Unreal Championship
Encyclopedia
Unreal Championship is a first-person shooter
video game co-developed by Epic Games
and Digital Extremes
. It was published by Infogrames
and released on November 12, 2002, for the Xbox
. Unreal Championship is essentially a console version game of the PC-based Unreal Tournament 2003
, developed specifically to take advantage of Xbox Live
, Microsoft
's online gaming service. In 2003 Unreal Championship was added to Microsoft's "Platinum Hits" line of Xbox games. It was followed in 2005 by Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
also for Xbox.
Seventy years ago an invasion fleet appeared in Human space, wiping out virtually all resistance before it could begin. Humanity, a race that had taken pride in its freedom, suddenly found itself bound by the shackles of an ancient race vastly superior in numbers and technology.
The empire quickly established a foothold among the worlds of its latest acquirement, using propaganda and brute force where necessary. Those who swore allegiance to the Emperor found that life wasn't so different under the new rule, and for some it even improved. But for those who would not kneel before their new rulers, death awaited them on the prison planets scattered across the sectors.
The Emperor and his counsel, at first repulsed by the idea of the tournaments, soon began to see the advantage of providing the populace with a form of entertainment that both enraptured the viewers and reminded them where disobedience would lead them.
Arena worlds were picked from the harshest of the prison planets, and the training began. People who had watched the Liandri Tournaments with savage glee found themselves on the arena floors fighting for their lives again and again, as the alien technology ripped them back from the brink of death until their minds finally collapsed under the strain.
Examples were made of the more vocal dissidents, each broken and remade in the image of the darkest nightmares, to show the scorn the Emperor felt for the weaklings who opposed him. Not all the participants took part unwillingly. A race of beings previously unknown slaughtered the new combatants with reckless abandon, taking pride in the ease at which they butchered the new meat. For all they cheered during each battle, every time another Human died, the spirit of the men and women who watched grew weaker.
Now that the tournaments have become a fixture of the Empire's power, the aristocracy has begun to take part as well, in carefully orchestrated battles that pose no real danger to their lives. Unlike their prisoners, these Highborn can not use the resurrection technology so readily available, without losing their status as ones tainted by madness. To kill a Highborn is to kill him forever.
The only hope for mankind is that a champion will rise from the ashes of their civilization and succeed against all odds to hold the Emperor's life in their hands. That champions name was Nefarious. He was the greatest Unreal champion to ever grace the arena. After winning and earning his place in tournament history at the expense of his comrades lives and proving that he was the most fierce and brutal competitor, he and those falling by his hand were saluted and a truly fitting reward was offered to the Unreal champion. The reward was that of immortality. He refused and in turn asked for his freedom. In doing so, his name and record was erased from history and Nefarious is said to have been executed for his insolence. Others have claimed that his wish for freedom was granted and he left the fame and power only to head towards the border edge of the galaxy to the desolate planet of Pandora to be left alone. Whatever his fate may be, he will be remembered as the greatest Unreal champion to have ever competed.
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
video game co-developed by Epic Games
Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., also known as Epic and formerly Epic MegaGames, is an American video game development company based in Cary, North Carolina. Its most recent success has been the Gears of War series of games, although it is also known for its Unreal Engine technology. It is the parent company of...
and Digital Extremes
Digital Extremes
Digital Extremes is a Canadian computer and video game developer founded in 1993 by James Schmalz, specifically noted for its part in the highly successful Unreal series of games...
. It was published by Infogrames
Infogrames
Infogrames Entertainment SA was an international French holding company headquartered in Paris, France. It was the owner of Atari, Inc., headquartered in New York City, U.S. and Atari Europe. It was founded in 1983 by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet using the proceeds from an introductory...
and released on November 12, 2002, for the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
. Unreal Championship is essentially a console version game of the PC-based Unreal Tournament 2003
Unreal Tournament 2003
Unreal Tournament 2003 or UT2003 is a first-person shooter video game designed mainly for multiplayer gaming. The game is part of the Unreal franchise's series of games, and is a sequel to Unreal Tournament ....
