“This is the game that will change the way console owners look at first person action games and online gaming!” said Jean-Philippe Agati, senior vice president and general manager of Infogrames’ Los Angeles studio. “With the amazing Xbox Communicator headset allowing for real-time smack-talk, an adrenaline-packed single-player campaign, as well as groundbreaking multiplayer action through the Xbox Live broadband service, Unreal Championship is not only a great single-player experience but it’s setting the standard for online gaming in living rooms worldwide. Gamers are in for one hell of a ride!”
Designed and developed by Canadian-based Digital Extremes in collaboration with Epic Games, the cooperative team also responsible for Unreal and Unreal Tournament, Unreal Championship combines an incredibly immersive single-player experience with unparalleled multiplayer action via two, three and four-player split-screen, system link or over Xbox Live against up to 16 other human-controlled adversaries in fearsome head-to-head combat. Players will take on six different races featuring more than 45 highly individual characters in up to 30 maps.
“Console gamers have been yearning for this type of action for a long time and Unreal Championship delivers,” said James Schmalz, founder and creative director of Digital Extremes. “Countless hours were spent fine-tuning the single player campaign and making it as addictive as the different multi-player options. Rest assured players with or without broadband connections will enjoy the full impact of Unreal Championship.”
Unreal Championship is designed specifically for Xbox and the Xbox controller. Console-specific features such as joypad-activated special moves, double jump, power-ups, unlockable features and more keep gamers glued to their couches with knuckle-whitening tension.
Utilizing the power of Xbox in conjunction with the latest Unreal technology created by Epic Games, the developer has rendered the most amazing graphical effects seen on any console to date. A dynamic and realistic world comes to life with sophisticated in-game physics that do away with canned animations and movement. Unreal Championship will also be one of the first games to take advantage of the Xbox hard drive by offering downloadable content such as new maps, characters and other items through the Xbox Live network. Specifics on the downloadable content will soon be released.
Unreal Championship features six modes of play, including traditional Deathmatch, a battle to see who can earn the most frags in a given amount of time; Team Deathmatch, in which two teams face off and aim to reach set number of frags before their opponents; Capture the Flag, where teams must steal a flag from the enemy base and carry it back to their own to score points; Double Domination, in which teams vie to control two points on a map to score; Survival, where you face an onslaught of endless opponents and Bombing Run, an American football-style game that challenges teams to carry a ball to the opponents base and carry it or shoot it through a goal to score points.
As with all Unreal games, Unreal Championship arms players with incredible weaponry that goes beyond mere blasting and requires strategy and skill to outwit and out-maneuver the enemy. Precision weapons such as the Lightning Gun and Shock Rifle eliminate opponents neatly and from great distances while earth rocking powerhouses like the Rocket Launcher, Flak Cannon and Ion Cannon obliterate enemies on a grand scale. Each weapon is equipped with a primary, as well as secondary fire mode, and some can use both modes in combination to produce spectacular explosions and effects.
Unreal Championship shipped to retail stores this week for an estimated retail price of $49.99 and an ESRB rating of “M” for mature.