FPS fans tend to fall in to two groups: lovers of the plot-based game with a narrative and an actual reason for being there, and lovers of the arena only deathmatch competition type game. Within the latter group there are various sub-groups, not least the Unreal & Quake devotees. Everyone has a preference, some like both, but all seem to have their favourite bits of these two rivals. Personally, I've always enjoyed the Unreal weapons more than the Quake ones, and the selection in this latest offering doesn't disappoint. They all have secondary fire modes (such as grenade launcher or multiple rockets) and all have their own individual strengths and weaknesses. You'll certainly develop favourites but you'll never be stuck with a weapon that's next to useless, unlike some other games.

   

Right from the cool intro it's obvious that Unreal Championship is a team based game, and after you've chosen a character profile from a selection of vastly differing humanoid specimens and artificial life forms, you then get to choose who you want as your team members. Each has their own preferred 'position' (offence, defence or freelance) and weapon, and it's best to have a good look at their attributes when picking your team to ensure a variation of styles.

Starting with a straightforward TDM (Team Death Match) ladder, you advance though the league playing different kinds of matches like Capture The Flag, Double Domination and my personal favourite, Bombing Run. Some games and arenas require more team members than others, and you can do some basic team management between matches, changing the team lineup or defining how offensive or defensive your teammates' roles will be during the forthcoming match. Once in the game, basic but effective commands can be quickly given by pulling down the command HUD with a press of the Y button. It's a simple system but works surprisingly well, and means that you can vary tactics and active roles during play; so if you've been attacking but fancy sitting back and defending your base for a while whilst someone else does all the running around, you can. This gives the game a real future sport team feel; something akin to a first person Speedball (particularly the ballgame-esque Bombing Run), and I found myself becoming quite attached to the more effective members of my team. I can't help feeling a more developed league structure (maybe including prize money, home and away matches, transfers, injuries and deaths etc) was in the developer's minds, but time constraints meant that the entire game lacks the polished presentation and options of some of the recent top games.

New to UC is an adrenalin gauge that fills as you get kills (or can be topped up by collecting capsules), when it's full you can then select (via easy to learn button combos) from four temporary special abilities like agility, berserk, invisibility and regeneration, which isn't time based.

   

Although the frame rate sometimes drops when things get hectic, the game always looks good. Arenas vary hugely in size, complexity and style, and the textures (stone, steel, grass, sand, water etc.) are all rather nice. Don't expect a great deal of detail however; the levels are designed with killing in mind, not sightseeing. This means that movement, and aiming whilst in motion is easy as the Xbox is seldom struggling to draw a needlessly detailed structure or machine. Matches tend to be hectic and full on, but the couple of weapons that possess sniper modes certainly have their roles to pay. Enemy AI is excellent. They'll hunt in pairs, protect each other and even run for a health up if badly hurt. Your team's AI is also excellent, in fact I'd advise against the temptation to start playing on the 'Rookie' setting because so good are they that you can sit back and watch them win games on their own in some types of match…

The character models have all been lovingly modelled and all have fully articulated joints and perfect animation. Death animations are also well done and I love the way bodies de-resolve before respawning.

As far as multiplayer games go, the options are a bit limited. The games certainly play ok in a four-way split screen, but you don't get to choose weapon sets, teammates or the number of bots in any detailed way. The whole single-Xbox multiplayer thing feels a bit basic and like it was thrown together, the lack of a system link option doesn't improve things for us lucky enough to have access to more than one Xbox. Clearly getting the game working on Xbox Live was the main objective here, and they seem to have succeeded on that count, but clearly you're going to need a broadband connection and an Xbox Live subscription to get the best from this game…

Unreal Championship is an immediately playable, brutal frag-fest, but won't be impressing gamers hoping for something to rival the Halo experience.