Having Halo, the X-Box does not have many other decent first person shooters available, especially for straight deathmatch. That was, until Unreal Championship came out. It came out with the release of X-Box Live, since the Unreal Tournament games focused so much on internet multiplayer, so does the X-Box version. The speed of the game makes it a much more action packed first person shooter, quite possibly the quickest first person shooter for the X-Box.

    Even though the one player game lasts, at most, two hours, that is not at all a good way to judge Unreal Championship. The one player is just there to be used as a warm up for the competition that you will face in multiplayer, and it succeeds as that. Two hours to beat the game is not any indication of how much time the game can consume. The game is pretty much the same style that was seen in the other versions of Unreal Tournament for the Playstation 2, Dreamcast, and for the PC. The fact that is a deathmatch based game may not be ideal for some gamers, but that is not the case for those who would love to go online and kick butt. That is what makes the game what it is. All the offline playing is just a preparation for what is to be found online. It also has networking capabilities which makes it fun as well, but nothing is as cool as playing people that you do not even know and whooping them all over the internet. That is what makes all the hours go into the game and what makes it so fun.

    The modes that are contained in the game feature the normal deathmatch, team deathmatch, survival, double domination, capture the flag, and a new feature to the series, also seen in Unreal Tournament 2003, bombing run. All of these modes present a nice array of ways to play the game, to keep it from getting old. The addition of bombing run is also a great mode. It is almost like playing a game such as football in a deathmatch environment. The only catch is, if you have the ball, weapons are not available to you. That is what makes it tough, and yet, so fun. Other features include the ability to set up your own match with up to 16 players, including bots. That can be played offline. There are also all the mutators that have been in the Unreal games in the past. Some include instagib, vampire, and others. A new feature in Championship includes the fact the character that is chosen starts off with its own weapon. Also, some characters have more health then others, and some can run faster and such. This really makes what character you choose much more important than with most deathmatch games.

    Even though the graphics in the game are not as good as other shooters, such as Halo, they make the environments feel realistic, and the fact that there are always 60 frames per second, that is something to be excited about. The water in the game is very beautiful, and the level design is something else. While killing an opponent, a quick look at the surroundings really is a cool thing. They look very realistic and intriguing. The textures of the floors are also something special as well. Looking down at them, it is pretty cool to see how they look all ran over and shot up. Even after a rocket explodes on them, it is evident that is what happened, and it doesn’t even go away after a few minutes.

    Unreal Championship also has a nice array of sound. During a battle, music can be heard in the background, but that can be turned down and such. Also, the cool part is the fact that taunting occurs. If a bot kills you, they will say something such as “My victory, your death,” and it just makes you want to kill them even more than before. Other sound perks are that of the death of a player. It makes a very nice splattering sound that you become accustomed to. Every weapon also has its own special sound to it, so it is always known which gun is being shot.

    Expect to spend a good 2 hours a day online with this game. It is one of the best deathmatch games to date, and the best multiplayer first person shooter for the X-Box, beating Halo only because of its online support. Though the game is very short, that should not stray any who love a good deathmatch. The online value is what makes the game so fun and addicting.