Condemned 2: Bloodshot

Not bloody bad...

More Images

Condemned 2: Bloodshot is the follow on to the better than average Xbox 360 launch title 'Condemned: Criminal Origins'. The first game was a great surprise to me as I had been expecting another average FPS affair; suffice to say I was happy to find a new and fresh take on the genre as the player relied a lot less on guns and more on his fists making the combat an altogether grittier experience. Condemned 2 takes us down the same road again but this time some tweaks have been made to improve on the original experience.

You are once again Ethan Thomas, a former SCU agent that has been called back into the fray after being given a suspension. Plagued by horrific hallucinations you have become an alcoholic waste of space that can only carry on his day with the aid of a stiff drink. You look wasted and on the brink of hitting bottom when all of a sudden you are thrust on the trail of a serial killer after a call from your old mentor, Malcolm Vanhorn, suggests he may be in trouble.

Of course I am not going to let on too much about the plot as this game is driven heavily by the narrative and instead I am going to focus on the updated aspects of this sequel, namely the new combat features, updated crime scene investigations and online offerings.

As with the first game you rely heavily on hand to hand combat, utilising weapons from the environment around you. There are many objects that you can use to dispatch your foes like metal poles, hammers, wrenches and even a collection of unique weapons like a crutch or prosthetic limb. Whenever you walk near to an object that you can wield a handy scale appears letting the player know about the strengths and weaknesses it has compared to the current weapon you are equipped with. All the weapons you can pick up can be thrown at the enemy sometimes throwing them off balance and allowing an easier kill. As with the first game the quality degrades over time especially if you use it to block, this forces you to find newer weapons to fight with and makes the fighting more demanding as you can't simply find your favourite weapon and use it throughout the entire level.

Also this time around you can opt to use your bare fists to fight off your foes. Many options open up like the ability to combo an opponent for more damage or block and counter-attack an enemy. You also have the ability to kick them, allowing you time to compose yourself, albeit very briefly. Fighting can become difficult when two or more enemies are trying to beat you down, however you have 3 health bars to start with and if you don't take too much damage they will re-fill after a short while (but only if it hasn't been completely depleted). I used this to my advantage by running away from the enemy and then diving back into the fight after my energy had been restored. Of course you can block too, however these blocks have to be timed well otherwise you will still endure damage, if timed correctly though you will cause your enemy to stumble allowing you to counter him with a more powerful combo attack. The controls are quite simple, your right and left fists are controlled using the right and left trigger respectively, also to block you simply have to hold both at the same time. Once you get used to how the enemies fight (and it is quite generic) the game becomes slightly easier to play, that is until you meet some of the hardier foes in the game. Sometimes after beating your enemy senseless they fall to their knees in a daze which is a prompt for the player to grab the enemy and perform a 'world' kill. This can be anything from a glass cabinet to a television set adorning the environment, satisfying to say the least.

Apart from the melee combat you also have the opportunity to use some guns to dispatch those unfriendly thugs, however unlike your usual FPS game where your character seemingly has the strength of five bears and bottomless trousers in which to store the guns and ammunition, in Condemned 2 you will rarely (but more than Condemned: Criminal Origins) come across a pistol, shotgun or assault rifle to aid in your investigations. Ammo for these weapons can be hard to come by but occasionally you will find an SCU lockbox with spare ammo and health packs. One level even sees you using only an assault rifle which can be a nice change from all the hand to hand brawling throughout the game. A nice touch is the fact that Ethan cannot aim straight without the aid of a little tipple, in fact when you drink some alcohol your aim is steadier than a trained sniper allowing far easier shooting... just be careful not to smash your bottle of booze before you drink it (you need to hold the A button to drink the alcohol but if you tap it as with a normal attack Ethan will throw it thus having it smash on the floor).

However, Condemned 2 isn't all about combat, like the first game the player can take part in investigations that lead to the ultimate goal of finding the people/peoples responsible for the violence and rioting in the city. These investigations were very easy in the first game with the player being 'led by the hand' whenever these scenes came up. This time around the player is left to think for themselves and is offered a collection of answers to choose from and even questions to ask which relate to the crime scene that you have just arrived at or stumbled upon. A rating system of 1 to 5 stars is used to judge how well the player has investigated the scene, the likes of which are pretty easy at first but become progressively more difficult as the game progresses. I found these sections to be a great change of pace from the constant fighting of other levels and looked forward to the next opportunity to flex my grey matter.

