Unreal II: XMP Preview

Movement in XMP is essentially the same as in Unreal II, with a few minor changes. Thankfully, movement is nowhere near as slow as it was in the Unreal II single player campaign. Each player now has a sprint bar, located in the bottom left corner of the HUD. This sprint bar recharges over time, and whenever you need an extra burst of speed, you can hold down your 'sprint' button to drain the bar and move a little faster. UT-style dodging was also present and functional in the build we previewed. All XMP players spawn with a jet pack which acts like a cross between the Tribes 2 jet pack and UT2003's double-jump. The jet pack can be used to give you a vertical boost, or to break falls, however, each time you use the jet pack, you use some of your personal energy, making it useless if your energy bar is too low.

If you've been looking at the collection of screenshots that accompany this article, you will have no doubt noticed that vehicles play a hugely important role in any XMP game. XMP boasts three vehicles, all of which can be driven by any one of the game's three classes in first or third person mode. All three of these vehicles use a 'turbo burst' bar located in the bottom left corner of the HUD. This works similar to players' sprint bars, recharging slowly over time and allowing you to give yourself an extra burst of speed when needed.

Splat.

The Raptor vehicle is XMP's buggy, and my favorite of all the XMP vehicles. While it's smaller, lighter and more maneuverable than the other vehicles, its armor is weaker, and if you want to defend yourself while driving a Raptor, you'll need to have a team-mate hop in and control the vehicles' rotating turret. The Raptor is of most useful for zipping quickly around larger maps to claim energy, deploy points and artifacts; and once you've mastered its controls, it's possible to pull off some pretty crazy stunts. While any vehicle is quite capable of flattening an opponent, the Raptor is unique in that it has flesh grinders attacked to its front. Hit an enemy head-on with enough speed, and you're treated to a wonderfully gory effect as the Raptor turns your opponent into dog food, and flushes out excess blood through two pipes located on the sides of the vehicle.

The Juggernaut is XMP's tank, and while it isn't as fast or agile as the other vehicles, it packs a significant punch. The driver has control over a powerful mid-range flamethrower, while the gunner controls the tank's main cannon. While this cannon's projectiles aren't massively accurate, they're have a huge blast radius and are capable of taking out anyone who is unfortunate enough to be standing nearby. Because if its speed (or lack thereof), the Juggernaut isn't the kind of vehicle you'll want to use on artifact runs, however its hefty firepower makes it a useful tool for defense and midfield play.

The Harbinger can only be described as a cross between the Juggernaut and Raptor -- this vehicle has moderate firepower, speed and armor. While the driver himself doesn't have access to any weapons, the Harbinger has a top-mounted rapid-firing rocket launcher and a tail gunner pod which fires shock lance pulses. The Harbinger is the best vehicle for charging into the enemy base and making a mess. The tail gunner can make short work of just about anything electronic, including vehicles, and the rapid-firing rocket launcher will help you mop up anyone who tries to take you on on foot.