and better frame rate could've helped, UC still looks good.
Sound:
Like Unreal Tournament, the music in UC is nothing memorable. But I will say that some tunes in Unreal Championship are not as good as Unreal Tournament was. Some songs are decent, while others are...only tolerable. The game's voice acting is good. It's always thrilling to hear each character taunt one another so often. And finally, the sound effects are just okay.
Conclusion:
Even though the new ideas in Unreal Championship are nice, it's still not enough to make it better then Unreal Tournament. But while playing through the game for the first time and while playing it with friends on or off Xbox Live, Unreal Championship offers a good action-packed experience. Fans of FPS should definitely check out Unreal Championship, but others are best advised to rent it, or check out a better FPS.
Pros:
-Fun FPS gameplay
-The new game mode, Bombing Run, is a great addition
-Good graphics
Cons:
-Not as fun as Unreal Tournament
-Double Domination, in my opinion, is utterly useless
-A little short