Atari Announces ``Unreal II: The Awakening - Special Edition'' for Personal Computer

Business Wire, Dec 4, 2003

Business & Entertainment Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 4, 2003

"Special Edition" Package Includes Original Single-Player Game and

Revolutionary "Expanded Multiplayer" (XMP) Mode; XMP to Be Made Available for Download to Current Owners of "Unreal II: The Awakening"

Atari (Nasdaq:ATAR) is expanding the game play of "Unreal(R) II: The Awakening" this December with "Unreal(R) II: The Awakening - Special Edition" for the personal computer. The "Special Edition" package will include the original single-player campaign, first released in February 2003, as well as an all-new multiplayer experience called XMP, or "Expanded Multiplayer." Developed by Legend Entertainment (an Atari studio) in conjunction with Epic Games, "Unreal II: The Awakening" is the follow-up to Epic Games' 1998 smash hit "Unreal" and incorporates the same story-driven game play, cunningly ferocious enemies and nail-biting tension that made the original title a best seller.

"`Unreal II: The Awakening' was one of the most anticipated and celebrated single-player, first-person shooters of the year, but fans have been hungry to play against one another online," said Steve Allison, vice president of marketing in Atari's Los Angeles studio. "`Unreal II: The Awakening - Special Edition' will deliver the same epic single-player game to those who may have missed out, along with the all-new multiplayer mode fans have been waiting for."

In the single-player game, players jump into the scarred combat boots of a grizzled lawman of the future to battle a torrent of bizarre alien creatures and hard-hitting enemy soldiers. The mission: win a brutal galactic race to collect powerful artifacts and stop a malevolent plot to awaken an ancient power. Dispatched to unique worlds ranging from stunningly realistic outdoor terrain to spine-chilling alien cities, the player will face off with "Unreal's" legendary nemesis -- the fearsome Skaarj -- along with a host of all-new enemies, each hell-bent on eradicating the player and his compadres.

The all new XMP mode is a class-based multiplayer game where teams use vehicles, cooperation and "Unreal II: The Awakening's" devastating weaponry to battle it out across large-scale terrain maps. Teams fight for control of energy sources to power their war machines, deployment points to get to the front lines quickly, and ultimately, four artifacts that are required to win each match. Current owners of "Unreal II: The Awakening" standard edition will be able to download the XMP multiplayer mode for free on the day the "Special Edition" package is released.

"Unreal II: The Awakening - Special Edition" will include:

-- Innovative Game Play - "Unreal II: The Awakening" combines

intense, pulse-pounding action with the magic of exploration

and discovery, as well as in-depth character interaction

-- Advanced Technology - Under the hood lays the latest "Unreal"

technology from Epic - a hundred-fold increase in level

geometry and a 10-fold increase in character detail over the

original "Unreal." The advanced particle system creates the

illusion of blazing fire, drifting smoke and weather effects

-- Knuckle-Whitening Enemy AI - Enemies use their new AI to find

cover during fire-fights, work together in teams and react

believably based on the caliber of weapon the player is

carrying

-- Devastating Arsenal - Fifteen flesh-chewing instruments of

destruction are available, ranging from familiar alien-bashing

favorites like the Rocket Launcher and Combat Assault Rifle to

all new exotic alien variants modified by your cantankerous

ship's engineer

-- A Large Bestiary of Creatures - The fearsome Skaarj return

along with a host of all-new enemies

-- Unreal Editor -- Amateur level designers and mod makers will

receive the most powerful game creation toolsets ever released

to the public - the same tools the masters used to make the

game. The Unreal Editor, including the Unreal Editor's

"Matinee" tool for making non-interactive cinematics, is

included out of the box

"Unreal II: The Awakening - Special Edition" will be available for the personal computer at retail stores in North America in December, with an estimated retail price of $29.95 and an ESRB rating of "M" for Mature. Additional information about the game can be found online at www.unreal2.com, which features downloadable and streaming game play movies, screenshots and other game information and background.

About Atari

New York-based Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATAR) develops interactive games for all platforms and is one of the largest third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The Company's 1,000 titles include hard-core, genre-defining games such as "Driver"(TM), "Enter the Matrix"(TM), "Neverwinter Nights"(TM), "Stuntman"(TM), "Test Drive"(R), "Unreal(R) Tournament 2003," and "Unreal(R) Championship"; and mass-market and children's games such as "Backyard Sports"(TM), "Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues"(TM) and "Dora the Explorer"(TM), "Civilization"(R), "Dragon Ball Z"(R) and "RollerCoaster Tycoon"(R). Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext 5257), the largest interactive games publisher in Europe. For more information, visit www.atari.com.