Spring Break
Condemned 2: Bloodshot Review
Phillip Kazanjan
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
There have been many games in the past that claimed that they could strike fear into the hearts of their players, but very few of those claims ever hold true. The original Condemned, a launch title for the Xbox 360, was one of those very few titles that could keep fear high throughout its duration, with dark atmospheres, gritty presentation, and twisted plot. The sequel, "Condemned 2: Bloodshot," released for both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, hopes to continue what the first installment started so well. So, does this continuation force you to keep your lights on or is it a campy horror fest of epic proportions?
Developed by Monolith Productions, "Condemned 2" continues the tragic tale of Ethan Thomas, the crime scene-investigating protagonist from the first title. Ethan, once belonging to the FBI's Serial Crimes Unit, has resigned from his duties and is now on a horrible path of alcoholism and homelessness.
Ethan used to be a lighter, well-preserved character in the first "Condemned," but now he has become a darker, more explicitly violent character. "Condemned 2" picks up exactly 11 months after the events of the first game, when he has been recruited back into the Serial Crimes Unit to help investigate the phenomenon that is causing city-wide violence and panic.
The game plays out from a first person perspective and, like its predecessor, the game takes an alternate approach, favoring melee combat over the use of firearms. The melee combat is executed using both the left and right triggers, each controlling the respective fist while the X or A button acts as a kick. New to the series, attacks can now be chained together to form deadly combinations, and the player can now perform finishing moves as well as context-sensitive "environmental kills."
Melee weapons are as common as ever in Condemned 2, allowing the player to use just about anything handheld to dispatch a malicious foe. Another change for this sequel is that melee weapons can now be broken after a short time of use, forcing the player to often rely on bare fists for defense. Firearms play a larger role this time out, which makes Condemned feel as if it lost something that made it special, but luckily this firearm dependence only really happens toward the end of the campaign. Even though firearms later become mandatory, Monolith was clever enough to include a unique twist to the fire fights. Ethan's alcoholism serves as the basis of that twist; if Ethan fails to drink alcohol regularly, his aim will become unsteady and unreliable, leaving you vulnerable to attack.
Developed by Monolith Productions, "Condemned 2" continues the tragic tale of Ethan Thomas, the crime scene-investigating protagonist from the first title. Ethan, once belonging to the FBI's Serial Crimes Unit, has resigned from his duties and is now on a horrible path of alcoholism and homelessness.
Ethan used to be a lighter, well-preserved character in the first "Condemned," but now he has become a darker, more explicitly violent character. "Condemned 2" picks up exactly 11 months after the events of the first game, when he has been recruited back into the Serial Crimes Unit to help investigate the phenomenon that is causing city-wide violence and panic.
The game plays out from a first person perspective and, like its predecessor, the game takes an alternate approach, favoring melee combat over the use of firearms. The melee combat is executed using both the left and right triggers, each controlling the respective fist while the X or A button acts as a kick. New to the series, attacks can now be chained together to form deadly combinations, and the player can now perform finishing moves as well as context-sensitive "environmental kills."
Melee weapons are as common as ever in Condemned 2, allowing the player to use just about anything handheld to dispatch a malicious foe. Another change for this sequel is that melee weapons can now be broken after a short time of use, forcing the player to often rely on bare fists for defense. Firearms play a larger role this time out, which makes Condemned feel as if it lost something that made it special, but luckily this firearm dependence only really happens toward the end of the campaign. Even though firearms later become mandatory, Monolith was clever enough to include a unique twist to the fire fights. Ethan's alcoholism serves as the basis of that twist; if Ethan fails to drink alcohol regularly, his aim will become unsteady and unreliable, leaving you vulnerable to attack.
Be the first to comment on this story