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This thread has been linked to the game 'Condemned 2: Bloodshot'.
“A real gem and one everyone should try... if you have the bottle.”
Those were my final words for Criminal Origins when I reviewed it earlier in the year and since then I had been hoping to get my hands on the sequel to see how Monolith had improved on what was already a solid horror experience. Like the original I managed to grab a cheap copy online and after a run through of the campaign and several attempts at the finding players for the online component I’ve walked away more than satisfied but a little disappointed at the same time.
Don’t get me wrong, Condemned 2 is an excellent game and does live up to its predecessors name, but while the first wonderfully executed the moments of terror and played on your fears, the second isn’t as successful. Sure things start off very well with homeless drug addicts lurking down dark alleys attacking you but then things start to get very odd. You’ll come across a toy factory later and here exploding dolls start walking toward you. Hmmm... Kind of scary but also kind of strange. After this you’ll find yourself relying on gunplay more and shooting police officers. Not so scary at all. Near the end you then gain the ability to shriek at enemies’ heads to the point of explosion. Okay so now just what is going on here?!? It almost feels that the more you play Condemned 2 the less genuinely unsettling the game actually becomes and it’s a big shame as evoking fear in you is what should be most important of a horror game.
Continuing where the first left off, Ethan Thomas is reduced to heavy drinking after the events he’s witnessed. Upon a strange murder he is recruited back into the force in order to answer what exactly is going on. Along the way you’ll discover the reason behind the cities increasing destruction, meet an old nemesis and literally gain super powers. The voice acting is great and cut scenes feel genuine and entertaining. It almost feels like you’re in horror movies like Seven.
Like the first game, melee combat takes centre stage here with firearms being available occasionally and more so later in the game. You’ll be able to yank pipes off walls, grab fire axes and throw exploding dolls at enemies with plenty more obscure objects to find. Your moves are much more fleshed out this time with combos and special abilities being unlocked along the way. The right and left trigger command your right and left arms while you can also block and kick to catch people off guard too and special commands can cause instant kills with good timing so there’s a substantial amount of improvement in the controls. Another new feature is the environmental kills. These are areas around the room where you can lead a dazed opponent toward in order to finish them off in a brutally graphic way. Gore hounds are sure to be fans of this addition.
Ethan Thomas is an investigator and in the original it was touched upon but never really explored. The investigation sections are much more expanded here and rightfully so as these provide some great moments that test you on your observation skills as well as critical thinking. You’ll need to identify bodies, decipher causes of death and more. While it was good in the first here it really does run with the idea and make this game totally fresh and unique.
Each level in the game is then graded on your performance based on your investigatory skills and how many hidden items you find. These include transmitters and antennas which superbly expand the story via TVs and radios. Watching a news report about the goings on while static continues to interfere is very creepy and horror-like. Most people are unlikely to go the extra mile and find everything, but thanks to a reward system, the better you do, the better the prize. Getting gold grades can provide you with a small blade on your fist, extra health and a gun holster while skimping on searching for these items will only give you the most basic of upgrades. It adds incentive to search your surroundings and makes finding fun.
A few extra tasks are thrown in for the lone player that see you tackling varying missions such as killing as many enemies for as long or as quick as you can. Distracting for a while but nothing too mind blowing. With these objectives and the story mode plus an unlockable “FPS Mode”, you’ll likely take around a couple of weeks to see it all.
When I heard a multiplayer element would be included in the game I was to say the least a little concerned. While the first person fighting system worked decently as a lone player experience I couldn’t see it translating over to an online battle very well. Oddly enough though I actually had a great deal of fun, when I was actually able to find a match available. The system remains pretty much unchanged from the main mode and is complete with four game types. As expected you’ll have deathmatch and a team option as well as two unique modes that are a good laugh too. The first is Bum Rush where one team play the part of police officers with guns, extra health and only a single life each while the other team consists of bums. Their job is to completely kill the team using melee weapons and unlimited lives. The final mode is Crime Scenes where again the teams are split into police and bums. While the bums try to hide a box with a severed head in, the police try to find and scan it to win. Both are decent modes and you’ll find yourself trying them all... that is if you
Visually the game is a big step up from Criminal Origins and it really shows in terms of the environments. The lighting and textures are really impressive with some very good character animations. Enemies act unpredictably and violently and overall it is definitely an improvement. The sound too like the original plays a big role in evoking some of the games more unnerving moments and with music playing at the key moments and voice acting being some of the best I’ve heard in a while, the overall presentation for Condemned 2 couldn’t be much better.
Condemned 2 definitely improves in almost every area over the original, but sadly it fails to maintain a true sense of horror throughout the experience treading in somewhat peculiar and sub-par ground toward the latter half. It still has a great single player and to a nice surprise the online multiplayer is good as well so here’s hoping if a third does get made the horror element is as consistent as the fun. Still a highly enjoyable sequel.
