* AntiClimaxBoss: [[spoiler:Any of the Tosc after the first (despite being EldritchAbomination and pretty numerous, you suck them with the Singularity Cannon you managed to sever from the first Tosc "boss" fight).]]
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/{{Unreal}} Shares a page with the rest of the franchise]].
* BreatherLevel: The Atlantis interludes act as this between the missions.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Ne'Ban is considered to be one of the good parts of the story.
* GameBreaker: Most of the weapons qualify, especially once Isaak unlocks their power. You can argue the powerfulness of the weapons being the actual reason why this game doesn't feature a multiplayer mode. Here are some standouts:
** The Hydra Grenade Launcher, with its ''six'' ammo types, is one of the most versatile weapons ever invented for a video game. The grenades come in Concussion, Smoke, EMP, Corrosive, Incendiary and Frag varieties. Concussion grenades prevent players from pursuing you, opening them for retaliation. EMP grenades disable shields and highly damage electronics. Corrosive grenades cause damage over time to electronic targets. Incendiary does the same but for organic targets. And Frag grenades are your run-of-the-mill area-of-effect grenade.
** The Shark Rocket Launcher allows you to concentrate your firepower onto a single target, or distribute it among up to four targets at the cost of rocket damage.
** The Widowmaker Sniper Rifle packs quite the punch, and its zoomed mode is especially lethal.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** The Kai slightly resembles the "shrimp" aliens from ''Film/District9'', released six years after the game.
** The name of this game's iteration of the Sniper Rifle? The [[VideoGame/{{Overwatch}} "Widowmaker"]].
* ItsEasySoItSucks: The game took an opposite approach by making almost every weapon deadly in the hands of Dalton compared to the contemporary FPS games at the time such as ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' and even ''Videogame/UnrealTournament'', and with the wealth of firepower and variation of its arsenal, the game turned Dalton into a OneManArmy WalkingArsenal.
* ItsShortSoItSucks: The game could do well better if it's longer than what the players end up with.
* OlderThanTheyThink: In spite of its failures, ''Unreal II''[='=]s biggest positive legacy is the introduction of the Izanagi and Axon {{Mega Corp}}s as rivals to Liandri, which would go on to play bigger roles in the remaining games.
* PlayerPunch: More like a player ''pile driver'':[[spoiler:The deaths of Aida, Ne'Ban and Isaak]] in the aftermath of the second Avalon mission, particularly as it comes right out of the blue
* PortingDisaster: The Xbox version had LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading like the PC version, but also poor framerate and awful graphics.
* TheScrappy: You'll be hard pressed to find anyone who likes [[{{Jerkass}} Dr. Meyer]], the Engineer who you have to [[EscortMission escort]] in the Janus mission. His constant whining and arrogance will get on the nerves of the player as much as the characters in-game. The fact [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Dalton decides to disobey orders to kill him at the end of the mission]] will likely have players begging Dalton to shoot him.
* {{Sequelitis}}: Not only considered to be a letdown from [[VideoGame/UnrealI the first game]], but also one of the weakest FPS sequels out there thanks to it's [[ClicheStorm cliched plot that has very little to do with the first Unreal]] and rushed campaign.
* SlowPacedBeginning: The first level is an {{Infodump}} whose main point is to introduce the characters to the player, get the player used to the controls, and find the way to the lift. The only hazard in the level is falling from the exterior catwalks to your death below. Afterwards, there's the optional VideoGameTutorial and the first Atlantis {{intermission}} segment. Only several minutes after Dalton lands on Elara V: Sanctuary he finds a creature to shoot.
* TearJerker:
** [[spoiler:The annihilation of Dalton's crew]] is a very touching moment, especially because it comes after a very emotion-draining fight against the Skaarj at the Avalon base.
** There's also the moment when [[spoiler:Dalton plays back the second half of the burst transmission]] in the ending cutscene, right after [[spoiler:learning who was behind the death of his crew]].
* ThatOneLevel: [[ThatOneLevel/{{Unreal}} Shares a page with the rest of the franchise]].
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