An unsettling thrill ride through the most dark and violent minds.
One thing that Condemned focuses on is melee combat. This style of fighting forces you to get up in the "grill" of your opponent. While many FPS games before Condemned had offered melee combat, I don't think any were as satisfying or brutal as Criminal Origins. After aquiring a weapon from the interactive environment, it's time to take on some disturbed vagrants. These guys (and gals) range from the typical hobos and drug addicts to the downright insane and freaky. But back to the melee combat.
Weapons in this game go from the simplistic wood panel and desk to the more traditional shotguns, pistols, and sub-machinegun. Each has it's own positive and negative stats. Some might be really powerful but slow while others might be fast and weak. The use of weapon depends on what kind of fight you're walking into. You'll find yourself asking, "Should I use the gun with only two bullets and potentially run out of ammo during a fight or stick to the less powerful pipe or 2X4?" Oh yeah, ammo is really scarce so make those shots count! Shoot straight and true!
One aspect that makes the hand to hand combat so satisfying is the sound. You'll hear every bone-shattering blow in crystal clarity. The boom from the shotgun rips through the unfortunate hobos. Wood creaks, metal clangs and blood splatters. This leads me to my next point. The environmental effects. Every environment has its own unique feel to it through the use of audio. The abandoned buildings hum with electrical equipment, sewers echo and schools are filled with laughter from children long ago. This adds to the immersion.
About as impressive as the audio is, it's the graphics that most people pay attention to. Even with its inner city grittiness, there was still something impressive about it. For the most part, textures are clear and well done. There's a few spots that look a little low res but nothing to get all mad about. One thing that literally added to the whole dirty "look" was the clever use of filters. While playing there's a film grain filter on and during non interactive sequences, a whole range of filters are used to emphasize something being shown.
There are things that I didn't mention in this review so it lets the player have a fresh experience.
This was a game that I went into with mild expectations. I came out of it enjoying it more than I originally though. A superb launch title.
If you've got yourself a 360 and are of legal age, go pick this one up.