Condemned: Criminal Origins (Dvd)

List Price: $39.99 Discount Price: $9.24

Features:

• Weapons and ammunition are scarce, leaving the player vulnerable to the game's mentally deranged criminals
• Careful detective work and precision reflexes are your primary means of survival
• Intelligent enemies respond strategically to your offensive and defensive maneuvers
• High-level physics allow players to manipulate background items, which respond realistically when picked up, kicked, or bumped
• Tightly wound story, backed with strong Character development and major plot twists

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

great ambiance, ok game. [Posted on 2007-09-23]
The scary feeling is well done, especially the sound, the footsteps behind you when no one is really there...well done. The gameplay is good, but repetitive. Mostly the same bad guys, different building.

A decent game, but could have been much more [Posted on 2007-10-19]
I played the demo for this game and liked it a lot. It has a very chilling atmosphere, and I liked the serial killer story line. The retail game overall is worth a look if you are into first-person shooters and the horror genre. But after finishing the game (about 10-12 hours), I was left with the impression that Condemned could have been so much more if more thought had gone into the story line.

Gameplay: The story line is somewhat trite. You're an FBI agent who is framed for killing two cops, and you have to figure out the mystery while the FBI and the real killer are stalking you. Nothing special there. The game is genuinely creepy with dimly lit environments, good use of sound effects, and a number of grotesque opponents. However, after a while, you'll get very use to fighting the same 8-10 character models and crawling through the same shabby buildings and subway tunnels. The big problem with the game is that it lacks tension. There is little rhyme or reason to your investigation except for the fact that there's a serial killer on the loose. You do get the feel for being a crime investigator, since you use forensic tools and have a virtual laboratory at your disposal. But it all seems forced after a while as the game guides you through a linear story line and in many instances tells you exactly what to do next. There are a few cheap scares, but the game is more creepy and foreboding than outright scary. Unfortunately, the game leaves a number of unanswered questions--as if it were setting up a sequel, and I found the ending unsatisfying.

To its credit, Condemned does get a number of things right. The melee combat is well done and frenetic. Most of the fighting in the game is done with axes, sledgehammers, pipes, and other hand-held items. You can block, dodge, do combos, and finishing moves. The firearms, while powerful, are much less interesting since they are almost always low on ammo. Thankfully, there are no jumping sequences in this game and really no puzzles. The straightforward nature of the gameplay is both its strength and weakness, but you can adjust the difficulty level to increase the game's challenge.

Graphics: A pretty good looking games. Character models and animations are convincing, and environments are very detailed though repetitive after a while. Lighting effects are especially well done.

Sound: There is very good use of sound effects to make the game creepy. Creaking floors, growls, footsteps, weapon impacts, etc. are all convincing. Voice acting is passable, and I actually liked the theme song that plays when the main menu is open. The developers seem to understand that its not the visuals but the sounds that make a game creepy (good visuals, of course, help).

Technical issues: I think the game may have crashed once, but otherwise it was very stable. The manual is decent, and the opening sequence of the game serves as a tutorial. The controls are typical for a first-person shooter.

Replayability/Value: There is no reason to replay this game given its linearity. The outcome will always be the same, and there are no sub-plots or additional missions to unlock. If you like the FPS or horror genre, the game is worth a look. But be sure to get it at a discount.


Pros:
+creepy and atmosphere
+convincing sound effects
+good graphics
+dynamic melee combat

Cons:
-repetitive gameplay
-lackluster ending and some unanswered questions
-missed opportunities in the scares department

Overall rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

A Bit Too Realistic [Posted on 2007-12-19]
Very good graphics but maybe a bit too realistic, as you're immersed in the seamier side of life around subways and condemned, broken out buildings. Thugs around every corner is something you'll have to get used to in following the somewhat absorbing story line of a cop on the tail of one of these criminals. This is no shoot 'em up where you can proceed with guns blazing, as usually you have to face these creeps up close with only a broken 2x4 as your weapon. It's not a hopeless battle and once you get accustomed to your surroundings, you're in for quite an interesting change from other first-person shooters.

Interesting Concept [Posted on 2008-02-18]
Condemned PCI have to admit, when it usually comes to FPS-type games, normally I have to choose something else. I tend to choose third person shooter games 98% of the time, just because FPS tends to make me nauseated with a quickness. When I first started playing this game, I was disappointed...at first when I discovered that it was FPS. However, to my surprise, the graphics were so good that I never became nauseated once, which I cannot say for Half-Life, when I played it back in 1999 or 2000. It's a little dark as you are an FBI who track serial killers. Without giving too much information away, I will say this...You start out investigating a crime scene and then, while doing so, you discover that you and your team are not alone; therefore, you end up on a chase that does not end so well for you. And that, ladies and gentleman, is where the mystery begins. The eerie effects, the voice-over acting, and the atmosphere, in a whole, makes this a great gameplay, in my opinion. I await for a sequel.

Separates the men from the boys. [Posted on 2008-04-07]
This game to me redefined the survival horror genre. Walking through darkened hallways has never sent chills down my spine like this before, but once you get a weapon in your hands fear will turn to courage and you will fight through the bums to figure out what dark presence is a foot. Please do not go into this game thinking its a FPS. Think of it as an FPB (First person brawler). I highly recommend this game if your tired of the same old stuff. Oh yeah... make sure you play this with the light off and the volume cranked up to fully get the experience out of it.

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