Condemned 2 BloodShot - 9/10
If there is one genre that the gaming industry this generation needs right now, it is a decent horror game, a horror title that will literally make you yellow slash your threads, a game that will generally scare the wits out of you, a game so scary it would make a grown man cry and sob behind the lounge until the terror dims. So far all we have seen from the horror variety this generation is FEAR, which was a bloody good game that intended on freaking the gamer out by using distorted images and creepy giggling girls in blood drenched dresses, the other freak-fest was Clive Barkers Jericho, another new IP for the horror mold, which sucked quite badly and had a group of super natural squaddies infiltrating past events in a hellish world. Both games are horror, and you can buy them right now, but they are not enough to feed the hunger for bloodlust. Resident Evil 5, FEAR 2, Silent Hill V, Alone In The Dark 5 and Rainy Woods are still at bay with their release dates shrouded in mystery.
So as a horror buff, what can we play in the mean time? We could always revisit that traumatised little town called Silent Hill? Revisit the spanish village full of possessed locals wanting to rip us to shreds with rusty farm tools in Resi Evil 4? Or take some snap shots of ghastly images in Project Zero? All great options, but what if you want to play a next gen horror title? Well im happy to report that Monoliths latest freak show, Condemned 2 Bloodshot is the first of the horror bunch to arrive on shelves, and not only is it utterly terrifying and psychologically scarring, it is one of the most brutal games on the market that wants to drag the player, kicking and screaming into its degrading world of madness and deep insanity. Within hours of experiencing this nerve jarring, bladder busting, stomach churning, gore buffet you will be questioning what that wet steamy patch is on the carpet beneath you and most likely will puase the game more than once and race your just-as-scared-****less mates to the nearest house urinal to chuck away your already digested lunch. If it was Monoliths goal to deprive people of eating than they have certainly done a fine job, i cant see too many gamers eating food while experiencing some of the grisly filth that occurs in this rotating disc of nastiness.
If you played Condemned Criminal Origins on the Xbox 360 a few years back you will have a fair idea what to expect from its just as insane sequel, if you havent played the original Condemned then well........i feel sorry for you, expect the unexpected! The storyline centres around Ethan Thomas, an ex former copper who is now a homeless, scruffy bearded drunkard who has just finished restructuring the face of a hooded crim and throwing profanities at the bartender in a sleazy nightclub. His past clearly wasnt kind to his brain, causing him to suffer from freakish hallucinations, leaving the poor downtrodden soul prone to the unthinkable/unimaginable. After recent events with one of the police forces best, Malcolm Vanhorn, results in Ethan getting recalled back into the force to deal with the same nightmare and psychopath *Serial Killer X* he had to deal with in the past. This is when Condemned 2 Bloodshot begins its reign of terror on your immune system.
Soon as you gain control of Ethan, things begin to look like an ordinary FPS fare, but this game is far from ordinary. For example, walking around a gutted, dark, bleak, filthy, seedy, stinking back alley, the area looks blank, whack on the torch and that distant steaming pipe can be wranked from its wall structure and used as a weapon, thats right, there are no ammo boxes or oddly discarded AK rifles lying around in Condemned's game world. Alot of your arsenal can be jerked off walls giving the player a strong sense of desperation and paranoia as you feel as though you're being watched or set upon by drug thugs. It will get to a stage where you wont care about having a pistol, you will just be plain relieved to have a rusty mannequins arm or burnt baby doll to throw at your demented foes.
The slightest sound will also encourage you to switch off your light fixture, as the enemy could very well find out where you're hiding, a big thumbs up to the staff at Monolith for encouraging this kind of feeling to the game. There is never really any sense of control in Condemned 2 as your enemies are just as aware as you are, if they see you armed with a crowbar, they will either try and smash your face in bare handed or they will run away and find a crowbar that is bigger and better than your crowbar, the AI for moments like this is simply unrivalled. These guys never seem beaten, and you as the player, never feel like you have won the situation. The way the game mechanics toys with your mind and gives you a false sense of security is absolutely glorious, which really sets this game apart from your usual FPS title. One of the more special aspects during the game is the ability to scramble through T.V channels that can be found around the area, scoping the right reception will give you hints or info, its like a tutorial in a way, and the way it was implemented was excellent.