Those were my final words for Criminal Origins when I reviewed it earlier in the year and since then I had been hoping to get my hands on the sequel to see how Monolith had improved on what was already a solid horror experience. Like the original I managed to grab a cheap copy online and after a run through of the campaign and several attempts at the finding players for the online component I’ve walked away more than satisfied but a little disappointed at the same time.
Don’t get me wrong, Condemned 2 is an excellent game and does live up to its predecessors name, but while the first wonderfully executed the moments of terror and played on your fears, the second isn’t as successful. Sure things start off very well with homeless drug addicts lurking down dark alleys attacking you but then things start to get very odd. You’ll come across a toy factory later and here exploding dolls start walking toward you. Hmmm... Kind of scary but also kind of strange. After this you’ll find yourself relying on gunplay more and shooting police officers. Not so scary at all. Near the end you then gain the ability to shriek at enemies’ heads to the point of explosion. Okay so now just what is going on here?!? It almost feels that the more you play Condemned 2 the less genuinely unsettling the game actually becomes and it’s a big shame as evoking fear in you is what should be most important of a horror game.
Continuing where the first left off, Ethan Thomas is reduced to heavy drinking after the events he’s witnessed. Upon a strange murder he is recruited back into the force in order to answer what exactly is going on. Along the way you’ll discover the reason behind the cities increasing destruction, meet an old nemesis and literally gain super powers. The voice acting is great and cut scenes feel genuine and entertaining. It almost feels like you’re in horror movies like Seven.
Like the first game, melee combat takes centre stage here with firearms being available occasionally and more so later in the game. You’ll be able to yank pipes off walls, grab fire axes and throw exploding dolls at enemies with plenty more obscure objects to find. Your moves are much more fleshed out this time with combos and special abilities being unlocked along the way. The right and left trigger command your right and left arms while you can also block and kick to catch people off guard too and special commands can cause instant kills with good timing so there’s a substantial amount of improvement in the controls. Another new feature is the environmental kills. These are areas around the room where you can lead a dazed opponent toward in order to finish them off in a brutally graphic way. Gore hounds are sure to be fans of this addition.
Ethan Thomas is an investigator and in the original it was touched upon but never really explored. The investigation sections are much more expanded here and rightfully so as these provide some great moments that test you on your observation skills as well as critical thinking. You’ll need to identify bodies, decipher causes of death and more. While it was good in the first here it really does run with the idea and make this game totally fresh and unique.
Each level in the game is then graded on your performance based on your investigatory skills and how many hidden items you find. These include transmitters and antennas which superbly expand the story via TVs and radios. Watching a news report about the goings on while static continues to interfere is very creepy and horror-like. Most people are unlikely to go the extra mile and find everything, but thanks to a reward system, the better you do, the better the prize. Getting gold grades can provide you with a small blade on your fist, extra health and a gun holster while skimping on searching for these items will only give you the most basic of upgrades. It adds incentive to search your surroundings and makes finding fun.
A few extra tasks are thrown in for the lone player that see you tackling varying missions such as killing as many enemies for as long or as quick as you can. Distracting for a while but nothing too mind blowing. With these objectives and the story mode plus an unlockable “FPS Mode”, you’ll likely take around a couple of weeks to see it all.
When I heard a multiplayer element would be included in the game I was to say the least a little concerned. While the first person fighting system worked decently as a lone player experience I couldn’t see it translating over to an online battle very well. Oddly enough though I actually had a great deal of fun, when I was actually able to find a match available. The system remains pretty much unchanged from the main mode and is complete with four game types. As expected you’ll have deathmatch and a team option as well as two unique modes that are a good laugh too. The first is Bum Rush where one team play the part of police officers with guns, extra health and only a single life each while the other team consists of bums. Their job is to completely kill the team using melee weapons and unlimited lives. The final mode is Crime Scenes where again the teams are split into police and bums. While the bums try to hide a box with a severed head in, the police try to find and scan it to win. Both are decent modes and you’ll find yourself trying them all... that is if you
Visually the game is a big step up from Criminal Origins and it really shows in terms of the environments. The lighting and textures are really impressive with some very good character animations. Enemies act unpredictably and violently and overall it is definitely an improvement. The sound too like the original plays a big role in evoking some of the games more unnerving moments and with music playing at the key moments and voice acting being some of the best I’ve heard in a while, the overall presentation for Condemned 2 couldn’t be much better.
Condemned 2 definitely improves in almost every area over the original, but sadly it fails to maintain a true sense of horror throughout the experience treading in somewhat peculiar and sub-par ground toward the latter half. It still has a great single player and to a nice surprise the online multiplayer is good as well so here’s hoping if a third does get made the horror element is as consistent as the fun. Still a highly enjoyable sequel.
