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RealGamer :: Xbox 360 :: Reviews :: Condemned 2: Bloodshot Review

Condemned 2: Bloodshot Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 4th June 2008

Condemned 2: Bloodshot Score:

8.2 Great

Making a follow up to a successful game can sometimes be a slippery slope, seemingly more so in the survival genre with many great franchises failing to match gamer’s expectations. So what can you expect from this follow-up to 2005 Condemned: Criminal Origins? Another spine tingling action pack challenge, that’s if you can keep your nerve for long enough!

In Condemned 2 you once again take up the role of Ethan Thomas a former Serial Crimes Unit investigator who has been called back to duty. The events of the first game have left Ethan a broken man, who drinks and drifts his way through life, however he is forced to confront his inner demons in order to track down his missing partner and solve a series of gruesome murders, unravelling the mysterious darkness that surrounds the city.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Condemned games they are first person action psychological thrillers, combining a mix of puzzle solving and first person shooter style action. Although don’t expect to be able to walk through the games levels blasting everything in sight as there’s more to it then that. For a start firearms can be scarce, although many things in the games environments can be used as weapons, everything from bricks to toilet seats. You can even rip electrical conduits off walls or posts from beds although they only last a short time. If at anytime you find yourself without a weapon the game employs a pretty brutal hand to hand combat system, and I mean brutal.

In the games hand to hand system you are able to perform a number of combos, which inflict more and more damage on your enemies, once you have sufficiently weakened them the game then switches to slow motion and you have to follow on screen prompts with precise timing to pull off finishing moves, it’s a very good system that’s a welcome change from simply filling every enemy you see with lead. Although it can be a little frustrating as precise timing is required to pull of the finishing moves. Fights are also fairly challenging as at times you often have to face more then one enemy at a time, which will more often then not result in your death unless you quickly take decisive action.

Of course combat is only part of what Condemned 2 has to offer, there are crimes that need to be solved and in the game you are able to examine evidence and gather clues with a range of tools you’re equipped with, including a UV lamp and digital camera. Once you have collected all the evidence from a crime scene you then submit it to the SCU HQ, this gives you a rating on your detective skills which goes to your overall rating for that specific mission. The better the rating you get for a mission the quicker you will get access to upgrades that will assist you in your quest to unravel the games mystery.

As well as the main objectives in missions there are also a number of optional objectives to complete that further add to your overall rating for a mission. These include things such as destroying meths labs and all the very mysterious sonic emitters from within an area.

Condemned 2: Bloodshot moves along at a pretty slow steady pace, but it doesn’t need you running frantically through a level shooting everything in sight, as this would detract from the games dark atmosphere.

Monolith has done a good job of creating a pretty spine tingling atmosphere. You will often see people run across dark corridors as you walk down them. Lights have also been placed in low areas that will cast your characters shadow on the wall so that you only just catch sight of it making you quickly turnaround to see what’s behind you.

Condemned 2, features several multiplayer options and a Bloodshot Challenge mode. In the Bloodshot challenge mode you have to complete objectives within a set amount of time, these include things like helping the cops defeat a gang of rioters by throwing bricks and Molotov cocktails at them. The games multiplayer modes include Crime Scene, which is a variation of assault with one team hunting down evidence whilst the other tries to defend it. Bum Rush which is a survival style game. There are also the FPS main stays Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, both of which can be pretty brutal. On the whole the multiplayer support does add a little replay value but it’s not the most suited game to have these kind of game types mainly due to the pace it runs at.

Visually Condemned 2 looks pretty good, character models are highly detailed and animation is excellent with fight movement being exceptionally good. Monolith has done an excellent job of creating a very dark and atmospheric game with the environments with lots of shadows and dark spaces that could be hiding all kinds of nasty surprises within.

Sound wise the game is also good, voice acting for the most part is spot on, although one or two characters are a little unrealistic, but the games music and sound effects all contribute well to creating a very eerie feeling when playing.

Condemned 2 is pretty different from many of the survival games that are available, but it does put in a solid performance and brings some welcome changes to both the survival and first person action genre. On the whole a brutal and gritty game that will have you checking behind you next time you walk down a dark alley.