Condemned—one of the first titles available for the 360 last November—is an interesting experiment. What the creators at Monolith have attempted is to put players in the shoes of a detective, allowing them to investigate crime scenes while simultaneously defending themselves from the denizens of the night. The game aims to mix forensics with fear and brutality. Does it succeed? Read on to find out.
Condemned puts players in the role of Ethan Thomas, an FBI agent. His city is in turmoil. Violent drug addicts roam the bad parts of town. Birds are dying all over the city. As one of the bureau’s best and brightest, Thomas is sent to investigate a murder scene. A killer called “The Matchmaker” has struck again. Posing his victims in grisly tableau with mannequins, Ethan is charged with uncovering the killer. The game, however, is not that simple. It isn’t long after arriving at the crime scene that Thomas and his fellow law officers realize the killer is still in the vicinity. Long story short, Ethan’s gun is stolen by the killer. The killer—whose primary function is to kill—shoots the police officers with Ethan’s gun. Framed for murder and alone, Ethan must find help and use his uncanny, almost psychic abilities to solve the mystery. The tutorial is over and the game has officially begun.
Condemned opens—literally—with a bang. The Se7en inspired intro is very well done and sets the mood nicely. After that, Condemned becomes a hard game to judge. The premise is great: fight off drug crazed goons and solve a mystery. The main draw of Condemned is the immersive nature of its first person perspective. The enemies sneak up on you or jump out suddenly, eliciting involuntary shouts and profanity. Just to add some more creepiness into the mix, Thomas also has visions. Some of these play out in cutscenes, but others happen during gameplay. Things will move, imaginary enemies will appear from thin air. These visions will often leave players questioning what is real and what isn’t. It’s a great device that brings the game world to life. This perpetual fear is the one constant of Condemned.
There are two ways to combat enemies: firearms and blunt objects. You’ll encounter many more blunt objects than firearms, though. The designers of Condemned wanted to make damned sure players always feel the tension of close up combat. Adding to this tension is that firearms come with limited ammo. Once that ammo is gone, there is no reloading. At that point, the gun can either be dropped or used as a melee weapon. The designers were tricky here, too. They didn’t want people using guns as melee weapons and conserving ammo, so after a few melee attacks with a gun, it will break. You can still shoot it but as a melee weapon it’s junked.
Melee combat is visceral, if simple. Each weapon has three or four attacks with differing angles and quickness. Some weapons—the lead pipe, for example—are quick and have low damage rates. Others—fire axes, sledge hammers, etc.—are slow but do massive damage. Learning to block is a useful skill, though artful dodging will serve just as well. Agent Thomas also has a long range taser to briefly incapacitate and disarm enemies. There are also gruesome (and optional) finishing moves.
The forensic sections are few and far between. What’s there is fairly rudimentary, too. For instance, the game automatically selects the correct forensic tool in any given situation. Players will be scanning surroundings with blacklights, laser lights, or gas spectrometers. When evidence is found, it’s collected with other tools like cameras, 3D scanners, and the amazingly fictional DNA collector. Somehow, this thing grabs DNA samples without even touching evidence. Real world accuracy aside, the forensic parts are neat diversions but mainly serve to further the story.
Graphically, the game is exceptional even for a launch title. The environments are creepy as hell. Each area is rendered in frightening detail: condemned buildings, abandoned schools—complete with scary playground—even a rotting farm house and barn. Each environment introduces new enemies to fight. The enemies themselves are all grotesque stereotypes of drug addicts. Some of them thin, pale, and fish-like. Others are huge, bearish monstrosities. Don’t think they won’t scare you because they aren’t zombies or monsters, either. Believe me, some of these freaks rival Silent Hill’s designs.
Condemned isn’t without its problems, though. For one, the actual combat can get a little boring. Most fights consist of swing, block, swing, repeat. An enemy will occasionaly get the jump on you, but it won’t really change the overall pace much. Also, as stated above, the forensics lack any real skill and are mainly a plot device. Which brings me to my major complaint. In a survival horror game, linear progression, simple puzzles, and tedious combat can be forgiven if the story is good. As stated above, Condemned starts off wonderfully, and it steadily grows as you try to understand what’s happening. You learn more about agent Thomas and the killer—there are even hints of the supernatural along the way. Unfortunately, the ending is likely to leave most players with more questions than answers. Ethan’s ESP-like abilities are never truly explained. No answers are given regarding the evil force behind the rash of violence in the city. If it were an eight dollar movie, I could probably forgive this fault, but I expect a little more payoff from a sixty dollar game.
As I said, Condemned is a hard game to judge. It does a lot of things really well. Other bits need some work. There are things to collect in each level, should you choose to replay the game. Frankly, the brutality of the combat left me a little sick to my stomach and I don’t think I’ll be playing through it again for the sake of collecting trinkets. If you dig survival horror games, it’s worth a rental. Take note though, this game is rated M for a reason. The faint of heart need not apply.
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