Condemned 2: Bloodshot

The first Condemned game was a launch title for the 360 that was a painful, brutal experience. I described Condemned 1 as a first-person melee combat game because the focus wasn’t on gunning enemies down. Instead the primary weapons in the game were your fists or items scattered in the game such as pieces of lumber, pipes, et cetera. It was a brutal experience in a good way because the game was one of the creepiest experiences I’ve ever played. The sound effects, visuals and storyline melted together to provide an experience that genuinely frighten me at times. When a sequel was announced I couldn’t wait to jump back into the Condemned world.

Condemned 2 takes place one year after the events of the first game to find ex-special investigator Ethan Thomas literally down in the dumps. Since hardly anyone believed all of the events that Ethan witnessed during his investigation of Serial Killer X (SKX), Ethan has turned to a life with the bottle. Yet the Special Crimes Unit needs Ethan back with the apparent return of SKX and half of the city turning to a life of violent crime. What unfolds is another suspenseful, creepy, brutal and violent experience that will scare, repulse and freak you out at times.

If you didn’t play the first Condemned (why not?) the main focus of the game centers upon the melee combat. Your hands are literally your main weapons in the game along with items you can use throughout the stages. All of the items you can use in the game have a ranking with the condition, amount of damage, speed and reach of the weapon. Combat is performed by pressing the left and right trigger buttons which correspond to your left and right hands. You can also kick enemies by clicking down on the right analog stick. The combat really offers a sick sense of gratification when you start beating down crazed addicts with only your fists.

Unfortunately the sense of satisfaction with the combat fads away when you encounter more than one enemy at a time. This was a problem with the first game and it is still an issue with the second game. When you get two or three enemies at a time trying to attack you the melee combat can become a dwindling battle against you. The melee combat just isn’t fast enough to take on more than one enemy at a time. The game does feature firearms that you can use, which are more frequent in this game than in part one, but you never seem to have one when you really need it. The best strategy when facing multiple thugs is to try and separate them into one-on-one encounters. The AI of the enemy isn’t always the brightest and you can sometimes get the enemies to fight each other instead of chasing after you. Just take it slow at times and use your weapons in melee combat wisely instead of rushing into combat swinging and punching away.

Two new features in the combat are the combos and Chain Attacks. There are multiple combos that you can perform that increases the amount of damage. The combos are even available for review in the menu screen for easy access. Unfortunately the combos do little to enhance the melee combat. The precise timing you need to pull off a combo was almost impossible to perform when fighting more than one character at a time. It seemed once you started a combo another character always come in and hit you, breaking up the combo. The Chain Attacks can be performed once you have filled up the Chain Attack meter. Chain Attacks are performed by double tapping the left or right trigger button once your Chain Attack meter has been filled up.

The graphically intense finishing moves from the first game returned in Condemned 2 but even sicker now. Once you have an enemy stunned now you can grab them by pressing the left and right triggers at the same time. Once you’ve grabbed them you will see a skull icon appear on various items in the game. You can then throw the enemy into one of these items or use the item to take them out. These items vary from televisions, plates of glass to metal presses. It seemed like almost every stage had a new item you could use to finish off the enemies. All of the finishing moves resulted in a violent and spectacularly gruesome death that should leave no doubts as to why the game has a Mature rating.

The scare factor in the game is one of the big reasons why the first Condemned game was so good. You keep wondering how or what is behind the next corner. You keep guessing on what type of sick, disgusting creature you will have to see. It could be explosive dolls, drug addicts running around in just their underwear, giant soldiers dressed in medieval armor or even rabid animals chasing after you. All of the locations and stages are presented in a dark and gloomy look that do a great job of keeping the tone of the game unsettling. Graphically the game isn’t that far removed from looking like the first game but that isn’t a problem. Everything in the game looks like it’s been sitting in the gutter for several weeks, but in a good way.

The Forensics elements in the game are the investigative portions where you have to hunt for clues regarding murder scenes you come across in the game. The first game really forced you to make sure you had all of the correct information before you could move on in the game. This time the game is more relaxed when it comes to keeping the game moving along even if you screw up the investigative sections. You’re scored on how detailed your information is when you submit it back to Special Crimes Unit for review. The ratings can range from poor to perfect. Selecting the correct option is usually easy enough if you look around hard enough and really investigate the crime scene properly. But again the game usually won’t hold you back if you mess up the Forensics section. There are a few portions in the game where you have to use your Forensic skills to solve minor puzzles to open up the next section in the game.

