Best Xbox 360 Action/Adventure Game: Condemned: Criminal Origins
*Spoiler Alert, I will talk about everything in this game, it's old but whatever someone still might want to play it, hopefully*
I think that it may be expedient for you all to know that I am literally in love with this game, and you are about to find out why you too should be in love with this beautiful game. First off, if you haven't played this game you need to right this very second, it came out around release so it's really cheap and really worth it, maybe I should start by saying this game has really great graphics or AI. Well the graphics were good at the time, not so much anymore, but that's not what makes a game fun, and in return the best game of its genre.
That's right folks it's time for a lesson in funology: graphics aren't what make the game, indeed they add to the game immensely and help create atmosphere, but the essence of any great game comes from many other much deeper sources than this. No matter what all your friends who incessantly talk about ZOMG HALO 3!!! BEST GAME EVAR!! or another common one. CALLS OF DOOTY RULEZ I GET LIKE 25 NUKES AND SHOOT PEOPLEES REEL NICE!!! I'm sorry that you have to deal with people like this, because every now and again, so do I, but that's OK you don't have to be shackled to the eternal mediocrity that is multiplayer gaming. Don't get me wrong, I adore multiplayer gaming but for an experience much deeper and meaningful you need to play single player games, I'm sorry but that's just the way it has to be, a multiplayer game CANNOT be the best of a genre, for this very reason.
Now, why did I choose Condemned: Criminal Origins? Why not the sequel? Well, to be honest the sequel kind of pales in comparison to the original, number two completely throws a lot of what made number one so great right out the window. For instance, in number one the term ammo conservation actual meant something, unlike number two where there is a whole level devoted to using nothing but a gun and totally going FPS on fools, for me personally, that was a huge turn off, but number two was still a success in my opinion, definitely worth a play.
So, what makes this game such a great success? I suppose I can start with the city itself. Metro city is its name, and violent psychopaths are its game. You see, a big part of why Condemned is so great and makes you feel like you are in a world of forlorn despair as well as just all around bad vibes, is that in the game you are not some big beefy space marine from mars who shotguns his every foe in their respective demonic face, while you can shotgun your foes in the face which is always a great feeling in any game. Condemned breaks away from the basic formula of "oh no, it seems there is an infinite army consisting of -insert generic enemy here- and they are standing in the way of -insert unimaginative objective here- looks like the only way for me to survive is to grab like thirteen different weapons and stuff them all down my pants along with about 7,000 rounds of ammunition and explosive ordinance. After doing which I can run through a bunch of corridors and shoot everything that moves, and when I reach the end I can do it all over again, yay!" Am I right, or am I right?
Well, Condemned most certainly does not think that formula is right. So instead the basic formula for Condemned is "Arrive in an area that makes you want to walk backwards the entire time, explore said area for clues leading to the eventual capture of SKX (Serial Killer X) look for weapons, and if you find said weapons you receive about two bullets, but they will mean the world to you, turn a corner just to see some insane maniac lunging toward you from half way across the room. At this point it is time to promptly piss your pants and use those two bullets which will hopefully connect with said maniac. Watch some disturbing flashbacks, find murder victims etc." The formula makes for gameplay that will make you want to just lay down in the fetal position and hope that you won't have to deal with whatever it is that just made that noise in the other room. This all sounds like a really un-enjoyable experience does it not? Well it is in fact the best game of its genre, and I can explain in pain staking detail, if you dare read on.
Reasons why this game will make you fall in love with it? If we are talking just about overall experience that will be delivered to you, this game will actually scare you in ways you have never been scared before, that sounds a little bit naughty, yes, but it is quite true the atmosphere this game gives is so different from any other horror game you will play. For instance, in Condemned you will feel extremely vulnerable at times, more so as the story line progresses and you find out about the ORO and how you are some how linked to them (more like they have been stalking you) as well as when you have to deal with SKX. Condemned just delivers on moments when it forces you to take on the mind of a killer just in order to survive, yes you will have to fight dirty. The combat in condemned is unique as well compared to just about any other game within its genre, considering guns are a very scarce resource, you will have to use other means to survive mainly just whatever happens to be lying around at the time whether it be a pipe, a 2X4, shovel or a fire axe. The weaponry in Condemned is unforgiving and painfully brutal.
