A game to play with the lights off
Condemned is very slow paced, I think the designers wanted you to take in all your surroundings instead of running through the levels and it works, it adds to the tension you feel as you creep around the dark corridors. You'll spend much of the game on the edge of your seat waiting for a bad guy to jump out at you, and when they do you get to the highlight of the game, the combat which plays out like the melee sections of Chronicles of Riddick but better with lead pipes, crowbar and a axe all available as weapons.
The problem is these are all more or less the same except for how much damage they do, enemies don't react any different from being hit with a wooden stick or a sledge hammer and there are no extra moves for each weapon. There are some other problems with the combat, it's a bit basic with only a block button and a hit button and although it may seem like there's a lot of variety to the weapons at first, you'll start seeing the same ones to often later on in the game. On the plus side the combat is quite realistic with each blow of your weapon feeling like it has real force behind it, this makes the combat quite brutal but still not as gory as some other games like manhunt.
Condemned tries to add some variety to the game with your character having to search for evidence to the crimes he comes across, it's a good idea but not implemented very well, it basically holds your hand and tells you exactly were to look for evidence which is a shame as letting you really search for clues would have added much needed variety to the game.
The graphics are nice, one of the best looking launch games with levels that look like you can almost reach out and touch the cold hard walls, the lighting is very good and adds to the atmosphere a great deal, and the textures on levels and weapons are quite realistic. I think the enemies could have been done better as they all look pretty much alike and aren't particularly scary but they do have good AI, finding cover and jumping out at you when you least expect it.
The story is well done and is a strong point of the game, you really want to finish it to see what happens to the main character as he's a likable kind of fella. It's a pitty the story gets in the way on your second play through as you can't skip the cut scenes which there are many of, and finding the evidence all over again becomes a chore.
I should mention that this game is dark and quite depressing. That's what it's aiming for but it may put people off. The sound effects are great and the music is very low key which is good in this sort of game, the effects really adds to the reality of your surroundings with enemies shouting out and the thud of your weapons landing on there head sounds painfully real.
I enjoyed Condemned but it's not going to stand up to multiple play through unless you really enjoy the combat as that is pretty much the whole game, and although quite scary on your first play through it does loose that edge of your seat feeling the more you play it.
There is some re playability for those who are interested in looking for dead birds and pieces of metal? that get you gamer points but I didn't really enjoy looking for all of them and they were quite hard to find. There are many other things that get you gamer points if that's your thing, like finding all the weapons, or only using melee weapons in the game.
Condemned is the only real original game out of the XBOX 360 launch games but it's not for everyone I don't think as I can't really describe it as fun, more of a experience. A good game and a great rental, but you may find it collecting dust after the ten or so hours it takes to finish it unless you go looking for all those achievements to unlock.