With this game being awarded an '18' certificate you can image how gruesome some of these crime scenes can be. In fact it's quite surprising that a game like this can garner nearly no media attention when games like Manhunt are not really as gruesome. However these crime scenes really do add to the dark and gritty atmosphere of the game and help to transport you to a world of insanity and despair. Also there has been a better attempt at explaining why the inhabitants of this city are going insane by way of having the player seek out and destroy some strange Sonic Emitters that seem to be in the areas where the violence is more prevalent. Indeed the more of these you find and the better you do at the investigations will see you awarded with a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal at the end of the level, which offer the player upgrades like more maximum health, a holster for a pistol or improved body armour. Very useful for later levels.

New this time around (completely lacking from the first game) is an online mode. The usual Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch modes are here along with a two others which utilise the very individual nature of the game; Bum Rush and Crime Scene. Bum Rush is a time based game where SCU agents are pitted against some violent bums. The SCU agents are a lot stronger and have guns but no re-spawns and the object is to survive as long as possible against the onslaught of the street urchins. The latter (and only really worthwhile online mode) is the Crime Scene mode. Once again it's the SCU versus the Bums, however this time the bums have a box of evidence that they need to hide from the SCU characters, in order to win and the SCU need to hunt down the boxes and analyze the contents in order to score. There are weapons placed around the maps that the bums can utilize but they aren't really a match for the weapons of the SCU players, however it's really rather fun trying to hide from the SCU in the Crime Scene mode and offers up some of the tension that goes hand in hand with the single player game.

Apart from that though, the online mode leaves a lot to be desired. The hand to hand melee that works so well in the single player game really doesn't lend itself well to the online offering. The fights are confused and frustrating which is why the only fun mode to play is the Crime Scene mode as it offers up some real originality and tension. Not really the 'online' fans of the original had been hoping for but it does at least offer up a little more longevity than the first game and the Deathmatch modes may suit some players tastes.

Another mode you can utilise as a lone player is the Fight Club. These instant action maps pit the player against an onslaught of vile street folk and depending on the settings the player goes for this can be anywhere from 1 to 3 at a time and a slew of different melee weapons, even some guns (personally I like using the Molotov Cocktails). This mode offers nothing in terms of story but can instead be used as a practice arena if you are finding the online competition or even the single player game a little too taxing.

The story is, as previously stated, a very integral part to the game and is a great asset to the experience the gamer has. However during the later stages of Condemned 2 the story takes a different direction leading to the empowerment of Ethan with some super abilities, I can't say I saw that one coming and as to not give too much away I won't mention what this 'ability' is exactly, suffice to say that it detracts somewhat from some of the great storytelling of the earlier levels and sadly enough the ending leaves a lot to be desired too, but then that will be your judgement to make.

Also, throughout the game I encountered a couple of glitches. The first wasn't too bad and consisted of the game thinking that a door was closed when it was actually open leaving a black hole that I couldn't walk through (I fixed it by pressing the open door button again and the door disappeared into the wall but the hallway outside re-appeared). The other glitch was a little more annoying as I was suddenly unable (after a reload) to use the right analogue stick. I tried re-starting the save and even the level but in the end had to re-boot the entire game to fix it. It was very annoying as it saved the fact that I had tried re-starting the level and thus I had to go through the level all over again.

Apart from those few gripes though, Condemned 2: Bloodshot is a very good game all round offering up melee combat and adventure-style elements in one neat package. The music, wonderful graphics and creepy sounds all add to the dark and violent feel of this game and some of the achievements that are available will have the perfectionists going back again and again to get those gamerscore points. If you were a fan of the first then this is an improvement on that in almost every aspect and you will love them all, however if you hated the first one then chances are you won't take to the sequel either as it is very similar in most aspects.

88%

By Thomas Ryan