Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
"From the wind swept barrens, from their breathtaking ocean cities, they come. Brave warriors gathering forth in Noble Tradition, battling for Ascension. The greatest among them will be crowned Emperor. Today, with the sponsorship of the Liandri corporation. this tournament enters the twenty fourth century. Welcome to a perfect combination of Ancient Tradition, and high-tech Blood Sport. Welcome to the Ascension Rites."
"This competition may be small, but it won't leave you disappointed. Ancient traditions, a final match to the death, and all the carnage you expect from a sanctioned Liandri tournament. Heh... I can't wait."—Malcolm
Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict is the second console exclusive game of the Unreal series, also for Xbox. It was developed by Epic Games and it's the first Unreal game published by Midway Games, otherwise known by the Mortal Kombat series.
The story focuses on the Nakhti empire, an Egyptian-based civilization whose Ascension Rites' Tournament decided who was the one who would rule the Empire. It has the player taking the role of Anubis, a member of the Imperial Legion, while he tries to stop Selket from becoming the Emperor. He's one of the first people to be aware that she's a puppet of the Liandri Corporation, who wants to control the Nakhti people. So, Anubis and his friend Sobek sign up for the Tournament in order to stop her.
The game is notorious for it's combat system. It has a strong emphasis on melee combat and mobility, (to the point of having a wider moveset and more adrenaline abilities than those of Unreal Tournament 2004) with the player being able to alternate first-person (non-melee mode) and third-person views. (Melee mode) Each melee weapon of the game has an alternate fire which can stun the opponent, a requirement to do the Coup De Grace.
And, unlike other instances of the Unreal franchise, each character is radically different, with an own weight class, (light-medium-heavy) starting meleé and ranged weapons, different adrenaline abilities (which determine which moves the player is able to do) and a custom Coup De Grace.
Basically, Unreal Championship 2 can be described as a mix of FPS and Fighting Game. In fact, the character roster includes a Guest Fighter in the form of Raiden.
Check the game's character sheet for character specific tropes.
- Action Girl: All of them.
- Announcer Chatter
- Applied Phlebotinum: The Necrification process, which uses Nanoblack as its technology. Brock, Lauren and Selket, for example.
- Ascended Extra: Due to the way the fighting system works, several characters from both Unreal Tournament and Unreal Tournament 2004 get the ascension to playable characters. Also, some of them have (although slight) relevance to the history of the game and/or the entire series.
- Asskicking Equals Authority: The Nahkti ascension rites, where the winner is crowned emperor.
- Badass Family: Judging by Malcolm's words, Anubis's family has a history and an own name in the Rites' history. This is true as well for any family in the Nakhti Empire, which may be the reason of why Liandri is sponsoring the Rites.
Malcolm: This competition may be small, but it won't leave you disappointed. Ancient traditions, a final match to the death, and all the carnage you expect from a sanctioned Liandri tournament. Heh... I can't wait.
Robot commentator: Malcolm, are you surprised to see Anubis in the semi-finals?
Malcolm: Nah! He has fighting in his blood - from his grandmother, the late Empress Seshafi.
- Bittersweet Ending: In the aftermath of the Rites' finals, Anubis has a very big mourn about Selket. Then, a Liandri Officer approaches, and gives him the choice of bringing her back to life as a Necris, betraying everything he held dear, or leave her dead. Needless to say, he chooses the first option.
- Blatant Item Placement: Not so much this time.
- Blood Sport: And in rite form, no less.
- Bond One-Liner: The victory taunts.
- The Cameo: Shao Kahn's announcer voice.
- Capture the Flag
- Combos: Double Kill... Multi Kill! MEGA KILL!! M-M-M-M-M-MONSTER KILL!!!...
- Credits Gag
- Cursed with Awesome: Keep the ball for a long time in Overdose, and you'll get your reward.
- Death Is Not Permanent: The Respawner technology, mentioned in the final match, where it's deactivated.
- Defeat Means Playable: Several playable and AI characters, unlocked in each of the three Single-Player modes.
- Double Jump
- Downloadable Content: The game had a Bonus Pack in the form of 4 maps, 13 new playable characters, and the possibility of playing Overdose in Deathmatch maps.
- Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: The Liandri Conflict.
- The Empire: The Nakhti.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The Nakhti.
- Finishing Move: The "Coup De Grace" moves.
- Foreshadowing: After the quarterfinals.
Robot commentator: What an incredible match. Fine performances by all, but three competitors will go back home empty-handed. Malcolm, are you surprised to see Anubis in the semi-finals?
Malcolm: Nah. He has fighting in his blood, from his grandmother, the late Empress Seshati.
Robot commentator: But he turned his back on his family's fighting tradition, not to mention his arranged marriage with Selket, eight years ago.
Malcolm: Skipping the tourney was one thing, but passing off a chick like Selket was suicidal. I bet she's dying to meet him on the Arena.
- Green Rocks: Tarydium is used for all the energy weapons.
- Grimy Water: Some stages have pools with different water colors.
- Have a Nice Death
- Implausible Fencing Powers
- Kick the Dog: The Nali Slaughter gametype. Brought by the Skaarj, this melee gametype consists on killing poor Nali (and, of course, your rivals) with your own hands. In the story mode, you have to fight in this stage against a Skaarj.
Malcolm: Some would say it's unwise to meet a Skaarj warrior in a game they invented.
Szalor: It is always unwise to fight a Skaarj warrior.
- The Kingdom: The Nakhti.
- Mega Corp: Liandri. Axon and Izanagi are also mentioned in several map descriptions.
- Nanomachines: The nanoblack used to create Necris.
- Nostalgia Levels: The Gauntlet, Morbias and Tempest, from the PC games.
- One-Hit Kill: Freezing your opponent and doing Coup De Graces on them. Also Instagib matches.
- Playing Tennis With the Boss: You can reflect any fire with your melee weapon, even sniper rounds.
- Quad Damage: The enhanced adrenaline system, coupled with the Udamage.
- Ragdoll Physics
- Real Is Green And Blue
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money: Liandri, again.
- Slashed Throat: The Ripjack works best when the sawblades hit the target's neck.
- Standard FPS Guns: As an Unreal game, every weapon has it's secondary mode fire, so, many weapons will usually fit two of these classes. That said:
- Knives: Anubis's Nakhti Staff, Sobek's Legion Sword, Selket's Dual Nakhti Swords, Apophis's Nakhti Axe, Calypso, Lauren and Lilith's Necris Swords, Devastation's Molten Kama, Sapphire's Cryo Swords, and the Skaarj Blades.
- Pistols: Nakhti Scorpions, and the Enforcers.
- Shotgun: Flak Cannon's primary mode.
- Auto-weapons: Liandri Rivet Guns and the Stinger.
- Explosive: Grenade Launcher's alternative fire. (Mines)
- Marksman Gun: The Shock Rifle.
- Sniper Rifle
- Rocket Launcher
- Grenade Launchers: The Grenade Launcher and Flak Cannon's and Rocket Launcher's alternate fire mode.
- Energy Guns: Several, including Skaarj Bolts and Raiden's Lightning Bolt.
- Gimmicky Weapon: The Ripjack.
- Super Mode: Some of the Adrenaline combos.
- Tennis Boss: You can reflect any weapons fire with your melee weapon, assuming you get the timing right. Rockets are fairly easy, unless you're too close, but sniper rounds are...difficult. If you get a kill by reflected shot, the announcer will say "Rejected", to make sure you know how badass you are.
- Wall Jump: Continuing the trend from Unreal Tournament 2004.