Speaking of brutal, the enemies you will face in Condemned are the regular citizens of Metro City driven insane, all thanks to the ORO and their sonic emitters which increase the aggression level of anyone nearby by 10 times, and sadly for our main character Ethan and his crazy throat, the aggression gets funneled towards you as your throat, which is what the ORO want, further increases the effects of the sonic emitters, and might be the reason why you slowly go practically insane. But on a happier note thanks to your special throat you can explode peoples heads in number two.More importantly, the enemies you will face are nasty and not too friendly, they will attack you in groups, but they aren't friendly towards each other either, you can take advantage of this and get them to smack each other around to help yourself survive as well as catch a few good laughs.
The combat can get pretty intense not to mention deep, the mechanics of fighting within Condemned are simple, yet effective, and ultimately make you feel like a totally experienced killer yourself, you can almost feel the necks snapping and the rib cages being crushed under the blows of your unrelenting rebar, you will sleep easily my friend. The combat consists of a system that kind of feels like a game of "rock paper scissors" but rely's more upon timing and smarts. Pretty much what you have at your disposal is "attack" and "block" and that's all you really need. Sure you will deal with different types of enemies like heavier types that require more punishment to kill, or quicker enemies that deal more damage rapidly but also die faster than a normal enemy, and these all require different strategies to kill, which in turn makes the game even more gratifying. But what makes the combat all worth it in the end is when you have cleared a room full of psycho's and out of the corner of your eye you see some poor insane fellow, after being slapped in the face with a paper cutter a few times fall to his knees dazed and unable to move. This is when it's time to release your inner psychotic killer, you can finish him with an execution move which only makes you feel that much more there right in the room fighting for your life, doing that which must be done to survive and finish your ultimate mission, at this point you ARE Ethan Thomas, I have even found myself guilty of doing the motions in perfect sadistic choreography along with the executions on screen, and afterwards can't stop laughing maniacally reveling in the glory that was just essentially a murder.
But that's really just the beginning, sure combat is great and all, it's the real "meat" of the game i.e what you will be mostly doing in your wonderful adventures through happy land U.S.A. But let's focus on yet another aspect of what makes this awesome game just so awesome.
The story. so we know thus far that we are playing as Ethan Thomas a detective for the SCU (Serial Crimes Unit) an honest working man, but one day his career takes a turn for the worse, as you go to the scene of a crime by the serial killer known as "The Matchmaker" and as it ends up SKX kills the other detective you were working with, as well as a police officer as you are searching the building. And to top things off you get thrown from a window and land on a car. So you are suspended from the SCU but wake up to Vanhorn which we all know to be SKX's uncle who is trying to protect him from the start. He also has knowledge about Ethan's parents and the fact that Ethan is special with his fancy throat. So Vanhorn tells you he's an old family friend and also that you should probably book it since the cops are coming. The story goes on and on, and the great thing is that the places that you visit each seem to have their own character and charm all their own, whether you're watching yourself being impaled on the playground of the elementary school or deciphering clues on the farm. Now, it's true that in Condemned you are probably going to have to play the game through a couple of times to know what exactly is going on within the story line, but that's OK because the story line itself is very interesting and if you play through the original Condemned as well as Bloodshot, there is alot of reflection that you can do upon the story by yourself, which is also quite rewarding in its own remark.