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“A real gem and one everyone should try... if you have the bottle.”
Those were my final words for Criminal Origins when I reviewed it earlier in the year and since then I had been hoping to get my hands on the sequel to see how Monolith had improved on what was already a solid horror experience. Like the original I managed to grab a cheap copy online and after a run through of the campaign and several attempts at the finding players for the online component I’ve walked away more than satisfied but a little disappointed at the same time.
Don’t get me wrong, Condemned 2 is an excellent game and does live up to its predecessors name, but while the first wonderfully executed the moments of terror and played on your fears, the second isn’t as successful. Sure things start off very well with homeless drug addicts lurking down dark alleys attacking you but then things start to get very odd. You’ll come across a toy factory later and here exploding dolls start walking toward you. Hmmm... Kind of scary but also kind of strange. After this you’ll find yourself relying on gunplay more and shooting police officers. Not so scary at all. Near the end you then gain the ability to shriek at enemies’ heads to the point of explosion. Okay so now just what is going on here?!? It almost feels that the more you play Condemned 2 the less genuinely unsettling the game actually becomes and it’s a big shame as evoking fear in you is what should be most important of a horror game.
Continuing where the first left off, Ethan Thomas is reduced to heavy drinking after the events he’s witnessed. Upon a strange murder he is recruited back into the force in order to answer what exactly is going on. Along the way you’ll discover the reason behind the cities increasing destruction, meet an old nemesis and literally gain super powers. The voice acting is great and cut scenes feel genuine and entertaining. It almost feels like you’re in horror movies like Seven.
Like the first game, melee combat takes centre stage here with firearms being available occasionally and more so later in the game. You’ll be able to yank pipes off walls, grab fire axes and throw exploding dolls at enemies with plenty more obscure objects to find. Your moves are much more fleshed out this time with combos and special abilities being unlocked along the way. The right and left trigger command your right and left arms while you can also block and kick to catch people off guard too and special commands can cause instant kills with good timing so there’s a substantial amount of improvement in the controls. Another new feature is the environmental kills. These are areas around the room where you can lead a dazed opponent toward in order to finish them off in a brutally graphic way. Gore hounds are sure to be fans of this addition.
Ethan Thomas is an investigator and in the original it was touched upon but never really explored. The investigation sections are much more expanded here and rightfully so as these provide some great moments that test you on your observation skills as well as critical thinking. You’ll need to identify bodies, decipher causes of death and more. While it was good in the first here it really does run with the idea and make this game totally fresh and unique.
Each level in the game is then graded on your performance based on your investigatory skills and how many hidden items you find. These include transmitters and antennas which superbly expand the story via TVs and radios. Watching a news report about the goings on while static continues to interfere is very creepy and horror-like. Most people are unlikely to go the extra mile and find everything, but thanks to a reward system, the better you do, the better the prize. Getting gold grades can provide you with a small blade on your fist, extra health and a gun holster while skimping on searching for these items will only give you the most basic of upgrades. It adds incentive to search your surroundings and makes finding fun.
A few extra tasks are thrown in for the lone player that see you tackling varying missions such as killing as many enemies for as long or as quick as you can. Distracting for a while but nothing too mind blowing. With these objectives and the story mode plus an unlockable “FPS Mode”, you’ll likely take around a couple of weeks to see it all.
When I heard a multiplayer element would be included in the game I was to say the least a little concerned. While the first person fighting system worked decently as a lone player experience I couldn’t see it translating over to an online battle very well. Oddly enough though I actually had a great deal of fun, when I was actually able to find a match available. The system remains pretty much unchanged from the main mode and is complete with four game types. As expected you’ll have deathmatch and a team option as well as two unique modes that are a good laugh too. The first is Bum Rush where one team play the part of police officers with guns, extra health and only a single life each while the other team consists of bums. Their job is to completely kill the team using melee weapons and unlimited lives. The final mode is Crime Scenes where again the teams are split into police and bums. While the bums try to hide a box with a severed head in, the police try to find and scan it to win. Both are decent modes and you’ll find yourself trying them all... that is if you
Visually the game is a big step up from Criminal Origins and it really shows in terms of the environments. The lighting and textures are really impressive with some very good character animations. Enemies act unpredictably and violently and overall it is definitely an improvement. The sound too like the original plays a big role in evoking some of the games more unnerving moments and with music playing at the key moments and voice acting being some of the best I’ve heard in a while, the overall presentation for Condemned 2 couldn’t be much better.
Condemned 2 definitely improves in almost every area over the original, but sadly it fails to maintain a true sense of horror throughout the experience treading in somewhat peculiar and sub-par ground toward the latter half. It still has a great single player and to a nice surprise the online multiplayer is good as well so here’s hoping if a third does get made the horror element is as consistent as the fun. Still a highly enjoyable sequel.