The melee driven combat is as brutal as it gets. Ethan can literally punch the daylights out of an enemies face, bruising him, and leaving his limp rag doll corpse writhing in pain on the floor in a pool of blood. Not satisfied with your kill you sick bastard? Then you can also stomp an enemies corpse further into the canvas making sure he definitely wont be getting up. Monolith have also implemented brutal kills from snapping necks like twigs, zapping their bodies with any electric current resource, or cracking enemies skulls like ripe coconuts with a shovel or a brick. Worse comes to worse you can even throw your enemies into the nearest toilet bowl, flushing it in the process or drive a thugs head into a TV set or better still, you could simply beat your foe senseless with a toilet seat.
Enemy reactions to injury is just as disturbing as the pain you inflict on them *and the object you used on them* they scream in agony as blunt heavy objects connect with there flesh, and roll and stumble to the floor holding there heads to see if its still connected to the neck stump after you tried tearing it off with a jagged slice of metal. You can even attract enemies, you could here a group of goons in the distance swearing, kick that nearby trashcan and you will ignite there attnetion luring them towards your position. its a great way of putting the enemy in your situation for a change, making them think.
Condemned 2 isnt just soley based on splitting thugs skulls and ending their miserable lives, its also similar to CSI in a way, especially when investigating crime scenes scattered throughout the entire game. These scenes give the player a nice break from the tense mood and action and keep things rather fresh. During these scenes, your forensic tool kit comes in handy, whether it be used for tracking evidence with your GPS, detecting traces of blood with your UV scanner, taking snapshots of decapitated corpses with their guts strewn all over the floor with your digital camera or searching for clues and uploading them on your mobile phone to assist Rosa back at the lab and your buddies back at HQ. It's a great break from the more intense moments even if these CSI style scenes can get quite boring after a while.
If there was one complaint i had about the original Condemned game, it was the lack of variety in enemies, thankfully this has been addressed with disturbing results, there is your standard street scum, drug doped youths in hoody's wanting to break your face with the nearest brick and vicious dogs wanting to tear your hands off, than they start becoming more weird, freaks with pig heads, skeleton masked maniacs, dirty circus harlots, surreal fishnet clad prostitutes, insane clowns, surgically stitched babies and burnt distorted lunatics. Then things only get more warped as you descend into underground, whilst our alcoholic protagonist stumbles through a creepy back alley caked in black drippy oil, you will notice human figures painted in black goo reaching out of the walls, as if they're screaming or trying to drag you in with them, just staring at these black oily nutters with your flashlight will make you feel paranoid as they stare at you motionless with there white eyes. If this entire area doesnt gravy your legs in an instance then the eerie sightings of the supernatural and depraved certainly will, i wont say what i was thinking when i stumbled across a gibbering muttering naked veiny test subject sitting in a rusty bathroom injecting itself. Lets just say, i tried avoiding that very area as soon as it came into site, and god only knows whats up with Condemned's fetish with dead birds. Absolutely terrifying stuff even if you cant come to terms with what all this madness means.
Visually, Condemned is a cracking looking title, the characters look real and very believable, the environments are very dark, degrading and detailed to suit the mood and to add to the atmosphere, particle effects are abound, from flapping newspapers in the breeze, empty food cans rolling on the floor, flickering light fixtures and so on. The havok physics are stunningly lifelike in reaction as well, bumping into a shelf or smacking it with your weapon will have dusty cardboard boxes fall from its hiding spot, and kicking an enemy while they're prone will have them lifelessly thrash about as you lay the boot in. Its very impressive from a graphical standpoint thats for sure and adds a heavy load of realism to an already dreaded gaming experience.
Overall, I was very surprised with Condemned 2 BloodShot, having played the original Condemned on Xbox 360, i was left disapointed and wanting more, it was short, felt dire and enemy variety was lacking and FEAR killed it off for me. But i am pleased to say Condemned 2 absolutely nails its predecessor and sets its own standards on the horror genre. The combat is visceral, fierce and vicious, the visuals, dirty, murky, gritty and gore filled and the gameplay tense, exciting and intrigueing. For the horror buffs starving for a filth fest to explore, then look no further, your sadistic needs will be 100% fulfilled with Condemned 2 BloodShot, and that is assured. Draw the blinds, turn off the bulbs, vamp up the volume metre and prepared to be scared out of your skin.
Submitted by callan5
25/03/2008
25
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