A Gut Punch of Terror | Condemned: Criminal Origins Review

I remember being supremely excited about the release of the Xbox 360 back in 2005. It’s not that I was going to buy one or anything; I was far too poor for that. I am, however, a gamer and as such anytime new hardware is released it is call for some level of excitement. I also remember perusing the list of launch titles that were going to be released along with it and amidst the typical sports titles and military shooters there was one title in particular that caught my attention. That game was Sega’s Condemned: Criminal Origins.

The story of Condemned is appropriately mature and dark. As the player, you assumes the role of Ethan Thomas; a member of the Serial Crimes Unit. The game begins as you enter an abandoned apartment building along with your fellow agents to investigate the crime scene of a serial killer’s handiwork. Things quickly spiral out of control as the killer (or is it?) begins to hunt you and your agents down until you’re the only one left, resulting in you being framed for murder and constantly on the run from the police and demented villains alike. As you progress through the story you slowly begin to realize that things are not what they seem. Birds are inexplicably falling dead from the sky, crack heads and the homeless are mutilating themselves and attacking people for no apparent reason, and the very serial killers you were once tracking down are being offed themselves according to their own sadistic M.O.. The rest of the game has you fighting for your life through a city gone crazy as you slowly piece together macabre evidence and solve the mystery of what’s behind the madness.

A great story is one thing. Games can have a good story but without solid gameplay the whole thing will fall flat. Lucky for us, Condemned plays like a dream. My time playing through Condemned resulted in becoming the first time I realized that first person melee combat could actually be done right. Nowadays we see it all the time but back in 2005 it wasn’t the norm. First person games had always been relegated to gun heavy gameplay and while guns do make an appearance in Condemned, they are far from the star of the show. Combat is at its best when you make use of the myriad of creative weaponry strewn about the world. Anything from desk tops, rebar, locker doors and clothes racks are fair game. The combat is brutal and visceral with many of the encounters resulting in an opportunity to execute the downed enemy in a variety of satisfying ways. These self-mutilated crack heads can dish it out as well as they can take it though. Enemies are quick and intelligent and will not follow a set path. Every encounter has the potential to be a life and death situation, adding an extra layer of tension to an already terrifying experience.

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Another interesting element of gameplay is the inclusion of forensic style segments where you’ll use tools to find evidence in the various crime scenes. You will use a variety of different tools to locate hidden enemies and clues. You’ll also examine corpses to find fingerprints and utilize your digital camera to photograph the crime scenes. None of the forensic segments are overly complicated and it’s almost impossible to fail them but they are still nice breaks in the action and make you feel like more of a seasoned detective and not just a man on the run.

Graphically, the game is largely nice to look at with only a few snags on the way. For a game released in 2005 though, it holds up surprisingly well. Most of the facial animations don’t stand up to today’s standards but the environments are horrifyingly beautiful and wonderfully realized. Every chapter of the game is split up into different environments and every one of them is equal parts terrifying and gorgeous; from the abandoned apartment buildings teeming with killer hobos to the creepy apple orchard overflowing with monstrous apparitions. The abandoned shopping mall is a real standout, however. I don’t remember being quite as tense in another game as I was when I snuck around that mall, complete with pant soiling inducing mannequins that silently followed you around. Thanks to that chapter, I still to this day get creeped out by going into Old Navy.

With all the praise I have to heap upon this game, it is not perfect. As I said before, the facial animations are a little rough. It’s not a game breaker by any means but it is a constant reminder that the game is a tad dated. Also, the forensic sections, while interesting diversions, really don’t offer up any challenge. I like the idea of being forced to use certain tools to locate certain items and trails of clues but I never really felt that I was figuring much of it out by myself. It just felt like there was a little too much hand holding when it could have been a great opportunity to offer an engaging challenge to the player. Hit detection is also occasionally spotty. It doesn’t crop up often but there were a few times when I know I swung my gas pipe at a crack heads face but it didn’t seem to faze him.

Minor complaints aside though, I can only give Condemned: Criminal Origins the highest of recommendations. It’s visceral, gut wrenching, beautiful, but most importantly of all; it is horrifying. It is a wonderful reminder that video games can be truly terrifying and I can only hope that Sega decides to give us another installment of one of the most underrated survival horror series in recent memory.

Condemned: Criminal Origins

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Must Play Horror

Cons

• Rough Face Animations