But, even if you aren't a huge fan of the story within the game, at the very least you can enjoy the places you go and the awesomely disturbing things you will see and hear. Like the soothing sounds of shotgun blasts coming from the floor above, trailed by muffled voices yelling murderous threats at each other, or when you visit the library with Rosa and begin fighting with enemies that aren't even there. Or the many occasions when you receive visions of things that have already happened relating to the plot. Perhaps you will build happy memories of visiting the elementary school and being thrown all over hell by a cultist and fighting in what appears to be a whole different plane of existence with enemies falling from the sky out of floating windows. Yes the oddness of the game adds a big part of the awe, and definitely makes you think.
In the beginning of the game everything pans out to be pretty normal, you know like no magic is being used there's no demons roaming about, but by the end of the game you're probably going to be very satisfied by the monumental levels of oddness, and the unsettling feeling of roaming a farm filled with cultists and a serial killer who kills other serial killers in the manner that they kill their own victims. Which brings me to the last thing that I will cover, and I think that this is a huge part of the game in its own right because the experience that this section of the game delivers just leaves you begging for more.
The farm! Appleseed Orchard, it's where SKX goes to be alone. Basically his sanctuary of sorts. And why is this a place of so much importance to the game, besides it's where the last two chapters of the game unfold, a whole lot of awesome happens here. When you arrive, you will notice you are inside of a house, but more importantly there's nobody inside of said house, it's empty and really creepy. Now, the first awesome thing about this level is that the gameplay changes from focusing on action to more on puzzle solving which is great because you get to drink in the greatness of the atmosphere that you have been thrown into. You feel totally alone, in the middle of nowhere, and only god knows where SKX could even possibly be, and thus the puzzle solving begins when you whip out the old blacklight just to discover there is some rather intriguing writing on the walls.
So you follow these writings and you eventually find all the clues which are worded very philosophically and eventually you find SKX's secret room behind a mirror in the basement which is all good and fun, you learn that he's been stalking you and killing everyone that you've been doing detective work on, pretty much just for fun, when you hear something upstairs. You eventually find out that SKX brought the torturer here to make him kill himself considering that's the torturers method of taking his victims, you find the torturer dead, in the middle of a room upstairs perched upon a fire poker, so you move the body and take the clothes from the corpse and put them on and then wait for SKX by waiting on the fire poker. He eventually comes back, you swing the fire poker at him but he knocks it away. Then you engage in a chase followed by a pretty tough fight which ends with you being knocked out by Vanhorn, that being the first time you find out of SKX and Malcom's relationship to each other.
Afterwards, you awaken inside of a barn tied to a wall, with SKX right in front of you, both of you have a nice conversation about murdering and what not, and eventually SKX cuts off your finger, which isn't very nice at all, from here Vanhorn knocks Leland out (Leland is SKX's real name not very imposing eh?) And he tells you to go and face the evil.
So we know why these last levels are so great don't we? the gameplay diversifies so much, and you get filled in on just so much information not to mention the manner this is all being delivered in makes it feel like almost a totally new game, and builds to the grand finale quite nicely.
So as you travel the farm, which is, trust me awesome to walk through the feeling is just so grandiose and surreal compared to any other level in the game, you encounter a few members of the ORO which are quite adept fighters and a treat to combat with at that. You eventually find a bird stabbed into the side of a barn which upon touching you find yourself in a room that looks ceremonial in aesthetic. After exiting the room you are treated to an onslaught of enemies followed by the introduction of this guy.
After beating on this guy for a while he'll leave and you will have no choice but to follow him up into the rafters for an amazing final battle. Yes, the final battle is amazing and I think the only way to deliver the full experience is for you all to watch this, it is simply, a good mixture of all the things that make this game awesome:
[embed:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rJRp0ceHHg ]
Condemned: Criminal Origins, is by far, the best game in its perspective genre that anyone can enjoy for its visceral combat and creepy effects, and for the story lovers a deep plot line that's still unfinished invites players to delve into the universe that is Condemned, for an experience that will amaze and mystify leaving you with plenty of aspects to build philosophy from, aspects that might even permeate into your real life world. So, even if you're kind of a wimp at least promote the game to your friends so you can have hours of endless fun watching them piss themselves.