, developed specifically to take advantage of Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's online gaming service. In 2003 Unreal Championship was added to Microsoft's "Platinum Hits" line of Xbox games. It was followed in 2005 by Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict is a first-/third-person shooter video game in the Unreal series of games. It was developed by Epic Games and published by Midway Games for release on the Xbox game console as a direct sequel to the 2002 game Unreal Championship, which itself is an Xbox...
also for Xbox.
Plot
Over a century has passed since Liandri Corporation first began the tournaments, and while the tradition lives on, much has changed in the world around it...Seventy years ago an invasion fleet appeared in Human space, wiping out virtually all resistance before it could begin. Humanity, a race that had taken pride in its freedom, suddenly found itself bound by the shackles of an ancient race vastly superior in numbers and technology.
The empire quickly established a foothold among the worlds of its latest acquirement, using propaganda and brute force where necessary. Those who swore allegiance to the Emperor found that life wasn't so different under the new rule, and for some it even improved. But for those who would not kneel before their new rulers, death awaited them on the prison planets scattered across the sectors.
The Emperor and his counsel, at first repulsed by the idea of the tournaments, soon began to see the advantage of providing the populace with a form of entertainment that both enraptured the viewers and reminded them where disobedience would lead them.
Arena worlds were picked from the harshest of the prison planets, and the training began. People who had watched the Liandri Tournaments with savage glee found themselves on the arena floors fighting for their lives again and again, as the alien technology ripped them back from the brink of death until their minds finally collapsed under the strain.
Examples were made of the more vocal dissidents, each broken and remade in the image of the darkest nightmares, to show the scorn the Emperor felt for the weaklings who opposed him. Not all the participants took part unwillingly. A race of beings previously unknown slaughtered the new combatants with reckless abandon, taking pride in the ease at which they butchered the new meat. For all they cheered during each battle, every time another Human died, the spirit of the men and women who watched grew weaker.
Now that the tournaments have become a fixture of the Empire's power, the aristocracy has begun to take part as well, in carefully orchestrated battles that pose no real danger to their lives. Unlike their prisoners, these Highborn can not use the resurrection technology so readily available, without losing their status as ones tainted by madness. To kill a Highborn is to kill him forever.
The only hope for mankind is that a champion will rise from the ashes of their civilization and succeed against all odds to hold the Emperor's life in their hands. That champions name was Nefarious. He was the greatest Unreal champion to ever grace the arena. After winning and earning his place in tournament history at the expense of his comrades lives and proving that he was the most fierce and brutal competitor, he and those falling by his hand were saluted and a truly fitting reward was offered to the Unreal champion. The reward was that of immortality. He refused and in turn asked for his freedom. In doing so, his name and record was erased from history and Nefarious is said to have been executed for his insolence. Others have claimed that his wish for freedom was granted and he left the fame and power only to head towards the border edge of the galaxy to the desolate planet of Pandora to be left alone. Whatever his fate may be, he will be remembered as the greatest Unreal champion to have ever competed.
Game modes
- DeathmatchDeathmatch (gaming)Deathmatch or Player vs All is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many shooter and real-time strategy computer games...
- Team deathmatch
- Capture the flagCapture the flagCapture the Flag is a traditional outdoor sport generally played by children, where two teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base," and bring it safely back to their own base...
- Double Domination – In Double Domination both teams must control two points on the map for ten seconds in order to score. A point can be taken by walking into its symbol, A or B. NPCs can be ordered to go to a certain point.
- Survival — 1 vs 1 deathmatch with more players than usual. As each round ends, the losing player is made to join a queue of spectators while the winner remains in the game until killed. The winner is the first player to reach a predetermined score.
- Bombing Run – Unreal-style football where the player's team must score by placing the ball in the enemy force's goal. The bombing gun regenerates health as the offensive player moves, giving him additional lifespan to reach the enemy goal. Once the enemy goal is reached, the offensive player can run into it to score seven points for their team. Shooting the bomb into the enemy goal earns three points.