Now the storyline will probably be a sore point for some of you out there if you take it too seriously. Just try to think of Condemned 2 as a horror movie stuck inside of a video game. How many horror movies have we seen where we laugh at the absurdness of the storyline yet we still jump out of our seats at times? Condemned 2 is a similar situation where you probably won’t understand the storyline but you will be freighted many times during the game. The plot isn’t a ground breaking example of story telling but it does have several moments where you will be disgusted, scared and unsettled.

At the end of the day Condemned 2 is a game that does what it’s supposed to do: scare and entertain you. The melee combat in the game is really what sets this game apart from the rest of the first-person shooters out on the market today. Slugging away with your fists or smacking someone down with an iron pipe just feels so right compared to other FPS games. Sure, the other FPS games have melee combat but not the same way as Condemned. Yet the melee combat just can’t keep up with the action when fighting more than one enemy at a time. The puzzle solving and forensic work also helps break up the action in the game at usually just the right moments. Yet the storyline and overall atmosphere of the game is really what makes Condemned 2 stand out. If you want a freaky, scary “survival” horror game that will challenge you then Condemned 2 is the game.

Gameplay: 8.3
As I’ve mentioned the melee combat is a great example of brutal combat in a good way, except when fighting multiple enemies at the same time.

Graphics: 9.0
Visually the game does a great job of depicting a city of the cusp of turmoil with out-of-control vagrants and killers taking over. The framerate during the game was always solid and steady regardless of the number of enemies on screen at a time. Except during cut scenes between stages the game always keeps the first-person viewpoint no matter what happens in the game. If you’re falling off a ladder or getting knocked down by an enemy the view point is always in the first-person view which helps in creating tension during parts of the game.

Sound: 9.1
You owe it to yourself to play this game either with headphones or in a surround-sound mix. You will hear voices, noises and ambiance coming at you from everywhere in the game. My favorite was hearing the breathing of an enemy that I just knew was somewhere nearby. I couldn’t find them until they jumped out and surprised me with a punch to the face.

Concept: 8.4
Technically there really isn’t much of a difference between the first Condemned game and the sequel. Sure there are some more features in the sequel, such as the Bloodshot Fight Club and Xbox Live Multiplayer, but these don’t enhance the overall experience. Bloodshot Fight Club to me felt like a practice mode to get use to the melee combat, albeit with vastly weaker enemies compared to the regular game.

Multiplayer: 8.4
The first game featured zero multiplayer gameplay so maybe we should go easy on what we get with Condemned 2. We get a strong effort with four different gameplay modes: Crime Scene, Bum Rush, Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. Crime Scene has two teams playing the role of SCU versus the Influenced (aka the bad guys) in a game to locate evidence. The SCU players use their forensic tools to scan the evidence while the Influenced players must stop the SCU players at any cost and keep the evidence hidden. The weapons in the Crime Scene game felt really unbalanced since the SCU players could always use firearms.

Bum Rush has a team of SCU players going up against an almost limitless assault of Influenced attackers for three minutes. The SCU players have to survive for three minutes in order to win. Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch are just what you’ve played before in other FPS games but this time with melee combat. All of the games support up to eight players online which still feels like it’s way too many for the melee combat. If they want to keep multiplayer in with another Condemned game why not just make it a scary gore fest shooter such as F.E.A.R. since Monolith developed both games.

Difficulty: Medium
Don’t think this will be a walk through the park, because Condemned 2 will smack you to the ground with a punch to the face. You will die and have to restart missions over again repeatedly. You can’t even save the game when you want to because the game only features an autosave function. Thankfully the save games are usually close enough to where the action always gets hot and heavy.

Overall: 8.6
Condemned 2 is a great game that curious Xbox 360 owners should definitely check out to see what a different kind of shooter can play like. If you’ve enjoyed the countless number of FPS games on the 360 already then Condemned 2 should already be on your list of games to get. The melee combat is a unique system that works amazingly well in one on one combat. The disturbing and unsettling storyline will also please anyone looking for a “survival” horror game for the 360. The first Condemned game wasn’t perfect and neither is Condemned 2 but that didn’t prevent it from being an engrossing and engaging game that kept me coming back for more.