Sega seek to scare the pad right out of your hands!
Arguably the first adventure to indicate the power of next-gen consoles, Xbox 360
launch title Condemned: Criminal Origins was a first-person psychological thriller
focusing more on melee fighting than firearms. Condemned players took on the role of FBI
Serial Crimes Unit investigator Ethan Thomas, battling sociopaths, bashing angry homeless
types and doing a bit of DIY CSI as he tracked down a depraved serial killer.
Condemned 2 begins a year on, and Ethan's a broken shell of a man, haunted by the
events of Criminal Origins and living the life of the tramps he once so enthusiastically
battered; sporting an unkempt beard and looking the spitting image of Sam Fisher in
Splinter Cell Conviction. He's still a mean detective, however, and with Condemned 2's
city sinking even further into decay and his former partner missing, Ethan's soon back to
doing what he does best.
Brilliant bludgeoning
To the Condemned 2 player, that means... bludgeoning thugs in the face with fists,
feet, and all manner of melee weapons. Indeed, Condemned 2's revamped fighting system is
far more accomplished, with punches on the triggers giving plenty of scope for combos,
followed, if timed right, by a graphic environmental finisher – from putting an enemy's
head through a TV or window, or even shoving it down the loo!
Also vastly improved is Condemned 2's forensic investigation. The first Condemned was
criticised for all-but telling the player what to do, but Condemned 2 lets you off the
leash and turns it into a fully-fledged puzzle. The example we were shown saw Ethan come
a cross a dead police officer and figure out how he died; first by making an ID, then
establishing a cause of death and place of death.
A dank, decaying gameworld with an oppressive vibe and the feel that death may
really be lurking around every corner.
This meant selecting the appropriate multi-choice answer from given lists – first
establishing the gender and age, then picking out the police badge and radioing the
number to HQ, before finding a bullet hole and identifying it as an exit wound – meaning
our poor capped cop was shot in the chest. Finally, whipping out a UV light showed a
trail of blood, and following the trail took Ethan back to the original crime scene.
Condemned 2, then, promises to be much more of a thinking-man's action game. It's also
set to deliver a darker, more intelligent story this time around, with tuning TVs set to
offer narrative hints and creepy, static-filled narration, while tracking down and
getting rid of sound emitters said to be driving the city's inhabitants to brutal
behaviour makes far more sense in Condemned 2 than the dead bird collectables of the
first Condemned.
It's all helped no end by an immensely impressive graphics engine. Condemned 2
presents a dank, decaying gameworld with an oppressive vibe and the feel that death may
really be lurking around every corner. Condemned 2 also goes for the minimal approach to
psychological horror that all the best fright flicks do – ramping up the tension with
eerie music and screeching sound effects before suddenly having a bloodthirsty thug
sprint onto screen, panicking you enough to literally drop the pad... well, we did,
anyway!
Brawl-based multiplayer
Condemned 2 is pretty original as first-person adventures go – and that extends to its
multiplayer mode, with brawl-based combat that sees crowbars at a premium and players
congregating in certain areas and mashing the triggers. It may not sound too strategic,
but Condemned 2 multiplayer favours intelligent movement and well-timed attacks.
We found lurking on the edges of a big ruck was often a good idea in Condemned 2's
multiplayer deathmatch; letting players batter each other senseless, only for us to run
in and finish them off with swift neck snaps when several hit their last health point;
stood wobbling on the spot like in Mortal Kombat. In all, Condemned 2 online should be
something entirely different for the Halo-loving Xbox Live gamer or the CoD-playing PS3
owner.
And that's true of the entire package. Addressing the flaws of the first game, giving
everything a severe makeover and adding in multiplayer, but retaining the same
forebodingly creepy atmosphere and unique first-person gameplay as before, Condemned 2 could pack a real punch when it
hits home this March.
Preview by: Mark 'One-Two Combo'
Scott
Preview Published: 29.02.08