E3 2001 Preshow Report: Unreal II

The original Unreal was known for its breathtaking graphics and lush alien landscapes, and its sequel returns to the same universe, again putting you face-to-face with the fearsome Skaarj predators. Instead of progressing through geographically linked levels, in Unreal II players hop from world to world and return to an orbiting ship--the Atlantis--between battles to rearm and relocate. The player's mission is to find seven artifacts before they fall into the hands of warring alien factions, and this means you'll have to explore seven alien planets, each of which is made up of 10 unique environments. The new mission structure also allows for a much more interactive story, which is pieced together through conversations with the ship's crew.

Unreal II uses the most recent advances in the Unreal engine. It incorporates a new skeletal animation system for smooth and lifelike character movement. The game's environments are 100 times more detailed than those in Unreal Tournament, and the character models have 10 times as many polygons. Unreal II will include 15 new weapons, and although many will be familiar in function, a few of them of alien construction make for unique blends, like the leech gun and the hunter/seeker takkra. And while much of the focus is on the single-player campaign, Unreal II will undoubtedly include multiplayer support, composed of standard multiplayer modes and one new mode that will combine action and strategy.

At E3, Infogrames will be showing Unreal II behind closed doors in playable form. The game is said to still be very early in its development--around 40 percent complete. However, the advanced Unreal-engine features the game will showcase are the work of Epic Games--the studio behind Unreal and Unreal Tournament--and the previous demos of the engine have been quite impressive. Additionally, Legend Entertainment is committed to carrying out the type of level design that such an ambitious single-player game requires. The game is scheduled for release in the spring of 2002.