Those were my final words for Criminal Origins when I reviewed it earlier in the year and since then I had been hoping to get my hands on the sequel to see how Monolith had improved on what was already a solid horror experience. Like the original I managed to grab a cheap copy online and after a run through of the campaign and several attempts at the finding players for the online component I’ve walked away more than satisfied but a little disappointed at the same time.
Don’t get me wrong, Condemned 2 is an excellent game and does live up to its predecessors name, but while the first wonderfully executed the moments of terror and played on your fears, the second isn’t as successful. Sure things start off very well with homeless drug addicts lurking down dark alleys attacking you but then things start to get very odd. You’ll come across a toy factory later and here exploding dolls start walking toward you. Hmmm... Kind of scary but also kind of strange. After this you’ll find yourself relying on gunplay more and shooting police officers. Not so scary at all. Near the end you then gain the ability to shriek at enemies’ heads to the point of explosion. Okay so now just what is going on here?!? It almost feels that the more you play Condemned 2 the less genuinely unsettling the game actually becomes and it’s a big shame as evoking fear in you is what should be most important of a horror game.
Continuing where the first left off, Ethan Thomas is reduced to heavy drinking after the events he’s witnessed. Upon a strange murder he is recruited back into the force in order to answer what exactly is going on. Along the way you’ll discover the reason behind the cities increasing destruction, meet an old nemesis and literally gain super powers. The voice acting is great and cut scenes feel genuine and entertaining. It almost feels like you’re in horror movies like Seven.
Like the first game, melee combat takes centre stage here with firearms being available occasionally and more so later in the game. You’ll be able to yank pipes off walls, grab fire axes and throw exploding dolls at enemies with plenty more obscure objects to find. Your moves are much more fleshed out this time with combos and special abilities being unlocked along the way. The right and left trigger command your right and left arms while you can also block and kick to catch people off guard too and special commands can cause instant kills with good timing so there’s a substantial amount of improvement in the controls. Another new feature is the environmental kills. These are areas around the room where you can lead a dazed opponent toward in order to finish them off in a brutally graphic way. Gore hounds are sure to be fans of this addition.
Ethan Thomas is an investigator and in the original it was touched upon but never really explored. The investigation sections are much more expanded here and rightfully so as these provide some great moments that test you on your observation skills as well as critical thinking. You’ll need to identify bodies, decipher causes of death and more. While it was good in the first here it really does run with the idea and make this game totally fresh and unique.
Each level in the game is then graded on your performance based on your investigatory skills and how many hidden items you find. These include transmitters and antennas which superbly expand the story via TVs and radios. Watching a news report about the goings on while static continues to interfere is very creepy and horror-like. Most people are unlikely to go the extra mile and find everything, but thanks to a reward system, the better you do, the better the prize. Getting gold grades can provide you with a small blade on your fist, extra health and a gun holster while skimping on searching for these items will only give you the most basic of upgrades. It adds incentive to search your surroundings and makes finding fun.
A few extra tasks are thrown in for the lone player that see you tackling varying missions such as killing as many enemies for as long or as quick as you can. Distracting for a while but nothing too mind blowing. With these objectives and the story mode plus an unlockable “FPS Mode”, you’ll likely take around a couple of weeks to see it all.
When I heard a multiplayer element would be included in the game I was to say the least a little concerned. While the first person fighting system worked decently as a lone player experience I couldn’t see it translating over to an online battle very well. Oddly enough though I actually had a great deal of fun, when I was actually able to find a match available. The system remains pretty much unchanged from the main mode and is complete with four game types. As expected you’ll have deathmatch and a team option as well as two unique modes that are a good laugh too. The first is Bum Rush where one team play the part of police officers with guns, extra health and only a single life each while the other team consists of bums. Their job is to completely kill the team using melee weapons and unlimited lives. The final mode is Crime Scenes where again the teams are split into police and bums. While the bums try to hide a box with a severed head in, the police try to find and scan it to win. Both are decent modes and you’ll find yourself trying them all... that is if you
Visually the game is a big step up from Criminal Origins and it really shows in terms of the environments. The lighting and textures are really impressive with some very good character animations. Enemies act unpredictably and violently and overall it is definitely an improvement. The sound too like the original plays a big role in evoking some of the games more unnerving moments and with music playing at the key moments and voice acting being some of the best I’ve heard in a while, the overall presentation for Condemned 2 couldn’t be much better.
Condemned 2 definitely improves in almost every area over the original, but sadly it fails to maintain a true sense of horror throughout the experience treading in somewhat peculiar and sub-par ground toward the latter half. It still has a great single player and to a nice surprise the online multiplayer is good as well so here’s hoping if a third does get made the horror element is as consistent as the fun. Still a highly enjoyable sequel.