To survive this nightmare, you'll need to keep your eyes open...starting now
Written: Jan 04 '06
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: It's a realistic game into a nightmare where you are hunted by serial killers.
Cons: It kind of gets tiresome.
The Bottom Line: Hunting Down Serial Killers Have Never Been So Terrifyingly Real
|
|
|
| jbrd's Full Review: XB360 Condemned: Criminal Origins for Xbox 360 |
Your heart is pumping as you creep along down this dark hallway. No ray of light besides your flashlight. You wonder how in the hell did I let it get this far. Your blood is rushing throughout your body at a abnormal pace. Your pulse is racing as the thought of you in this darkness hunting down serial killers. You think about what you're going to do when you get out of here but then your interrupted by a noise up ahead. It sounded like something falling. You get closer. You see something big but you can't make it out. You get your axe ready and your flashlight aimed dead ahead. Suddenly, you hear something behind you and you turn. It was nothing. You turn back around and your face to face with a serial killer drooling for bloodshed.
Condemned is a twist in the horror genre. It's action packed, it's has the adventure into serial killer's minds and it's pretty damn scary. You are Ethan Thomas who is just doing his job until he gets a call on serial killers running loose in the city. You and him must survive in this first-person game. This isn't your normal horror game. Yeah, you have a health meter(if it depletes all the way, you die!), an endurance meter(you can run fast for a limited time) and finally a battery charge meter(you have a stun gun and it has limited usage). These sound very normal and it is but the rest is not normal and it's pretty damn exciting! Not only is this action game but it's also an adventure game. The adventure elements is about the fact you are a cop and you have forensic tools to use in your nightmare of Hell. You'll get to use a UV Light(it detects blood and other bodily fluids), a Laser Light(it highlights evidence that is invisible to the naked eye: fingerprints, footprints etc.) and finally a Gas Spectrometer where this little thing can detect any smelly stuff like flesh or any substance in the air. These are all important in this game as you uncover more about the story and how it involves you. You also have collection tools like a camera, sampler and a 3D Scanner. These are also important and please don't worry about not knowing when to use them as Thomas/your instincts tell you when to use them. Also, by collecting evidence, it is transmitted by your cellphone to the lab where Rosa gathers the evidence and gives you the information she found out about them. All of this goes on with your cellphone as Thomas automatically answers it. Thank God for cellphones huh?
Now, with all these forensic tools and the meters, they must be used at their fullest in this game right? Correct! You are literally thrown everywhere in this game. First, you are in an empty department store to a freaking barnyard. Condemned has 10 levels and each level is somewhere different(except 2 levels). Subway, barnyard, apartment, school, department store and an alley. Believe me, these places are big(not huge by any means) and you'll be creeping out on every level. All above is the adventure part but what about the action? Condemned's action is brutal and bloody. You have 12 weapons and some weapons have different types. You have guns, melee weapons and entry weapons. Guns are: Revolver, .45 Cal, two shotguns and a submachine gun. However, those aren't what makes the game so fun when you can literally beat the sh*t out of these freaks with crowbars, axes, sledgehammer, shovel, 2X4, pipes and rebars. This game is mostly about using your surroundings as your weapon which to say freaking pipes and others! However, these weapons can be used to open locked doors or other type of locked things like safes. For an example, a fire axe can be used to smash through a door while a shovel can break a lock.
So with weapons and tools, what else is there to do? KILL! You are on a mission to kill enemies but wait, they aren't your ordinary people. They are serial killers. They are deadly and smart. Their A.I. is unpredictable and terrifyingly real. For examples, some of them go find a weapon and then go hide. Some will even find others and get them to help them to kill you. Did I mention they have weapons? Yes, they most certainly do. They pretty much have everything YOU can get YOUR hands on. They can grab an axe(if they aren't armed) and some will even try to kill you with their bare hands. But you can stun them with your stun gun and take their weapon away from them and use it on them. They are just like you in this game. They will stop at nothing to kill you. Sometimes, they want you to bad that they will kill other serial killers that are trying to kill you. It seems they are jealous? But you must be cautious in this game. These serial killers do have a temper and boy do they ever have it! Sometimes, they will even go into a frenzy where their attacks are fast and brutal. However, these and all attacks can be blocked by using the block button. Overall, the game-play is very exciting to play however, when you play it after a few levels, you feel like all you do is fight, run and find evidence. However, Condemned successfully completes everything it came to do: Create a terrifying fast-paced action game that flirts with adventure.
Speaking of horror, yes this game is pretty damn creepy and scary. Not only do you just have a flashlight to guide you through the darkness but not knowing what lies ahead or behind you(you should always look behind you) is scary as Hell. Not only the serial killers are scary in looks but they are damn smart. This game is very realistic and it never does one moment shy away from it. Also, to make something clear, no this game is not always dark(you have parts of levels that are full of light but that doesn't help you at all since the killers are everywhere). But in the dark and small hallways of buildings or wherever you are in this game, you literally feel closed in like you have claustrophobia and you freak out any minute. Now that is some scary sh*t!
The controls for this game is quite good as well. Each button has a different action to take. I don't have complaints with the controls since they are easy to do and they are laid-out real well.
This is one of the first XBOX 360 titles around and the visuals are stunning and harshly beautiful. The character models are deeply colorful. The models have a realistic feel(maybe because it shows wrinkles and adam apples). Their faces all look real and to be honest, their faces are disturbing because of what the 360 can do. Also, the clothing of them wrinkles when someone walks. The serial killers are also really good. One look at one of them, you will be creeped out. Their bodies move with their clothing and each killer have different movement types. Their faces all vary and each look scary. The lighting in the game is extraordinary. In the very first level where the whole building is dark, in one part of the building, the lights outside the windows only show light in the size of the window. This game is simply beautiful and stunning. It's quite hard NOT to talk about the graphics. The surroundings glow with realism. The buildings vary and each room is different and the graphics are simply great. I can't stress enough about how the graphics are. Every graphic in the game is flawless. Each graphic is life-like(terrifyingly real). The sound also doesn't fail me. The score for the music is great. It is moody, it adds a nice(if not scary) touch to the atmosphere. The voice actors did a really nice job in this game. They gave it their all and created a great experience for the listeners. The surrounding sound is also stunning and scary. From either glass breaking, boxes falling, moans and groans to breaking out a pipe from the wall, the sound is highly great. It's realistic. Turn the lights off and bump up the sound and tell me you won't be freaking out. I DARE YOU!
Pros/Cons:
+ Story is deep
+ 360's graphics are stunning
+ Game-play is exciting if not scary
+ The sound will creep you out and the controls are easy
+ It's fast paced horror game that flirts with action and adventure
- But sometimes the game-play does get tiresome after a while
+ But you'll forget as you are on the hunt for serial killers
Condemned Information:
Genre: Horror/action
Rated: M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence and Strong Language
# of players: 1 player
Difficulty: Adjustable
Lasting Appeal: 8-11 hours
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
jbrd
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: Jason
Location: On your computer screen, Everywhere
Reviews written: 450
Trusted by: 180 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.