While it hits the survival horror part dead on, the surrounding flaws vindicate that the game really can't hold its own.
After all this, you'd come to expect that Condemned: Criminal Origins is another game classified as survival horror. That is a fact indeed, and it was also released as a launch title for the XBOX 360. So, what could it have done to make it stand out? Was it because it was a survival horror game? Or perhaps it was developed by Monolith, the same group that developed F.E.A.R.? Whatever the reason was, I can safely say that it doesn't matter what it was, because Condemned isn't the great game that I'd had hoped for.
Plenty of games out there are focusing more and more on fast paced action that gets straight to the point. Condemned does the complete opposite, so instead of a fast paced full throttle game, you're given a slow, unhurried game. Granted, the genre of survival horror is basically slow gameplay as well, but it really differs from all the quick games that are being released as of late, which is a change for better or worse, whichever pleases you. You can say that it is slower in comparison to the Resident Evil franchise. With this, you can explore the area and surroundings, but in a creepy environment, would you?
You take the role of Ethan Thomas, another FBI forensic investigator who is attempting to track down serial killers in a fictional town. Unfortunately, the investigation begins to deteriorate as you are framed for a murder, and on top of that people are turning into monstrous creatures that Mr. Thomas must take down. During your little investigation, you have access to forensic tools like the Laser Light and you can use them to gather evidence left behind such as fingerprints and residue.
Condemned consists of pointing and clicking your way through the investigation. The game will tell you what to do and where to look, which may sound great at first, but it isn't. The game relies on holding your hand through most of the investigations, which defeats the purpose of investigating. It may have been much harder without the holding your hand example, but a few general hints about the area would have been better than a full fledged walkthrough. Just have it as a reminder that you're tasked on doing this throughout the game, and it becomes more of a chore than a game. If this was a job of a forensic investigator, I wouldn't find it very entertaining.
Condemned gets a little more action oriented when you begin meeting these creatures. You are given standard weapons such as the shotgun, but most of the time you're going to be using a melee weapon to fight off enemies. Each of these weapons have distinct advantages over the others. Perhaps one of them does more damage to an enemy, but that's for you to find out. Surprisingly, some enemies won't just come up to you and begin attacking. Some may hide in dark, unlit areas and spring at you when you're nearby. This brings up the element of surprise, which is always prevalent in survival horror games.
The game is played from a first person perspective, but calling it a first person shooter is incorrect. It is not a shooter by any means, since you're rarely able to use guns. When you are able to use guns, most of the time the clip you have is all that you're going to get. When you run out of ammo, you can use the butt of your gun to smack enemies, as expected as that may have been. Given the fact that Condemned gives that feeling of firing a weapon uninteresting, luckily you don't use them most of the time. You can also kick and block your way to succeeding, and yet you can even use a taser, which helps you in tight spots.
Back to the enemy A.I., you can expect them to do tactical maneuvers to take you out. While some do charge at you with all they got, others will take the safer way out. If an enemy is wounded, they may flee from you to avoid being killed. Later on in the game they will work in packs, hide in unpredictable areas, and do more than what you could think. If you want some great enemy A.I., you won't be displeased with Condemned. Despite the excellent A.I., I had some instances where they just stand around, oblivious to your location, and you had to hit them to grab their attention in order to get a reaction from them, but that's a pretty rare occusion.
All of Condemned's puzzles are not noteworthy at all, and I am not exaggerating. What really dragged this game down was the simplistic and boring puzzles that came across. They are slow paced puzzles, but there is nothing wrong with that. What they do though is detract from the experience that Monolith could have easily improved on. As an FBI forensic investigator, you'd expect something challenging and inducing, but you really get the other end of the spectrum. Pausing to complete each puzzle seems like an easy chore, so I would hardly call it a puzzle if it is too simple, like in Condemned's case.
Looking at the dark and terrifying scenery in Condemned is a good treat to all. Some visual ideas are borrowed from Monolith's F.E.A.R. game, so if you played F.E.A.R., you'll notice some similarities visually. Character models look good as well, but enemy models provide an uninteresting feel to them, possibly perhaps they keep showing up, looking like the same thing over and over again. Going from area to area is visually appealing, but then again, some places feel dull and blunt and might have you wondering, "How the hell did this make it into the game?" I can agree that overall the environment is what it is, and walking into unknown territory definitely gives you the shivers, whether you're man enough to admit it or not.
What Condemned does best is its audio. The music you will hear throughout the game gives the ultimate gloomy feel, hands down. Ambient noises will catch you off guard the first time. If you ever wanted to hear what a creature infested city was like, Condemned is the game for you. The big fault here is the voice acting. All I can say is that it's near atrocious. None of the characters grab the feel of life to them, but then again, voice acting is basically essential for survival horror games. If you can shun away from the voice acting, then the experience goes up tremendously.
Once you tackle through the game, which should be about ten hours in length, there's frankly nothing else to do. Sure, you can run through all the achievements if you are an achievement fanatic, but that in itself only unlocks useless bonus material. It's really difficult to demand yourself another playthrough except for the fact you'd do it just to explore more often and see the gritty scenery. Other than that, Monolith offered no material that extends the gameplay, which is a shame after the hard work of trekking through it.
So, what has Monolith wrapped together? A fair, yet creepy atmospheric game that has its ups and downs. While it hits the survival horror part dead on, the surrounding flaws vindicate that the game really can't hold its own. Expect to be bombarded with boring puzzles, good but middling graphics, and quite terrible replay value. What Condemned: Criminal Origins does right, it does it exceptionally. Smart enemies and great sound are on this list, but that's all it can keep up for before losing its steam. Survival horror fans may want to give it a shot, but don't expect an awesome experience. Diving into the game with mediocre expectations will suffice.