The official Infogrames Unreal 2 forums have a thread about adding bot support to Unreal 2, something which is possible and working, though the code hasn't been worked on for over a year. Saw that on Gamer.nl.

HomeLAN Fed has posted a Q&A with some of the Legend Entertainment guys, asking them about Unreal 2: The Awakening which is heading to stores real soon now.

The other day we carried a story about there not being any Unreal 2 demo planned, well that isnt quite a certainty just yet. The guys at Unrealops got an email from Glen Dalhgren of Legend on the topic:

Now that Unreal II has gone gold, we've been exploring the possibility with Infogrames and Epic, which is something that Headup wasn't aware of. FWIW, everyone involved - including Legend - is very conscious of the benefits of a demo, and we'd all love to do it. I hope to have more news soon.  Also FWIW, don't read anything into Headup's post concerning Legend's dedication to supporting Unreal 2. Even while Legend transitions onto other projects, Unreal 2 is still our top priority. [snip]

GameSpot has posted a few Unreal 2 movies, one of which is freely available if you don't subscribe there. Also if you happen to be an IGN Insider, they have some new movies too.

Some dissapointing, yet not really all that unexpected, Unreal 2 demo news on Unreality today. The news being, Legend won't be creating one according to an Infogrames brand manager. Looks like we'll get another video and that's about it.

As much as we'd like to create a "true" demo, it's simply not possible. Legend have moved on to other projects and the production of a demo - even from already existing levels would require time and effort that we just don't have. It would then have to go through QA - another organization that is working on other projects and cannot dedicate time to a UII demo. It's all about the allocation of "assets".

Short and sweet, here's the announcement from Infogrames - Unreal 2 has gone gold!

The phenomenon returns! Infogrames, Legend Entertainment and Epic Games are pleased to announce that Unreal II: The Awakening has gone gold and will be in retail stores nationwide during the first week of February.

Check out the recent trailer if you hadn't already. There's no word about a demo yet.

The official Unreal 2 website has been relaunched, offering new screenshots and a new trailer showing the game that Legend Entertainment has been working on for the past few years. The video, which is available in several formats, shows about a minute and a half of ingame footage. You can find mirrors of the Quicktime and high res MPG versions of the video on Fileshack.

The first preview of the new year comes from CVG taking a look at Unreal2 which will be in fact a sequel to Unreal. Here's a bit that might make for some interesting discussion for the day.

During a break from the action to down a glass of water, trying to stop my adrenaline-fuelled shakes from spilling it, I asked project director and main designer Glen Dahlgren if he thought Half-Life was still the benchmark for new shooters. "It was a real jump," he concedes. "It added depth when there wasn't any. But if you look at its story, it's paper-thin, and a lot of the games that have come since have gone a lot deeper, adding characters with personalities. That is the expectation now, so I don't think Half-Life is the one to beat anymore - in my mind at least." And he has no doubts that in Unreal II Legend has something that will beat anything currently on the market.

So then, what game IS the benchmark now for a single player FPS action (not rpg) experience?

Gamers.com has posted a brief but hands-on preview of Unreal 2, which should be out early next year. Thanks HomeLAN Fed.

There's a Q&A with Legend Entertainment artist Kevin Johnstone, who is better known as Rorshach, on GFXArtist. At GFXartist they ask him how he ended up at Legend Entertainment, his work on Unreal 2, and a few other things. Thanks Blues News.

Better late than never I suppose, as GameSpy finally has their own Unreal 2 preview. Not just offering hands-on impressions, there are quotes from CliffyB and people at Legend as well. There's also this hot pic of Cliffy.

There is a new Unreal 2 interview on Beyond Unreal, this time with Legend's Glen Dahlgren. Glen is asked about replayability, AI work, the particle system, the lack of multiplayer, why Unreal 2 will be good, the chick Aida, and a few other related topics.

XGR has chimed in with their own impressions of Unreal 2, based on some play time at Legend Entertainment. The article goes over the technology, weapons, AI and a few other things.

GameSpot has been updated, offering their own impressions of Unreal 2, the first person shooter sequel in development at Legend Entertainment. There's a quick rundown of some early events in the game, a list of weapons, and of course the graphics are mentioned.

PC.IGN's preview of Unreal 2 is online, also offering hands impressions of the game after playing at Legend last week. In related news, there's a run down of the weapons in Unreal 2 on UnrealOps.

BeyondUnreal's interview with Legend's Scott Dalton is up, asking the programmer about Unreal 2. Scott is asked what people should know about this game, the particle effects, mod support, current engine version, AI, non-linear aspects in the game, and plenty more.

BeyondUnreal has posted their own preview of Unreal 2, based on recent hands-on time with the game at Legend Entertainment. Part of the preview offers a Q&A session with various Legend people. The preview is pretty informative when it comes to listing a bunch of things that you can do/that happen in the game.

HomeLAN Fed's preview of Unreal 2 is online, offering some hands-on impressions of the Legend game. The preview mentions that no multiplayer assets from the game will be released, despite the fact that Legend worked on some before going single-player only. A multiplayer expansion might happen though. We should also see a new trailer too. As for actual game impressions, the preview mentions impressive graphics, the various weapons, enemy AI and a few other things. Update: another preview is available at Action Trip.

The game takes you through some breathtaking scenery with the jungles of Sanctuary, the deserts of Sulferon, the cold steppes of Janus, or the strange, alien landscape of Na Koja Abad (Arabic for "Land of Nowhere"), each with environmental effects that make you sit up and take notice. Half of the fun of getting through the levels is finding out what treats the developers have in store for you in the next world. Here's a teaser: For you Star Wars fans - Ever wonder what fighting inside the Sarlaac Pit (Return of the Jedi) would be like? Go buy Unreal 2 in January and you'll get a good idea.

HomeLAN Fed attended an Infogrames Unreal 2 event and have posted 10 new screenshots from Legend's upcoming shooter sequel. And GameSpot has confirmation that the game has been delayed until next year, though it should be out in January as the game is content complete and only bug fixing remains.

Contradicting their own story from last week, Computer & Video Games is now reporting that Unreal 2 will still be released in 2002 instead of early 2003. In the U.S. that is. Apparently the European release might still be in 2003. Yeah.

Of course, it could be that Infogrames US's release schedule isn't as up to date as its European counter-part, and that in the coming weeks a worldwide date of early 2003 will be revealed. Or it could be that we're: a) barking like rabid dogs up the wrong tree; b) walking down a dead-end road; or c) off with the fairies. We'll have to wait and see.