Main cast: Elodie Yung (The Gamemaster), Gideon Emery (Necris Captain), Mitch Eakins (Dean), Chris Payne Gilbert (Parker), Carlin James (Liandri Technician), and Fred Tatasciore (Arena Announcer)
Directors: Franck Balson and Dave Wilson

Wait, didn’t Epic Games quietly scrap all their Unreal Tournament games and even take them out of the store?

Oh dear, this episode would be like concentrated sulfuric acid into the faces of the fans of these games, who feel massive amounts of hatred for Epic Games for stringing them along with false promises that the games would be back only to then silently drop the ax on their heads like that.

Unreal Tournament is a first-person shooter arena game, so I can’t say I know much about it as that genre isn’t my choice of games. I can barely hit an opponent that is right in front of me, maybe because I have a bleeding heart too pure to hurt even other pixels, which is why I don’t do Fortnite, Valorant, or any other pew-pew arena games that are all the rage among the kids in my vicinity.

Having said that, Unreal Tournament: Xan is basically a round of that game turned into a story, so to speak. Some people rebel against the establishment, they get thrown into the arena, and it’s all fun and games until the final boss shows up.

I am told by fans of the games that this episode is full of references to the games, which is a bittersweet thing as they do want their games back. However, it does suffer from the same issue that plague this series: this isn’t a story as much as it is a vignette, or a glorified trailer if you will, only this is a trailer to a game that no longer on sale, ouch. 

So, the only thing I can say about this one is that it is very pretty to look at. There are plenty of things and people getting bashed in, some sparks here and there, oomph. It’s quite exciting… even if there is no proper structure to the story that I can appreciate because I don’t know and therefore can’t appreciate the nods in this episode to the games themselves. 

Still, this show is shaping up to be a nice grift to make some money from game studios wanting to advertise their games, so I suppose I have to respect the hustle. Too bad that the whole thing doesn’t have much to give to the average viewer that is tuning in.